Project Gutenberg's The Daemon of the World, by Percy Bysshe Shelley

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org


Title: The Daemon of the World

Author: Percy Bysshe Shelley

Release Date: December 9, 2009 [EBook #4654]
Last Updated: February 6, 2013

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAEMON OF THE WORLD ***




Produced by Sue Asscher, and David Widger








THE DAEMON OF THE WORLD.

A FRAGMENT.


By Percy Bysshe Shelley






PART 1.


PART 2.






PART 1.

     Nec tantum prodere vati,
     Quantum scire licet. Venit aetas omnis in unam
     Congeriem, miserumque premunt tot saecula pectus.
     LUCAN, Phars. v. 176.

       How wonderful is Death,
       Death and his brother Sleep!
     One pale as yonder wan and horned moon,
       With lips of lurid blue,
     The other glowing like the vital morn,                        5
       When throned on ocean's wave
       It breathes over the world:
     Yet both so passing strange and wonderful!

     Hath then the iron-sceptred Skeleton,
     Whose reign is in the tainted sepulchres,                    10
     To the hell dogs that couch beneath his throne
     Cast that fair prey? Must that divinest form,
     Which love and admiration cannot view
     Without a beating heart, whose azure veins
     Steal like dark streams along a field of snow,               15
     Whose outline is as fair as marble clothed
     In light of some sublimest mind, decay?
       Nor putrefaction's breath
     Leave aught of this pure spectacle
       But loathsomeness and ruin?—                               20
       Spare aught but a dark theme,
     On which the lightest heart might moralize?
     Or is it but that downy-winged slumbers
     Have charmed their nurse coy Silence near her lids
       To watch their own repose?                                 25
       Will they, when morning's beam
       Flows through those wells of light,
     Seek far from noise and day some western cave,
     Where woods and streams with soft and pausing winds
       A lulling murmur weave?—                                   30
       Ianthe doth not sleep
       The dreamless sleep of death:
     Nor in her moonlight chamber silently
     Doth Henry hear her regular pulses throb,
       Or mark her delicate cheek                                 35
     With interchange of hues mock the broad moon,
       Outwatching weary night,
       Without assured reward.
       Her dewy eyes are closed;
     On their translucent lids, whose texture fine                40
     Scarce hides the dark blue orbs that burn below
       With unapparent fire,
       The baby Sleep is pillowed:
       Her golden tresses shade
       The bosom's stainless pride,                               45
     Twining like tendrils of the parasite
       Around a marble column.

       Hark! whence that rushing sound?
       'Tis like a wondrous strain that sweeps
       Around a lonely ruin                                       50
     When west winds sigh and evening waves respond
       In whispers from the shore:
     'Tis wilder than the unmeasured notes
     Which from the unseen lyres of dells and groves
       The genii of the breezes sweep.                            55
     Floating on waves of music and of light,
     The chariot of the Daemon of the World
       Descends in silent power:
     Its shape reposed within: slight as some cloud
     That catches but the palest tinge of day                     60
       When evening yields to night,
     Bright as that fibrous woof when stars indue
       Its transitory robe.
     Four shapeless shadows bright and beautiful
     Draw that strange car of glory, reins of light               65
     Check their unearthly speed; they stop and fold
       Their wings of braided air:
     The Daemon leaning from the ethereal car
       Gazed on the slumbering maid.
     Human eye hath ne'er beheld                                  70
     A shape so wild, so bright, so beautiful,
     As that which o'er the maiden's charmed sleep
       Waving a starry wand,
       Hung like a mist of light.
     Such sounds as breathed around like odorous winds            75
       Of wakening spring arose,
     Filling the chamber and the moonlight sky.
     Maiden, the world's supremest spirit
       Beneath the shadow of her wings
     Folds all thy memory doth inherit                            80
       From ruin of divinest things,
       Feelings that lure thee to betray,
       And light of thoughts that pass away.
     For thou hast earned a mighty boon,
       The truths which wisest poets see                          85
     Dimly, thy mind may make its own,
       Rewarding its own majesty,
       Entranced in some diviner mood
       Of self-oblivious solitude.

