Lyric Poem · Love

Sonnet: Political Greatness

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

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1Nor happiness, nor majesty, nor fame,

2Nor peace, nor strength, nor skill in arms or arts,

3Shepherd those herds whom tyranny makes tame;

4Verse echoes not one beating of their hearts,

5History is but the shadow of their shame,

6Art veils her glass, or from the pageant starts

7As to oblivion their blind millions fleet,

8Staining that Heaven with obscene imagery

9Of their own likeness. What are numbers knit

10By force or custom? Man who man would be,

11Must rule the empire of himself; in it

12Must be supreme, establishing his throne

13On vanquished will, quelling the anarchy

14Of hopes and fears, being himself alone.

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“Sonnet: Political Greatness” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/sonnet-political-greatness

Quick facts

Poem: Sonnet: Political Greatness
Poet: Percy Bysshe Shelley
Length: 14 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Love, Hope, Peace

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Shape: 14 lines · one 14-line stanza
Line length: Mostly 10-syllable lines (pentameter length).

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Author record: Percy Bysshe Shelley1792–1822
Source record: PoetryDBSonnet: Political Greatness 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 85b44a64e830bc3d…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Love Hope Peace

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