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Home  »  The Oxford Book of English Verse  »  611. The Indian Serenade

Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.

Percy Bysshe Shelley. 1792–1822

611. The Indian Serenade

I ARISE from dreams of thee 
  In the first sweet sleep of night, 
When the winds are breathing low, 
  And the stars are shining bright. 
I arise from dreams of thee,         5
  And a spirit in my feet 
Hath led me—who knows how? 
  To thy chamber window, Sweet! 
 
The wandering airs they faint 
  On the dark, the silent stream—  10
And the champak’s odours [pine] 
  Like sweet thoughts in a dream; 
The nightingale’s complaint, 
  It dies upon her heart, 
As I must on thine,  15
  O belovèd as thou art! 
 
O lift me from the grass! 
  I die! I faint! I fail! 
Let thy love in kisses rain 
  On my lips and eyelids pale.  20
My cheek is cold and white, alas! 
  My heart beats loud and fast: 
O press it to thine own again, 
  Where it will break at last!