     Custom, and Faith, and Power thou spurnest;                  90
       From hate and awe thy heart is free;
     Ardent and pure as day thou burnest,
       For dark and cold mortality
       A living light, to cheer it long,
       The watch-fires of the world among.                        95

     Therefore from nature's inner shrine,
       Where gods and fiends in worship bend,
     Majestic spirit, be it thine
       The flame to seize, the veil to rend,
       Where the vast snake Eternity                             100
       In charmed sleep doth ever lie.

     All that inspires thy voice of love,
       Or speaks in thy unclosing eyes,
     Or through thy frame doth burn or move,
       Or think or feel, awake, arise!                           105
       Spirit, leave for mine and me
       Earth's unsubstantial mimicry!

     It ceased, and from the mute and moveless frame
       A radiant spirit arose,
     All beautiful in naked purity.                              110
     Robed in its human hues it did ascend,
     Disparting as it went the silver clouds,
     It moved towards the car, and took its seat
       Beside the Daemon shape.

     Obedient to the sweep of aery song,                         115
       The mighty ministers
     Unfurled their prismy wings.
       The magic car moved on;
     The night was fair, innumerable stars
       Studded heaven's dark blue vault;                         120
       The eastern wave grew pale
       With the first smile of morn.
       The magic car moved on.
       From the swift sweep of wings
     The atmosphere in flaming sparkles flew;                    125
       And where the burning wheels
     Eddied above the mountain's loftiest peak
       Was traced a line of lightning.
     Now far above a rock the utmost verge
       Of the wide earth it flew,                                130
     The rival of the Andes, whose dark brow
       Frowned o'er the silver sea.
     Far, far below the chariot's stormy path,
       Calm as a slumbering babe,
       Tremendous ocean lay.                                     135
     Its broad and silent mirror gave to view
       The pale and waning stars,
       The chariot's fiery track,
       And the grey light of morn
       Tingeing those fleecy clouds                              140
     That cradled in their folds the infant dawn.
       The chariot seemed to fly
     Through the abyss of an immense concave,
     Radiant with million constellations, tinged
       With shades of infinite colour,                           145
       And semicircled with a belt
       Flashing incessant meteors.

       As they approached their goal,
     The winged shadows seemed to gather speed.
     The sea no longer was distinguished; earth                  150
     Appeared a vast and shadowy sphere, suspended
       In the black concave of heaven
       With the sun's cloudless orb,
       Whose rays of rapid light
     Parted around the chariot's swifter course,                 155
     And fell like ocean's feathery spray
       Dashed from the boiling surge
       Before a vessel's prow.

       The magic car moved on.
       Earth's distant orb appeared                              160
     The smallest light that twinkles in the heavens,
       Whilst round the chariot's way
     Innumerable systems widely rolled,
       And countless spheres diffused
       An ever varying glory.                                    165
     It was a sight of wonder! Some were horned,
     And like the moon's argentine crescent hung
     In the dark dome of heaven; some did shed
     A clear mild beam like Hesperus, while the sea
     Yet glows with fading sunlight; others dashed               170
     Athwart the night with trains of bickering fire,
     Like sphered worlds to death and ruin driven;
     Some shone like stars, and as the chariot passed
       Bedimmed all other light.

       Spirit of Nature! here                                    175
     In this interminable wilderness
     Of worlds, at whose involved immensity
       Even soaring fancy staggers,
       Here is thy fitting temple.
       Yet not the lightest leaf                                 180
     That quivers to the passing breeze
       Is less instinct with thee,—
       Yet not the meanest worm.
     That lurks in graves and fattens on the dead,
       Less shares thy eternal breath.                           185
       Spirit of Nature! thou
     Imperishable as this glorious scene,
       Here is thy fitting temple.

