Lyric Poem · Nature

Lines: 'When the Lamp Is Shattered'

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Reading room

1When the lamp is shattered

2The light in the dust lies dead —

3When the cloud is scattered

4The rainbow's glory is shed.

5When the lute is broken,

6Sweet tones are remembered not;

7When the lips have spoken,

8Loved accents are soon forgot.

9As music and splendour

10Survive not the lamp and the lute,

11The heart's echoes render

12No song when the spirit is mute: —

13No song but sad dirges,

14Like the wind through a ruined cell,

15Or the mournful surges

16That ring the dead seaman's knell.

17When hearts have once mingled

18Love first leaves the well-built nest;

19The weak one is singled

20To endure what it once possessed.

21O Love! who bewailest

22The frailty of all things here,

23Why choose you the frailest

24For your cradle, your home, and your bier?

25Its passions will rock thee

26As the storms rock the ravens on high;

27Bright reason will mock thee,

28Like the sun from a wintry sky.

29From thy nest every rafter

30Will rot, and thine eagle home

31Leave thee naked to laughter,

32When leaves fall and cold winds come.

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“Lines: 'When the Lamp Is Shattered'” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/lines-when-the-lamp-is-shattered

Quick facts

Poem: Lines: 'When the Lamp Is Shattered'
Poet: Percy Bysshe Shelley
Length: 32 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, Love, Death & Loss

Craft notes

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Measured from the text on this page, not copied from a summary. Counts are approximate: syllables and rhymes come from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, which models General American English, so dialect, older pronunciation, and performance can all change what you hear.

Shape: 32 lines · 4 octaves
Line length: Lines run 6-8 syllables (median 7). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

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Author record: Percy Bysshe Shelley1792–1822
Source record: PoetryDBLines: 'When the Lamp Is Shattered' by percy-bysshe-shelley, PoetryDB transcription
Display decision: Full text · United States · reviewed 2026-07-18
Publication record: Not recorded in the imported source
Text fingerprint: SHA-256 c5be402888b35926…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Nature Love Death & Loss

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