Lyric Poem · Death & Loss
To Constantia: Stanzas 1 and 2
1As restored by Mr. C.D. Locock.
2Cease, cease — for such wild lessons madmen learn
3Thus to be lost, and thus to sink and die
4Perchance were death indeed! — Constantia turn
5In thy dark eyes a power like light doth lie
6Even though the sounds its voice that were
7Between lips are laid to sleep:
8Within thy breath, and on thy hair
9Like odour, it is yet
10And from thy touch like fire doth leap —
11Even while I write, my burning cheeks are wet —
12Alas, that the torn heart can bleed but not forget.
Full-text availability follows the United States display decision recorded below; status can differ elsewhere.
“To Constantia: Stanzas 1 and 2” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/to-constantia-stanzas-1-and-2
Quick facts
- Poem
- To Constantia: Stanzas 1 and 2
- Poet
- Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Length
- 16 lines
- Form
- Lyric Poem
- Themes
- Death & Loss, Dreams & Sleep, Love
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
- 16 lines · 3 stanzas of 1–11 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
- PoetryDBTo Constantia: Stanzas 1 and 2 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 2e65586300110049…
- Editorial handling
- Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.