     If solitude hath ever led thy steps
     To the shore of the immeasurable sea,                       190
       And thou hast lingered there
       Until the sun's broad orb
     Seemed resting on the fiery line of ocean,
       Thou must have marked the braided webs of gold
       That without motion hang                                  195
       Over the sinking sphere:
     Thou must have marked the billowy mountain clouds,
     Edged with intolerable radiancy,
       Towering like rocks of jet
       Above the burning deep:                                   200
       And yet there is a moment
       When the sun's highest point
     Peers like a star o'er ocean's western edge,
     When those far clouds of feathery purple gleam
     Like fairy lands girt by some heavenly sea:                 205
     Then has thy rapt imagination soared
     Where in the midst of all existing things
     The temple of the mightiest Daemon stands.

       Yet not the golden islands
     That gleam amid yon flood of purple light,                  210
       Nor the feathery curtains
     That canopy the sun's resplendent couch,
       Nor the burnished ocean waves
       Paving that gorgeous dome,
       So fair, so wonderful a sight                             215
     As the eternal temple could afford.
     The elements of all that human thought
     Can frame of lovely or sublime, did join
     To rear the fabric of the fane, nor aught
     Of earth may image forth its majesty.                       220
     Yet likest evening's vault that faery hall,
     As heaven low resting on the wave it spread
       Its floors of flashing light,
       Its vast and azure dome;
     And on the verge of that obscure abyss                      225
     Where crystal battlements o'erhang the gulf
     Of the dark world, ten thousand spheres diffuse
     Their lustre through its adamantine gates.

       The magic car no longer moved;
       The Daemon and the Spirit                                 230
       Entered the eternal gates.
       Those clouds of aery gold
       That slept in glittering billows
       Beneath the azure canopy,
     With the ethereal footsteps trembled not;                   235
       While slight and odorous mists
     Floated to strains of thrilling melody
     Through the vast columns and the pearly shrines.

       The Daemon and the Spirit
     Approached the overhanging battlement,                      240
     Below lay stretched the boundless universe!
       There, far as the remotest line
     That limits swift imagination's flight.
     Unending orbs mingled in mazy motion,
       Immutably fulfilling                                      245
       Eternal Nature's law.
       Above, below, around,
       The circling systems formed
       A wilderness of harmony.
       Each with undeviating aim                                 250
     In eloquent silence through the depths of space
       Pursued its wondrous way.—

     Awhile the Spirit paused in ecstasy.
     Yet soon she saw, as the vast spheres swept by,
     Strange things within their belted orbs appear.             255
     Like animated frenzies, dimly moved
     Shadows, and skeletons, and fiendly shapes,
     Thronging round human graves, and o'er the dead
     Sculpturing records for each memory
     In verse, such as malignant gods pronounce,                 260
     Blasting the hopes of men, when heaven and hell
     Confounded burst in ruin o'er the world:
     And they did build vast trophies, instruments
     Of murder, human bones, barbaric gold,
     Skins torn from living men, and towers of skulls            265
     With sightless holes gazing on blinder heaven,
     Mitres, and crowns, and brazen chariots stained
     With blood, and scrolls of mystic wickedness,
     The sanguine codes of venerable crime.
     The likeness of a throned king came by.                     270
     When these had passed, bearing upon his brow
     A threefold crown; his countenance was calm.
     His eye severe and cold; but his right hand
     Was charged with bloody coin, and he did gnaw
     By fits, with secret smiles, a human heart                  275
     Concealed beneath his robe; and motley shapes,
     A multitudinous throng, around him knelt.
     With bosoms bare, and bowed heads, and false looks
     Of true submission, as the sphere rolled by.
     Brooking no eye to witness their foul shame,                280
     Which human hearts must feel, while human tongues
     Tremble to speak, they did rage horribly,
     Breathing in self-contempt fierce blasphemies
     Against the Daemon of the World, and high
     Hurling their armed hands where the pure Spirit,            285
     Serene and inaccessibly secure,
     Stood on an isolated pinnacle.
     The flood of ages combating below,
     The depth of the unbounded universe
       Above, and all around                                     290
     Necessity's unchanging harmony.





PART 2.

