Lyric Poem · Love

Song From the Wandering Jew

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

See yon opening flower

Spreads its fragrance to the blast;

It fades within an hour,

Its decay is pale — is fast.

Paler is yon maiden;

Faster is her heart's decay;

Deep with sorrow laden,

She sinks in death away.

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“Song From the Wandering Jew” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/song-from-the-wandering-jew

Quick facts

Poem: Song From the Wandering Jew
Poet: Percy Bysshe Shelley
Length: 8 lines
Form: Lyric Poem, Short Poems
Themes: Love, Death & Loss, Nature, Short

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: 8 lines · one 8-line stanza
End rhyme: ABABCDCD.
Line length: Mostly 7-syllable lines.

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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: PoetryDBSong From the Wandering Jew 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 7dac7c0a673f3e47…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Short Poems Love Death & Loss Nature Short

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