Lyric Poem · Sad
On a Faded Violet
The odour from the flower is gone
Which like thy kisses breathed on me;
The colour from the flower is flown
Which glowed of thee and only thee!
A shrivelled, lifeless, vacant form,
It lies on my abandoned breast,
And mocks the heart which yet is warm,
With cold and silent rest.
I weep, — my tears revive it not!
I sigh, — it breathes no more on me;
Its mute and uncomplaining lot
Is such as mine should be.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“On a Faded Violet” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/on-a-faded-violet
Quick facts
- Poem
- On a Faded Violet
- Poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Length
- 12 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Sad, Love, Nature
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
- 12 lines · 3 quatrains
- End rhyme
- ABAB in 67% of the stanzas — alternate rhyme. The remaining stanzas vary, often through slant rhyme.
- Line length
- Lines run 6-9 syllables (median 8), consistent with tetrameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.
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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
- PoetryDBOn a Faded Violet 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 83826d7e98cc749b…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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