     O happy Earth! reality of Heaven!
     To which those restless powers that ceaselessly
     Throng through the human universe aspire;
     Thou consummation of all mortal hope!                       295
     Thou glorious prize of blindly-working will!
     Whose rays, diffused throughout all space and time,
     Verge to one point and blend for ever there:
     Of purest spirits thou pure dwelling-place!
     Where care and sorrow, impotence and crime,                 300
     Languor, disease, and ignorance dare not come:
     O happy Earth, reality of Heaven!

       Genius has seen thee in her passionate dreams,
     And dim forebodings of thy loveliness,
     Haunting the human heart, have there entwined               305
     Those rooted hopes, that the proud Power of Evil
     Shall not for ever on this fairest world
     Shake pestilence and war, or that his slaves
     With blasphemy for prayer, and human blood
     For sacrifice, before his shrine for ever                   310
     In adoration bend, or Erebus
     With all its banded fiends shall not uprise
     To overwhelm in envy and revenge
     The dauntless and the good, who dare to hurl
     Defiance at his throne, girt tho' it be                     315
     With Death's omnipotence. Thou hast beheld
     His empire, o'er the present and the past;
     It was a desolate sight—now gaze on mine,
     Futurity. Thou hoary giant Time,
     Render thou up thy half-devoured babes,—                    320
     And from the cradles of eternity,
     Where millions lie lulled to their portioned sleep
     By the deep murmuring stream of passing things,
     Tear thou that gloomy shroud.—Spirit, behold
     Thy glorious destiny!
       The Spirit saw                                            325
     The vast frame of the renovated world
     Smile in the lap of Chaos, and the sense
     Of hope thro' her fine texture did suffuse
     Such varying glow, as summer evening casts
     On undulating clouds and deepening lakes.                   330
     Like the vague sighings of a wind at even,
     That wakes the wavelets of the slumbering sea
     And dies on the creation of its breath,
     And sinks and rises, fails and swells by fits,
     Was the sweet stream of thought that with wild motion       335
     Flowed o'er the Spirit's human sympathies.
     The mighty tide of thought had paused awhile,
     Which from the Daemon now like Ocean's stream
     Again began to pour.—
       To me is given
     The wonders of the human world to keep—                     340
     Space, matter, time and mind—let the sight
     Renew and strengthen all thy failing hope.
     All things are recreated, and the flame
     Of consentaneous love inspires all life:
     The fertile bosom of the earth gives suck                   345
     To myriads, who still grow beneath her care,
     Rewarding her with their pure perfectness:
     The balmy breathings of the wind inhale
     Her virtues, and diffuse them all abroad:
     Health floats amid the gentle atmosphere,                   350
     Glows in the fruits, and mantles on the stream;
     No storms deform the beaming brow of heaven,
     Nor scatter in the freshness of its pride
     The foliage of the undecaying trees;
     But fruits are ever ripe, flowers ever fair,                355
     And Autumn proudly bears her matron grace,
     Kindling a flush on the fair cheek of Spring,
     Whose virgin bloom beneath the ruddy fruit
     Reflects its tint and blushes into love.

       The habitable earth is full of bliss;                     360
     Those wastes of frozen billows that were hurled
     By everlasting snow-storms round the poles,
     Where matter dared not vegetate nor live,
     But ceaseless frost round the vast solitude
     Bound its broad zone of stillness, are unloosed;            365
     And fragrant zephyrs there from spicy isles
     Ruffle the placid ocean-deep, that rolls
     Its broad, bright surges to the sloping sand,
     Whose roar is wakened into echoings sweet
     To murmur through the heaven-breathing groves               370
     And melodise with man's blest nature there.

       The vast tract of the parched and sandy waste
     Now teems with countless rills and shady woods,
     Corn-fields and pastures and white cottages;
     And where the startled wilderness did hear                  375
     A savage conqueror stained in kindred blood,
     Hymmng his victory, or the milder snake
     Crushing the bones of some frail antelope
     Within his brazen folds—the dewy lawn,
     Offering sweet incense to the sunrise, smiles               380
     To see a babe before his mother's door,
     Share with the green and golden basilisk
     That comes to lick his feet, his morning's meal.

