Lyric Poem · Nature
Love's Rose
Hopes, that swell in youthful breasts,
Live not through the waste of time!
Love's rose a host of thorns invests;
Cold, ungenial is the clime,
Where its honours blow.
Youth says, 'The purple flowers are mine,'
Which die the while they glow.
Dear the boon to Fancy given,
Retracted whilst it's granted:
Sweet the rose which lives in Heaven,
Although on earth 'tis planted,
Where its honours blow,
While by earth's slaves the leaves are riven
Which die the while they glow.
Age cannot Love destroy,
But perfidy can blast the flower,
Even when in most unwary hour
It blooms in Fancy's bower.
Age cannot Love destroy,
But perfidy can rend the shrine
In which its vermeil splendours shine.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Love's Rose” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/loves-rose
Quick facts
- Poem
- Love's Rose
- Poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Length
- 21 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Nature, Love, Death & Loss
Craft notes
How this poem works
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
- 21 lines · 3 septets
- Line length
- Lines run 6-9 syllables (median 7). No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
- Refrains
- “Where its honours blow.”“Which die the while they glow.”“Where its honours blow,”Repeated lines act as the poem's hinge or drumbeat.
Want the rules this form is measured against? Read what makes a lyric poem, or run your own draft through the form checker to see the same measurements on your lines. How we measure · Report a mistake
Text, source & rights
A traceable edition
Full-text display is based on the committed source record and a United States term-expiry review.
- Author record
- Percy Bysshe Shelley1792–1822
- Source record
- PoetryDBLove's Rose 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 bd519b4081bf2414…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
Keep reading
Bright Star
John Keats · 1819
14 lines · sonnet
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
Christopher Marlowe · 1599
24 lines · lyric
The Old Pond (haiku)
Matsuo Bashō · 1686
3 lines · haiku