The Cold Earth Slept Below
A cold night wind passes over ice and snow beneath a sinking moon; birds rest on a bare thorn beside frost-cracked ground. The speaker addresses a beloved whose eyes and dark hair catch the fading moonlight, and who lies exposed to wind and frozen dew.
By Percy Bysshe Shelley · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Nature Poetry · 287 words
First lines
1.
The cold earth slept below, / Above the cold sky shone; / And all around, with a chilling sound, / From caves of ice and fields of snow, / The breath of night like death did flow / Beneath the sinking moon.
2.
The wintry hedge was black, / The green grass was not seen, / The birds did rest on the bare thorn's breast, / Whose roots, beside the pathway track, / Had bound their folds o'er many a crack / Which the frost had made between.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — Four rhymed stanzas move from a wintry landscape to an intimate address to a beloved exposed to the cold.
- Nature Poetry — Ice, snow, resting birds, bare thorn roots, moonlight and frozen dew give the nighttime scene its concrete detail.
Tags
winter · moonlight · night wind · frost · beloved
What this Textopian page supports
The Cold Earth Slept Below 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, Nature Poetry
- Length: 287 words
- Structure: 1 section, 8 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
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