       Those trackless deeps, where many a weary sail
     Has seen, above the illimitable plain,                      385
     Morning on night and night on morning rise,
     Whilst still no land to greet the wanderer spread
     Its shadowy mountains on the sunbright sea,
     Where the loud roarings of the tempest-waves
     So long have mingled with the gusty wind                    390
     In melancholy loneliness, and swept
     The desert of those ocean solitudes,
     But vocal to the sea-bird's harrowing shriek,
     The bellowing monster, and the rushing storm,
     Now to the sweet and many-mingling sounds                   395
     Of kindliest human impulses respond:
     Those lonely realms bright garden-isles begem,
     With lightsome clouds and shining seas between,
     And fertile valleys resonant with bliss,
     Whilst green woods overcanopy the wave,                     400
     Which like a toil-worn labourer leaps to shore,
     To meet the kisses of the flowerets there.

       Man chief perceives the change, his being notes
     The gradual renovation, and defines
     Each movement of its progress on his mind.                  405
     Man, where the gloom of the long polar night
     Lowered o'er the snow-clad rocks and frozen soil,
     Where scarce the hardiest herb that braves the frost
     Basked in the moonlight's ineffectual glow,
     Shrank with the plants, and darkened with the night;        410
     Nor where the tropics bound the realms of day
     With a broad belt of mingling cloud and flame,
     Where blue mists through the unmoving atmosphere
     Scattered the seeds of pestilence, and fed
     Unnatural vegetation, where the land                        415
     Teemed with all earthquake, tempest and disease,
     Was man a nobler being; slavery
     Had crushed him to his country's blood-stained dust.

       Even where the milder zone afforded man
     A seeming shelter, yet contagion there,                     420
     Blighting his being with unnumbered ills,
     Spread like a quenchless fire; nor truth availed
     Till late to arrest its progress, or create
     That peace which first in bloodless victory waved
     Her snowy standard o'er this favoured clime:                425
     There man was long the train-bearer of slaves,
     The mimic of surrounding misery,
     The jackal of ambition's lion-rage,
     The bloodhound of religion's hungry zeal.

       Here now the human being stands adorning                  430
     This loveliest earth with taintless body and mind;
     Blest from his birth with all bland impulses,
     Which gently in his noble bosom wake
     All kindly passions and all pure desires.
     Him, still from hope to hope the bliss pursuing,            435
     Which from the exhaustless lore of human weal
     Dawns on the virtuous mind, the thoughts that rise
     In time-destroying infiniteness gift
     With self-enshrined eternity, that mocks
     The unprevailing hoariness of age,                          440
     And man, once fleeting o'er the transient scene
     Swift as an unremembered vision, stands
     Immortal upon earth: no longer now
     He slays the beast that sports around his dwelling
     And horribly devours its mangled flesh,                     445
     Or drinks its vital blood, which like a stream
     Of poison thro' his fevered veins did flow
     Feeding a plague that secretly consumed
     His feeble frame, and kindling in his mind
     Hatred, despair, and fear and vain belief,                  450
     The germs of misery, death, disease and crime.
     No longer now the winged habitants,
     That in the woods their sweet lives sing away,
     Flee from the form of man; but gather round,
     And prune their sunny feathers on the hands                 455
     Which little children stretch in friendly sport
     Towards these dreadless partners of their play.
     All things are void of terror: man has lost
     His desolating privilege, and stands
     An equal amidst equals: happiness                           460
     And science dawn though late upon the earth;
     Peace cheers the mind, health renovates the frame;
     Disease and pleasure cease to mingle here,
     Reason and passion cease to combat there;
     Whilst mind unfettered o'er the earth extends               465
     Its all-subduing energies, and wields
     The sceptre of a vast dominion there.

       Mild is the slow necessity of death:
     The tranquil spirit fails beneath its grasp,
     Without a groan, almost without a fear,                     470
     Resigned in peace to the necessity,
     Calm as a voyager to some distant land,
     And full of wonder, full of hope as he.
     The deadly germs of languor and disease
     Waste in the human frame, and Nature gifts                  475
     With choicest boons her human worshippers.
     How vigorous now the athletic form of age!
     How clear its open and unwrinkled brow!
     Where neither avarice, cunning, pride, or care,
     Had stamped the seal of grey deformity                      480
     On all the mingling lineaments of time.
     How lovely the intrepid front of youth!
     How sweet the smiles of taintless infancy.

