Here is one of my Shelley favs

It is an interesting exercise to read over a 1,000 poems by one author. I would not recommend it to anyone, but it does reveal as much about you as it does the Poet!

I needed a break - a refreshing brace - so I turned to Shelley. Loved his Mary's work - Frankenstein - definitely worth a read through if you have never read it.

I saw the simulcast of the British Theatre presentation of Frankenstein last year. Simply amazing - the actors playing Dr. Frankenstein and the Monster changed roles every performance to keep it fresh - Amazing.

Here is one of my Shelley favs - read it aloud in your quiet room for maximum effect... it is verrrrry soothing:

I arise from dreams of thee
In the first sweet sleep of night,
When the winds are breathing low,
And the stars are shining bright.
I arise from dreams of thee,
And a spirit in my feet
Has led me -who knows how?
To thy chamber-window, Sweet!

The wandering airs they faint
On the dark, the silent stream -
The champak odours fail
Like sweet thoughts in a dream;
The nightingale's complaint,
It dies upon her heart,
As I must die on thine,
O beloved as thou art!

Oh lift me from the grass!
I die! I faint! I fail!
Let thy love in kisses rain
On my lips and eyelids pale.
My cheek is cold and white, alas!
My heart beats loud and fast;
Oh press it close to thine again,
Where it will break at last!

The trancelike, enchanting rhythm of this lovely lyric results from the poet’s use of a loose pattern of regular dimeters that employ variously trochaic, anapestic, and iambic stresses. And you thought it was just relaxing by accident!
The rhyme scheme is tighter than the poem’s rhythm, forming a consistent ABCBADCD pattern in each of the three stanzas.
So much thought in such a sublime confection!