The Question by Percy Bysshe Shelley
The speaker dreams that winter turns to spring and wanders among flowers beside a stream. After gathering a bouquet that preserves their arrangement of colours, the speaker hurries back to offer it, then asks to whom.
By Percy Bysshe Shelley · Genre: Lyric Poetry, Nature Poetry, Dream Literature · 476 words
First lines
I dreamed that, as I wandered by the way, / Bare Winter suddenly was changed to Spring, / And gentle odours led my steps astray, / Mixed with a sound of waters murmuring / Along a shelving bank of turf, which lay / Under a copse, and hardly dared to fling / Its green arms round the bosom of the stream, / But kissed it and then fled, as thou mightest in dream.
Genres
- Lyric Poetry — A first-person speaker recounts a dream, moving from delight in flowers to a closing question about their intended recipient.
- Nature Poetry — The stanzas describe wildflowers, hedges, reeds and water-lilies beside a stream, attending to their colours and positions.
- Dream Literature — The gathering of the bouquet occurs within an explicitly identified dream in which winter suddenly becomes spring.
Tags
dreams · spring · wildflowers · bouquets · streams
What this Textopian page supports
The Question 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, Dream Literature
- Length: 476 words
- Structure: 1 section, 5 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Difficult (College Level)
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