       Within the massy prison's mouldering courts,
     Fearless and free the ruddy children play,                  485
     Weaving gay chaplets for their innocent brows
     With the green ivy and the red wall-flower,
     That mock the dungeon's unavailing gloom;
     The ponderous chains, and gratings of strong iron,
     There rust amid the accumulated ruins                       490
     Now mingling slowly with their native earth:
     There the broad beam of day, which feebly once
     Lighted the cheek of lean captivity
     With a pale and sickly glare, now freely shines
     On the pure smiles of infant playfulness:                   495
     No more the shuddering voice of hoarse despair
     Peals through the echoing vaults, but soothing notes
     Of ivy-fingered winds and gladsome birds
     And merriment are resonant around.

       The fanes of Fear and Falsehood hear no more              500
     The voice that once waked multitudes to war
     Thundering thro' all their aisles: but now respond
     To the death dirge of the melancholy wind:
     It were a sight of awfulness to see
     The works of faith and slavery, so vast,                    505
     So sumptuous, yet withal so perishing!
     Even as the corpse that rests beneath their wall.
     A thousand mourners deck the pomp of death
     To-day, the breathing marble glows above
     To decorate its memory, and tongues                         510
     Are busy of its life: to-morrow, worms
     In silence and in darkness seize their prey.
     These ruins soon leave not a wreck behind:
     Their elements, wide-scattered o'er the globe,
     To happier shapes are moulded, and become                   515
     Ministrant to all blissful impulses:
     Thus human things are perfected, and earth,
     Even as a child beneath its mother's love,
     Is strengthened in all excellence, and grows
     Fairer and nobler with each passing year.                   520

       Now Time his dusky pennons o'er the scene
     Closes in steadfast darkness, and the past
     Fades from our charmed sight. My task is done:
     Thy lore is learned. Earth's wonders are thine own,
     With all the fear and all the hope they bring.              525
     My spells are past: the present now recurs.
     Ah me! a pathless wilderness remains
     Yet unsubdued by man's reclaiming hand.

       Yet, human Spirit, bravely hold thy course,
     Let virtue teach thee firmly to pursue                      530
     The gradual paths of an aspiring change:
     For birth and life and death, and that strange state
     Before the naked powers that thro' the world
     Wander like winds have found a human home,
     All tend to perfect happiness, and urge                     535
     The restless wheels of being on their way,
     Whose flashing spokes, instinct with infinite life,
     Bicker and burn to gain their destined goal:
     For birth but wakes the universal mind
     Whose mighty streams might else in silence flow             540
     Thro' the vast world, to individual sense
     Of outward shows, whose unexperienced shape
     New modes of passion to its frame may lend;
     Life is its state of action, and the store
     Of all events is aggregated there                           545
     That variegate the eternal universe;
     Death is a gate of dreariness and gloom,
     That leads to azure isles and beaming skies
     And happy regions of eternal hope.
     Therefore, O Spirit! fearlessly bear on:                    550
     Though storms may break the primrose on its stalk,
     Though frosts may blight the freshness of its bloom,
     Yet spring's awakening breath will woo the earth,
     To feed with kindliest dews its favourite flower,
     That blooms in mossy banks and darksome glens,              555
     Lighting the green wood with its sunny smile.

