Lyric Poem · Nature

Victoria

by Percy Bysshe Shelley

Reading room

1'Twas dead of the night, when I sat in my dwelling;

2One glimmering lamp was expiring and low;

3Around, the dark tide of the tempest was swelling,

4Along the wild mountains night-ravens were yelling, —

5They bodingly presaged destruction and woe.

6'Twas then that I started! — the wild storm was howling,

7Nought was seen, save the lightning, which danced in the sky;

8Above me, the crash of the thunder was rolling,

9And low, chilling murmurs, the blast wafted by.

10My heart sank within me — unheeded the war

11Of the battling clouds, on the mountain-tops, broke; —

12Unheeded the thunder-peal crashed in mine ear —

13This heart, hard as iron, is stranger to fear;

14But conscience in low, noiseless whispering spoke.

15'Twas then that her form on the whirlwind upholding,

16The ghost of the murdered Victoria strode;

17In her right hand, a shadowy shroud she was holding,

18She swiftly advanced to my lonesome abode.

19I wildly then called on the tempest to bear me — '

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“Victoria” by Percy Bysshe Shelley — quilloak.com/poems/victoria

Quick facts

Poem: Victoria
Poet: Percy Bysshe Shelley
Length: 19 lines
Form: Lyric Poem
Themes: Nature, Love, Death & Loss

Craft notes

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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: 19 lines · 5 stanzas of 1–5 lines
Line length: Lines run 10-13 syllables (median 12), consistent with hexameter. No single length dominates, which is normal once elision and contraction are in play.

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Author record: Percy Bysshe Shelley1792–1822
Source record: PoetryDBVictoria 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 8d036b6c5f911482…
Editorial handling: Whitespace and stanza breaks normalized for web display; no material wording change recorded.

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Lyric Poem Nature Love Death & Loss

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