Lyric Poem · Peace
The Birth of Pleasure
1At the creation of the Earth
2Pleasure, that divinest birth,
3From the soil of Heaven did rise,
4Wrapped in sweet wild melodies —
5Like an exhalation wreathing
6To the sound of air low-breathing
7Through Aeolian pines, which make
8A shade and shelter to the lake
9Whence it rises soft and slow;
10Her life-breathing did flow
11In the harmony divine
12Of an ever-lengthening line
13Which enwrapped her perfect form
14With a beauty clear and warm.
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“The Birth of Pleasure” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/the-birth-of-pleasure
Quick facts
- Poem
- The Birth of Pleasure
- Poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Length
- 14 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Peace
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
- 14 lines · one 14-line stanza
- Line length
- Lines run 7-8 syllables (median 7). 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
- PoetryDBThe Birth of Pleasure 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 016af898cb3fb01b…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.