       Fear not then, Spirit, death's disrobing hand,
     So welcome when the tyrant is awake,
     So welcome when the bigot's hell-torch flares;
     'Tis but the voyage of a darksome hour,                     560
     The transient gulf-dream of a startling sleep.
     For what thou art shall perish utterly,
     But what is thine may never cease to be;
     Death is no foe to virtue: earth has seen
     Love's brightest roses on the scaffold bloom,               565
     Mingling with freedom's fadeless laurels there,
     And presaging the truth of visioned bliss.
     Are there not hopes within thee, which this scene
     Of linked and gradual being has confirmed?
     Hopes that not vainly thou, and living fires                570
     Of mind as radiant and as pure as thou,
     Have shone upon the paths of men—return,
     Surpassing Spirit, to that world, where thou
     Art destined an eternal war to wage
     With tyranny and falsehood, and uproot                      575
     The germs of misery from the human heart.
     Thine is the hand whose piety would soothe
     The thorny pillow of unhappy crime,
     Whose impotence an easy pardon gains,
     Watching its wanderings as a friend's disease:              580
     Thine is the brow whose mildness would defy
     Its fiercest rage, and brave its sternest will,
     When fenced by power and master of the world.
     Thou art sincere and good; of resolute mind,
     Free from heart-withering custom's cold control,            585
     Of passion lofty, pure and unsubdued.
     Earth's pride and meanness could not vanquish thee,
     And therefore art thou worthy of the boon
     Which thou hast now received: virtue shall keep
     Thy footsteps in the path that thou hast trod,              590
     And many days of beaming hope shall bless
     Thy spotless life of sweet and sacred love.
     Go, happy one, and give that bosom joy
       Whose sleepless spirit waits to catch
       Light, life and rapture from thy smile.                   595

       The Daemon called its winged ministers.
     Speechless with bliss the Spirit mounts the car,
     That rolled beside the crystal battlement,
     Bending her beamy eyes in thankfulness.
       The burning wheels inflame                                600
     The steep descent of Heaven's untrodden way.
       Fast and far the chariot flew:
       The mighty globes that rolled
     Around the gate of the Eternal Fane
     Lessened by slow degrees, and soon appeared                 605
     Such tiny twinklers as the planet orbs
     That ministering on the solar power
     With borrowed light pursued their narrower way.
       Earth floated then below:
       The chariot paused a moment;                              610
       The Spirit then descended:
       And from the earth departing
       The shadows with swift wings
     Speeded like thought upon the light of Heaven.

       The Body and the Soul united then,                        615
     A gentle start convulsed Ianthe's frame:
     Her veiny eyelids quietly unclosed;
     Moveless awhile the dark blue orbs remained:
     She looked around in wonder and beheld
     Henry, who kneeled in silence by her couch,                 620
     Watching her sleep with looks of speechless love,
       And the bright beaming stars
       That through the casement shone.











End of Project Gutenberg's The Daemon of the World, by Percy Bysshe Shelley

*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE DAEMON OF THE WORLD ***

***** This file should be named 4654-h.htm or 4654-h.zip *****
This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
        http://www.gutenberg.org/4/6/5/4654/

Produced by Sue Asscher, and David Widger


Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions
will be renamed.

Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no
one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation
(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without
permission and without paying copyright royalties.  Special rules,
set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to
copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to
protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark.  Project
Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you
charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission.  If you
do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the
rules is very easy.  You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose
such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and
research.  They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do
practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks.  Redistribution is
subject to the trademark license, especially commercial
redistribution.



*** START: FULL LICENSE ***

THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE
PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK

To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free
distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work
(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project
Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project
Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at
http://gutenberg.org/license).


Section 1.  General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic works

1.A.  By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to
and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property
(trademark/copyright) agreement.  If you do not agree to abide by all
the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy
all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession.
If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the
terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or
entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8.

1.B.  "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark.  It may only be
used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who
agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement.  There are a few
things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works
even without complying with the full terms of this agreement.  See
paragraph 1.C below.  There are a lot of things you can do with Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement
and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.  See paragraph 1.E below.

1.C.  The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation"
or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic works.  Nearly all the individual works in the
collection are in the public domain in the United States.  If an
individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are
located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from
copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative
works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg
are removed.  Of course, we hope that you will support the Project
Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by
freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of
this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with
the work.  You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by
keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project
Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others.

1.D.  The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern
what you can do with this work.  Copyright laws in most countries are in
a constant state of change.  If you are outside the United States, check
the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement
before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or
creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project
Gutenberg-tm work.  The Foundation makes no representations concerning
the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United
States.

