To Wordsworth by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Addressing Wordsworth, the speaker shares his grief over lost childhood, youth, friendship, and first love. He recalls Wordsworth's former guidance and songs devoted to truth and liberty, then mourns his abandonment of those commitments.
By Percy Bysshe Shelley · Genre: Sonnet, Lyric Poetry, Political Poetry · 169 words
First lines
Poet of Nature, thou hast wept to know / That things depart which never may return: / Childhood and youth, friendship and love's first glow, / Have fled like sweet dreams, leaving thee to mourn. / These common woes I feel. One loss is mine / Which thou too feel'st, yet I alone deplore. / Thou wert as a lone star, whose light did shine / On some frail bark in winter's midnight roar: / Thou hast like to a rock-built refuge stood / Above the blind and battling multitude: / In honoured poverty thy voice did weave / Songs consecrate to truth and liberty,- / Deserting these, thou leavest me to grieve, / Thus having been, that thou shouldst cease to be.
Genres
- Sonnet — Fourteen rhymed lines turn from shared losses and remembered guidance to a closing reproach.
- Lyric Poetry — The speaker directly addresses another poet and expresses personal grief at his changed commitments.
- Political Poetry — The reproach concerns the abandonment of songs devoted to truth and liberty.
Tags
sonnet · liberty · truth · disillusionment · lost youth
What this Textopian page supports
To Wordsworth 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: Sonnet, Lyric Poetry, Political Poetry
- Length: 169 words
- Structure: 1 section, 1 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Fairly Easy (7th Grade)
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