Lyric Poem · Nature
To Constantia
The rose that drinks the fountain dew
In the pleasant air of noon,
Grows pale and blue with altered hue —
In the gaze of the nightly moon;
For the planet of frost, so cold and bright,
Makes it wan with her borrowed light.
Such is my heart — roses are fair,
And that at best a withered blossom;
But thy false care did idly wear
Its withered leaves in a faithless bosom;
And fed with love, like air and dew,
Its growth —
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“To Constantia” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/to-constantia
Quick facts
- Poem
- To Constantia
- Poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Length
- 12 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Nature, Love, Winter
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 · 2 sestets
- Line length
- Lines run 7-10 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
- PoetryDBTo Constantia 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 35dfd386472c71f4…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.
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