Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
Percy Bysshe Shelley. 17921822613. From the Arabic AN IMITATION
MY faint spirit was sitting in the light | |
Of thy looks, my love; | |
It panted for thee like the hind at noon | |
For the brooks, my love. | |
Thy barb, whose hoofs outspeed the tempest’s flight, | 5 |
Bore thee far from me; | |
My heart, for my weak feet were weary soon, | |
Did companion thee. | |
Ah! fleeter far than fleetest storm or steed, | |
Or the death they bear, | 10 |
The heart which tender thought clothes like a dove | |
With the wings of care; | |
In the battle, in the darkness, in the need, | |
Shall mine cling to thee, | |
Nor claim one smile for all the comfort, love, | 15 |
It may bring to thee. |