1.E.  Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg:

1.E.1.  The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate
access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently
whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the
phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project
Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed,
copied or distributed:

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

1.E.2.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived
from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is
posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied
and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees
or charges.  If you are redistributing or providing access to a work
with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the
work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1
through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the
Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or
1.E.9.

1.E.3.  If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted
with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution
must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional
terms imposed by the copyright holder.  Additional terms will be linked
to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the
permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work.

1.E.4.  Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this
work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm.

1.E.5.  Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this
electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without
prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with
active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project
Gutenberg-tm License.

1.E.6.  You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary,
compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any
word processing or hypertext form.  However, if you provide access to or
distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than
"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version
posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org),
you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a
copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon
request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other
form.  Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm
License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1.

1.E.7.  Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying,
performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works
unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9.

1.E.8.  You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing
access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided
that

- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from
     the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method
     you already use to calculate your applicable taxes.  The fee is
     owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he
     has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the
     Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation.  Royalty payments
     must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you
     prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax
     returns.  Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and
     sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the
     address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to
     the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation."

- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies
     you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he
     does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm
     License.  You must require such a user to return or
     destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium
     and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of
     Project Gutenberg-tm works.

- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any
     money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the
     electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days
     of receipt of the work.

- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free
     distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works.

1.E.9.  If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm
electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set
forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from
both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael
Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark.  Contact the
Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below.

1.F.

1.F.1.  Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable
effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread
public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm
collection.  Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain
"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or
corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual
property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a
computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by
your equipment.

1.F.2.  LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right
of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project
Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project
Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all
liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal
fees.  YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE
PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3.  YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE
TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE
LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH
DAMAGE.

1.F.3.  LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a
defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can
receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a
written explanation to the person you received the work from.  If you
received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with
your written explanation.  The person or entity that provided you with
the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a
refund.  If you received the work electronically, the person or entity
providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to
receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund.  If the second copy
is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further
opportunities to fix the problem.

1.F.4.  Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth
in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER
WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO
WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE.

1.F.5.  Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied
warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages.
If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the
law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be
interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by
the applicable state law.  The invalidity or unenforceability of any
provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions.

1.F.6.  INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the
trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone
providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance
with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production,
promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works,
harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees,
that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do
or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm
work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any
Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause.


Section  2.  Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm

Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of
electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers
including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers.  It exists
because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from
people in all walks of life.

Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the
assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's
goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will
remain freely available for generations to come.  In 2001, the Project
Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure
and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations.
To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation
and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4
and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org.


Section 3.  Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive
Foundation

The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit
501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the
state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal
Revenue Service.  The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification
number is 64-6221541.  Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at
http://pglaf.org/fundraising.  Contributions to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent
permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws.

The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S.
Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered
throughout numerous locations.  Its business office is located at
809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email
business@pglaf.org.  Email contact links and up to date contact
information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official
page at http://pglaf.org

For additional contact information:
     Dr. Gregory B. Newby
     Chief Executive and Director
     gbnewby@pglaf.org


Section 4.  Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg
Literary Archive Foundation

Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide
spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of
increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be
freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest
array of equipment including outdated equipment.  Many small donations
($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt
status with the IRS.

The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating
charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United
States.  Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a
considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up
with these requirements.  We do not solicit donations in locations
where we have not received written confirmation of compliance.  To
SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any
particular state visit http://pglaf.org

While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we
have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition
against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who
approach us with offers to donate.

International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make
any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from
outside the United States.  U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff.

Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation
methods and addresses.  Donations are accepted in a number of other
ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations.
To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate


Section 5.  General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic
works.

Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm
concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared
with anyone.  For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project
Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support.


Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S.
unless a copyright notice is included.  Thus, we do not necessarily
keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition.


Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility:

     http://www.gutenberg.org

This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm,
including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary
Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to
subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks.