Sonnet: to a Balloon Laden with Knowledge
The speaker addresses a balloon crossing the evening sky as a bright ball of flame that dims the stars, telling it that, unlike the fire it bears, it will soon fade like a meteor. That borne fire, by contrast, is said to remain unquenchable: a watch-light by the patriot's lonely tomb, a ray of courage to the oppressed and poor, a spark on the hovel's hearth that will roar through the tyrant's gilded domes, a beacon in the Earth's darkness, and a sun that will dart like Truth where Falsehood has been.
By Percy Bysshe Shelley · Genre: Romantic Poetry, Political Poetry, Allegorical Poetry · 166 words
First lines
Bright ball of flame that through the gloom of even / Silently takest thine aethereal way, / And with surpassing glory dimm'st each ray / Twinkling amid the dark blue depths of Heaven,- / Unlike the fire thou bearest, soon shalt thou / Fade like a meteor in surrounding gloom, / Whilst that, unquenchable, is doomed to glow / A watch-light by the patriot's lonely tomb; / A ray of courage to the oppressed and poor; / A spark, though gleaming on the hovel's hearth, / Which through the tyrant's gilded domes shall roar; / A beacon in the darkness of the Earth; / A sun which, o'er the renovated scene, / Shall dart like Truth where Falsehood yet has been.
What this Textopian page supports
Sonnet: to a Balloon Laden with Knowledge 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: Romantic Poetry, Political Poetry, Allegorical Poetry
- Length: 166 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Sonnet: to a Balloon Laden with Knowledge by Percy Bysshe Shelley
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
- Readability and classroom-planning context
- Passage-specific claims should cite the exact /read/ URL for the relevant chapter or paragraph
Genres
- Romantic Poetry — The sonnet apostrophizes a balloon as a 'Bright ball of flame' crossing the evening sky, outshining the stars, then shifts into a visionary chain of images in which the fire it carries becomes a watch-light, beacon and sun over a 'renovated scene'.
- Political Poetry — The fire the balloon bears is set beside 'the patriot's lonely tomb', offered as courage 'to the oppressed and poor', and made to roar 'through the tyrant's gilded domes', framing knowledge as a force against tyranny.
- Allegorical Poetry — The literal balloon fades 'like a meteor', while the knowledge it carries is figured as an unquenchable flame that will 'dart like Truth where Falsehood yet has been', turning the night flight into a figure for truth spreading through the world.
Tags
sonnet · romanticism · political allegory · balloon · truth vs falsehood · revolutionary imagery