To The Queen of My Heart

[Published as Shelley's by Medwin, "The Shelley Papers", 1833, and by
Mrs. Shelley, "Poetical Works", 1839, 1st edition; afterwards suppressed
as of doubtful authenticity.]



1.
Shall we roam, my love,
To the twilight grove,
When the moon is rising bright;
Oh, I'll whisper there,
In the cool night-air,                                               _5
What I dare not in broad daylight!
2.
I'll tell thee a part
Of the thoughts that start
To being when thou art nigh;
And thy beauty, more bright                                          _10
Than the stars' soft light,
Shall seem as a weft from the sky.
3.
When the pale moonbeam
On tower and stream
Sheds a flood of silver sheen,                                       _15
How I love to gaze
As the cold ray strays
O'er thy face, my heart's throned queen!
4.
Wilt thou roam with me
To the restless sea,                                                 _20
And linger upon the steep,
And list to the flow
Of the waves below
How they toss and roar and leap?
5.
Those boiling waves,                                                 _25
And the storm that raves
At night o'er their foaming crest,
Resemble the strife
That, from earliest life,
The passions have waged in my breast.                                _30
6.
Oh, come then, and rove
To the sea or the grove,
When the moon is rising bright;
And I'll whisper there,
In the cool night-air,                                               _35
What I dare not in broad daylight.