Literature Network » Percy Bysshe Shelley

Death in Liguria.(Poem)

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From: Phi Kappa Phi Forum
Date: 20020101
Author:Soldati, Joseph A.

DEATH IN LIGURIA 
 
[The poet Percy Bysshe Shelley, with his friend Edward Williams, drowned 
in the Bay of Lerici, Italy, July 8, 1822.] 
 
 
From the shore we could see 
only the lanterns of the fishing boats 
appearing and disappearing on the waves 
as they searched through the night, 
and knew that your bodies would not be found. 
That a little storm could be so perverse, 
the sea so obstinate .... 
Words cannot save us from drowning with you. 
 
We wanted a westwind 
to waft your bodies gently to the shore 
where we wept and waited 
below the green gardens of sweet basil 
in the bills ...

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