Lyric Poem · Nature

The Dirge

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Reading room

1Old winter was gone

2In his weakness back to the mountains hoar,

3And the spring came down

4From the planet that hovers upon the shore

5Where the sea of sunlight encroaches

6On the limits of wintry night; —

7If the land, and the air, and the sea,

8Rejoice not when spring approaches,

9We did not rejoice in thee,

10Ginevra!

11She is still, she is cold

12On the bridal couch,

13One step to the white deathbed,

14And one to the bier,

15And one to the charnel — and one, oh where?

16The dark arrow fled

17In the noon.

18Ere the sun through heaven once more has rolled,

19The rats in her heart

20Will have made their nest,

21And the worms be alive in her golden hair,

22While the Spirit that guides the sun,

23Sits throned in his flaming chair,

24She shall sleep.

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“The Dirge” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/the-dirge

Quick facts

Poem: The Dirge
Poet: Percy Bysshe Shelley
Length: 24 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, Winter, Spring

Craft notes

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Shape: 24 lines · 4 stanzas of 4–7 lines

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Author record: Percy Bysshe Shelley1792–1822
Source record: PoetryDBThe Dirge 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 3e4e78640e13641a…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Nature Winter Spring

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