Oh! there are Spirits of the Air
A speaker addresses someone whose communion with nature and hopes for human affection have ended in disappointment. Their own soul remains faithful but is figured as a tormenting fiend, and the speaker warns that trying to escape or change their misery would worsen it.
By Percy Bysshe Shelley · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Melancholic Poetry · 393 words
First lines
Dakrtsi Dioiso Potmon ‘Apotmon
Oh! there are spirits of the air, / And genii of the evening breeze, / And gentle ghosts, with eyes as fair / As star-beams among twilight trees: - / Such lovely ministers to meet / Oft hast thou turned from men thy lonely feet.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Six rhymed stanzas address a suffering person through questions about rejected love, disappointed hope, and their altered inner life.
- Melancholic Poetry — The addressee loses consolation in nature and human smiles, while the closing stanza declares that change would aggravate their misery.
Tags
unrequited love · disillusionment · nature · spirits · inner torment
What this Textopian page supports
Oh! there are Spirits of the Air is listed on Textopian as a poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley, dated Date unknown.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Poem
- Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Date: Date unknown
- Language: English
- Genres: Lyric Poetry, Melancholic Poetry
- Length: 393 words
- Structure: 1 section, 7 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Easy (6th Grade)
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- Work identity for Oh! there are Spirits of the Air by Percy Bysshe Shelley
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- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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