Percy Bysshe Shelley

Name: The Revolt of Islam — Canto X
Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley

Summary

“The Revolt of Islam — Canto X”, published in 1818, is a work by Percy Bysshe Shelley. It explores elements such as Plague, flame and wingèd.

Quotes from The Revolt of Islam — Canto X (Percy Bysshe Shelley)

Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam — Canto X (1818)

“ Madness, and Fear, and Plague, and Famine, still
Heaped corpse on corpse, as in autumnal woods
The frosts of many a wind with dead leaves fill
Earth's cold and sullen brooks; in silence still,
The pale survivors stood; ere noon the fear
Of Hell became a panic, which did kill
Like hunger or disease, with whispers drear,
As 'Hush! hark! come they yet?—Just Heaven, thine hour is near!'
XLV.
And Priests rushed through their ranks, some counterfeiting
The rage they did inspire, some mad indeed
With their own lies. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam — Canto X (1818)

“ Ere night the pyre was piled, the net of iron
Was spread above, the fearful couch below;
It overtopped the towers that did environ
That spacious square; for Fear is never slow
To build the thrones of Hate, her mate and foe;
So she scourged forth the maniac multitude
To rear this pyramid—tottering and slow,
Plague-stricken, foodless, like lean herds pursued
By gadflies, they have piled the heath and gums and wood.
XLIII.
Night came, a starless and a moonless gloom. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam — Canto X (1818)

“ He and his guards and Priests; but Plague did fling
One shadow upon all. Famine can smile
On him who brings it food, and pass, with guile
Of thankful falsehood, like a courtier gray,
The house-dog of the throne; but many a mile
Comes Plague, a wingèd wolf, who loathes alway
The garbage and the scum that strangers make her prey. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam — Canto X (1818)

“ With lidless eyes lie Faith and Plague and Slaughter—
A ghastly brood conceived of Lethe's sullen water.
XVIII.
There was no food; the corn was trampled down,
The flocks and herds had perished; on the shore
The dead and putrid fish were ever thrown;
The deeps were foodless, and the winds no more
Creaked with the weight of birds, but as before
Those wingèd things sprang forth, were void of shade;
The vines and orchards, autumn's golden store,
Were burned; so that the meanest food was weighed
With gold, and avarice died before the god it made. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam — Canto X (1818)

“ With smoke by day, and fire by night, the power
Of Kings and Priests, those dark conspirators,
He called; they knew his cause their own, and swore
Like wolves and serpents to their mutual wars
Strange truce, with many a rite which Earth and Heaven abhors. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam — Canto X (1818)

“ The madness, which these rites had lulled, awoke
Again at sunset. Who shall dare to say
The deeds which night and fear brought forth, or weigh
In balance just the good and evil there?
He might man's deep and searchless heart display,
And cast a light on those dim labyrinths where
Hope near imagined chasm is struggling with despair. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam — Canto X (1818)

“ That thus with his proud voice, ere night was gone,
He broke our linkèd rest? or do indeed
All living things a common nature own,
And thought erect an universal throne,
Where many shapes one tribute ever bear? ”

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Source: Wikisource

Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam — Canto X (1818)

“ To wreak his fear of Heaven in vengeance on mankind.
XXXIII.
But more he loathed and hated the clear light
Of wisdom and free thought, and more did fear,
Lest, kindled once, its beams might pierce the night,
Even where his Idol stood; for far and near
Did many a heart in Europe leap to hear
That faith and tyranny were trampled down,—
Many a pale victim, doomed for truth to share
The murderer's cell, or see with helpless groan
The Priests his children drag for slaves to serve their own. ”

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Source: Wikisource

Percy Bysshe Shelley, The Revolt of Islam — Canto X (1818)

“ Proclaiming through the living and the dead,—
'The Monarch saith that his great empire's worth
Is set on Laon and Laone's head;
He who but one yet living here can lead,
Or who the life from both their hearts can wring,
Shall be the kingdom's heir—a glorious meed! ”

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Summary

Quotes from The Revolt of Islam — Canto X (Percy Bysshe Shelley)

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