Prometheus Unbound

Zhu Yi Yong

From Prometheus Unbound
Sixth Spirit

      Ah, sister! Desolation is a delicate thing:
      It walks not on the earth, it floats not on the air,
      But treads with killing footstep, and fans with silent wing
      The tender hopes which in their hearts the best and gentlest bear;
      Who, soothed to false repose by the fanning plumes above
      And the music-stirring motion of its soft and busy feet,
      Dream visions of aerial joy, and call the monster, Love,
      And wake, and find the shadow Pain, as he whom now we greet.

Percy Bysshe Shelley


 This scrap of his much longer poem has been in my binder for so long, when I looked up the poem in entirety, I was surprised. It's lovely. I had forgotten how much I loved Shelley as a young teen. I much prefer short poems now, but perhaps Shelley deserves a revisit. This poem is for all of us who have days when the world seems to be closing down on us, when it is a struggle to face even everyday challenges. Tomorrow is a new day, yes, but today is a battle.