Lyric Poem · Nature
Mutability
The flower that smiles to-day
To-morrow dies;
All that we wish to stay
Tempts and then flies.
What is this world's delight?
Lightning that mocks the night,
Brief even as bright.
Virtue, how frail it is!
Friendship how rare!
Love, how it sells poor bliss
For proud despair!
But we, though soon they fall,
Survive their joy, and all
Which ours we call.
Whilst skies are blue and bright,
Whilst flowers are gay,
Whilst eyes that change ere night
Make glad the day;
Whilst yet the calm hours creep,
Dream thou — and from thy sleep
Then wake to weep.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“Mutability” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/mutability
Quick facts
- Poem
- Mutability
- Poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Length
- 21 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Nature, Dreams & Sleep, Love
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
- End rhyme
- ABCBDDD in 67% of the stanzas. The remaining stanzas vary, often through slant rhyme.
- Line length
- Lines run 4-6 syllables (median 6), consistent with trimeter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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
- PoetryDBMutability 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 472562ae3f668e66…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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