Love
When a lover clasps his fairest
From Poems of 1819
Love
When a lover clasps his fairest,
Then be our dread sport the rarest.
Their caresses were like the chaff
In the tempest, and be our laugh
His despair—her epitaph!
When a mother clasps her child,
Watch till dusty Death has piled
His cold ashes on the clay;
She has loved it many a day—
She remains,—it fades away.
Cite this poem
MLA
Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “When a lover clasps his fairest.” Poetry Codex, poetrycodex.com/poem/shelley/55/.
Chicago
Shelley, Percy Bysshe. “When a lover clasps his fairest.” Poetry Codex. https://poetrycodex.com/poem/shelley/55/.
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