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—bereavement by Percy Bysshe Shelley

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A grieving person stands by a coffin, engulfed in loss and feeling utterly alone.

Poet
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Core theme
Death
The PoemFull text

—bereavement

Percy Bysshe Shelley

1. How stern are the woes of the desolate mourner, As he bends in still grief o’er the hallowed bier, As enanguished he turns from the laugh of the scorner, And drops, to Perfection’s remembrance, a tear; When floods of despair down his pale cheek are streaming, _5 When no blissful hope on his bosom is beaming, Or, if lulled for awhile, soon he starts from his dreaming, And finds torn the soft ties to affection so dear. 2. Ah! when shall day dawn on the night of the grave, Or summer succeed to the winter of death? _10 Rest awhile, hapless victim, and Heaven will save The spirit, that faded away with the breath. Eternity points in its amaranth bower, Where no clouds of fate o’er the sweet prospect lower, Unspeakable pleasure, of goodness the dower, _15 When woe fades away like the mist of the heath. NOTE:

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Sourced from Project Gutenberg

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§01Quick summary

What this poem is about

A grieving person stands by a coffin, engulfed in loss and feeling utterly alone. Shelley questions when the weight of death's darkness will ever ease, then provides his own answer: heaven and eternity await beyond the grave, where sorrow fades like morning mist. This short, heartfelt poem transitions from deep sorrow to a delicate sense of comfort.

§02Themes

Recurring themes

§03Line by line

Stanza by stanza, with notes

  1. How stern are the woes of the desolate mourner, / As he bends in still grief o'er the hallowed bier,

    Editor's note

    The first stanza depicts a mourner standing by a coffin, referred to as the "hallowed bier." He feels utterly isolated in his sorrow, unable to tolerate the laughter of those around him who don't understand his loss ("the laugh of the scorner"). He grieves for someone he viewed as flawless. The last four lines intensify his anguish: despair is evident on his face, hope eludes him, and though sleep may momentarily dull his pain, he awakens to the harsh reality that death has severed the ties of love.

  2. Ah! when shall day dawn on the night of the grave, / Or summer succeed to the winter of death?

    Editor's note

    The second stanza begins with two rhetorical questions that depict death as darkness and winter. Shelley then shifts to a tone of consolation, telling the mourner to rest and have faith that heaven will safeguard the soul that departed with the last breath. The poem delivers its most striking image here — "amaranth bower," a timeless garden of immortal flowers where no shadow of fate reaches. The final couplet assures that grief will dissipate entirely, just like heath-mist vanishes in the sunlight.

§04Tone & mood

How this poem feels

The tone in the first stanza is mournful and tender, then it shifts to a gentle, almost pleading reassurance in the second. Shelley writes with the earnestness of a young man (he was probably a teenager when he wrote this) who feels grief intensely but instinctively seeks spiritual comfort. There's no irony in his writing — the emotion is direct and sincere, even if the language is elaborate.

§05Symbols & metaphors

Symbols & metaphors

The bier
The coffin-stand serves as the poem's physical anchor; it's where the living and the dead intersect and where the mourner's grief is deeply felt.
Night / winter
Death is likened to both night and winter, suggesting it's a season and a time of day that will ultimately pass. This comparison indicates that death isn't final — dawn and summer will arrive.
Amaranth bower
Amaranth is a flower that, according to classical tradition, never fades. A bower of amaranth in eternity represents a paradise where decay and loss cannot exist — a stark contrast to the grief expressed in stanza one.
Mist of the heath
The final image of mist lifting over the open moorland represents grief: tangible and weighty in the moment, yet bound to fade away entirely in the light of eternity.
Floods of despair
The mourner's tears are described as floods, transforming private weeping into something overwhelming and uncontrollable—grief becomes a force of nature instead of just a quiet emotion.

§06Historical context

Historical context

Shelley wrote this poem when he was just a teenager, and it found a place in his first published collection, *Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire* (1810), which he co-authored with his sister Elizabeth. This collection is mostly made up of youthful works, and Shelley later moved away from it. The poem fits neatly into the late-18th-century style of graveyard poetry—think Thomas Gray and Edward Young—which treated themes like death, mourning, and the afterlife with seriousness. At this point, Shelley hadn’t yet embraced the radical atheism and political passion that would define his later work; instead, he relies on traditional Christian themes, assuring that heaven protects the soul. This poem is a notable early indication of a poet who would later create *Adonais*, one of the greatest elegies in English literature, mourning John Keats.

§07FAQ

Questions readers ask

What is the poem 'Bereavement' by Shelley about?

It's about the experience of standing by a coffin, mourning someone you cared for deeply. The first stanza captures the intense pain of that grief, while the second stanza provides comfort by looking toward heaven and eternity, where sadness eventually fades away.

When did Shelley write this poem?

Shelley wrote it around 1810, when he was about 17 or 18 years old. It appeared in Original Poetry by Victor and Cazire, a collection he compiled with his sister Elizabeth.

What does 'amaranth bower' mean?

An amaranth is a flower that, in classical mythology and poetry, never wilts or dies. A "bower" refers to a shaded garden enclosure. Therefore, an "amaranth bower" symbolizes an eternal garden in heaven where nothing fades—Shelley uses it to depict a paradise untouched by the loss and decay that characterize life on Earth.

What does 'the laugh of the scorner' mean?

It describes the people surrounding the mourner who are laughing or leading their usual lives, seemingly unaware of his sorrow. Their everyday happiness can seem mocking to someone in deep pain—not out of malice, but because joy and grief seem worlds apart in that moment.

What is the rhyme scheme of the poem?

Each stanza uses an AAABCCCB rhyme scheme. The first three lines rhyme with each other, while the fourth line introduces a fresh rhyme. The next three lines share this new rhyme, and the eighth line goes back to the B rhyme. This structure creates a smooth, incantatory rhythm in the stanzas.

Is this poem religious? Does Shelley believe in heaven?

At the time he wrote this, sure — the poem offers simple Christian comfort, assuring that heaven keeps the soul safe. This contrasts sharply with the later Shelley, who openly embraced atheism. 'Bereavement' is an early piece, reflecting a younger poet leaning on traditional religious solace before his beliefs changed significantly.

How does this poem compare to Shelley's later elegy 'Adonais'?

'Bereavement' is a brief and straightforward reflection on grief and comfort. In contrast, 'Adonais' (1821), penned more than ten years later in memory of John Keats, is a 495-line masterpiece that grapples with themes of mortality, beauty, and the poet's own desire for death. While both works share a fundamental question about the fate of the soul after death, 'Adonais' explores it with much greater depth and uncertainty.

What tradition of poetry does 'Bereavement' belong to?

It fits within the 18th-century graveyard poetry tradition, focusing on themes of mourning, tombs, and the afterlife. Key poets like Thomas Gray, known for Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, and Edward Young, famous for Night Thoughts, were pivotal in this genre, and you can see their impact in Shelley's imagery and tone here.

Citation

Cite this poem

MLA

Shelley, Percy Bysshe. "—bereavement." Storgy, https://storgy.com/poems/bereavement-percy-bysshe-shelley/.

APA

Shelley, P. B. (n.d.). —bereavement. Storgy. https://storgy.com/poems/bereavement-percy-bysshe-shelley/

TeacherAP Lit Q1 scaffold — preview

Row A — Thesis

1 pt

In '—BEREAVEMENT.' Shelley constructs grief not as a stable emotional state but as a violent oscillation between annihilation and the thin promise of transcendence, arguing that only by reframing earthly loss as a threshold condition can …

  • Row B — Evidence + Commentary4 pts
  • Row C — Sophistication1 pt
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