Quote by Percy Bysshe Shelley

"Exhales itself in flowers of gentle breath; Like incarnations of the stars, when splendour Is changed to fragrance, they illumine death And mock the merry worm that wakes beneath; Nought we know, dies. Shall that alone which knows Be as a sword consumed before the sheath By sightless lightning?-the intense atom glows A moment, then is quenched in a most cold repose."

— Percy Bysshe Shelley, from Adonais

More quotes by Percy Bysshe Shelley

"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings: Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!" from Ozymandias

"There grew pied wind-flowers and violets, Daisies, those pearled Arcturi of the earth, The constellated flower that nev…" from The Question

"Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings Give various response to each varying blast, To whose frail frame no s…" from Mutability

"Art thou pale for weariness Of climbing heaven and gazing on the earth, Wandering companionless Among the stars that ha…" from To the Moon

"The trumpet of a prophecy! O, Wind, If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?" from Ode to the West Wind

"Hail to thee, blithe Spirit! Bird thou never wert, That from Heaven, or near it, Pourest thy full heart In profuse stra…" from To a Skylark

"As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need. Oh, lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud! I fall upon the thorns of life! I …" from Ode to the West Wind

"Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; Destroyer and preserver; hear, oh, hear!" from Ode to the West Wind

"Love, Hope, and Self-esteem, like clouds depart And come, for some uncertain moments lent. Man were immortal, and omnip…" from Hymn to Intellectual Beauty

"Higher still and higher From the earth thou springest Like a cloud of fire; The blue deep thou wingest, And singing sti…" from To a Skylark

All quotes by Percy Bysshe Shelley →

Read the full poem →

Read this quote by Percy Bysshe Shelley from "Adonais". Discover more inspiring quotes and poetry on The Poet's Place.