On Death by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The speaker compares life's dwindling strength to a faint light on a sea-girt island and urges courage before death. Reflecting on the loss of earthly knowledge and sensation, the speaker asks who can reveal what lies beyond the grave or reconcile future hopes with present fears and love.
By Percy Bysshe Shelley · Genre: Philosophical Poetry, Meditative Poetry · 371 words
First lines
THERE IS NO WORK, NOR DEVICE, NOR KNOWLEDGE, NOR WISDOM, / IN THE GRAVE, WHITHER THOU GOEST. -Ecclesiastes.
The pale, the cold, and the moony smile / Which the meteor beam of a starless night / Sheds on a lonely and sea-girt isle, / Ere the dawning of morn's undoubted light, / Is the flame of life so fickle and wan / That flits round our steps till their strength is gone.
Genres
- Philosophical Poetry — The verses consider the dependence of knowledge and feeling on earthly life and question whether anyone can disclose what follows death.
- Meditative Poetry — The speaker moves from a comparison of life with a fading light to reflections on mortality and unanswered questions about the grave.
Tags
mortality · fear of death · courage · limits of knowledge · sensation · afterlife
What this Textopian page supports
On Death 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: Philosophical Poetry, Meditative Poetry
- Length: 371 words
- Structure: 1 section, 6 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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- Work identity for On Death by Percy Bysshe Shelley
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