When the lamp is shattered, <br />The light in the dust lies dead; <br /> When the cloud is scattered, <br />The rainbow's glory is shed; <br /> When the lute is broken, <br />Sweet tones are remembered not; <br /> When the lips have spoken, <br />Loved accents are soon forgot. <br /> <br /> As music and splendor <br />Survive not the lamp and the lute, <br /> The heart's echoes render <br />No song when the spirit is mute:-- <br /> No song but sad dirges, <br />Like the wind through a ruined cell, <br /> Or the mournful surges <br />That ring the dead seaman's knell. <br /> <br /> When hearts have once mingled, <br />Love first leaves the well-built nest; <br /> The weak one is singled <br />To endure what it once possessed. <br /> O Love! who bewailest <br />The frailty of all things here, <br /> Why choose you the frailest <br />For your cradle, your home, and your bier? <br /> <br /> Its passions will rock thee, <br />As the storms rock the ravens on high; <br /> Bright reason will mock thee, <br />Like the sun from a wintry sky. <br /> From thy nest every rafter <br />Will rot, and thine eagle home <br /> Leave thee naked to laughter, <br />When leaves fall and cold winds come.<br /><br />Percy Bysshe Shelley<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/when-the-lamp-is-shattered/
