Tiny bits of poetry and literature

Invictus by W.E. Henley. Written in 1875 while in the hospital undergoing tubercolosis treatment. Published in 1888

Heart of thorns, B. Barton

The Moon by Percy Bysshe Shelley 

Oh, come to me in dreams my love! by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley

Adonaïs : An Elegy on the Death of John Keats. A pastoral elegy written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1821

He wishes his Beloved were Dead, by William Butler Yeats

from Adonaïs : An Elegy on the Death of John Keats. A pastoral elegy written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1821

‘‘ While the rose exists as a beautiful natural object that has become infected by a worm, it also exists as a literary rose, the conventional symbol of love. The image of the worm resonates with the Biblical serpent and also suggests a phallus. Worms are quintessentially earthbound, and symbolize death and decay. The “bed” into which the worm creeps denotes both the natural flowerbed and also the lovers’ bed. The rose is sick, and the poem implies that love is sick as well. Yet the rose is unaware of its sickness. Of course, an actual rose could not know anything about its own condition, and so the emphasis falls on the allegorical suggestion that it is love that does not recognize its own ailing state. This results partly from the insidious secrecy with which the “worm” performs its work of corruption—not only is it invisible, it enters the bed at night. This secrecy indeed constitutes part of the infection itself. The “crimson joy” of the rose connotes both sexual pleasure and shame, thus joining the two concepts in a way that Blake thought was perverted and unhealthy. The rose’s joyful attitude toward love is tainted by the aura of shame and secrecy that our culture attaches to love.’‘ (Sparknotes).

Adonaïs : An Elegy on the Death of John Keats. A pastoral elegy written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1821

Mary by William Blake

Adonaïs : An Elegy on the Death of John Keats. A pastoral elegy written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1821

Adonaïs : An Elegy on the Death of John Keats. A pastoral elegy written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1821

Adonaïs : An Elegy on the Death of John Keats. A pastoral elegy written by Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1821