FIORDISPINA. by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
Fiordispina is an incomplete poem by Shelley that tells the story of a young woman, Fiordispina, on her wedding day as she expresses her love for her cousin Cosimo.
The poem
[Published in part (lines 11-30) by Mrs. Shelley, “Posthumous Poems”, 1824; in full (from the Boscombe manuscript) by Dr. Garnett, “Relics of Shelley”, 1862.] The season was the childhood of sweet June, Whose sunny hours from morning until noon Went creeping through the day with silent feet, Each with its load of pleasure; slow yet sweet; Like the long years of blest Eternity _5 Never to be developed. Joy to thee, Fiordispina and thy Cosimo, For thou the wonders of the depth canst know Of this unfathomable flood of hours, Sparkling beneath the heaven which embowers— _10 ... They were two cousins, almost like to twins, Except that from the catalogue of sins Nature had rased their love—which could not be But by dissevering their nativity. And so they grew together like two flowers _15 Upon one stem, which the same beams and showers Lull or awaken in their purple prime, Which the same hand will gather—the same clime Shake with decay. This fair day smiles to see All those who love—and who e’er loved like thee, _20 Fiordispina? Scarcely Cosimo, Within whose bosom and whose brain now glow The ardours of a vision which obscure The very idol of its portraiture. He faints, dissolved into a sea of love; _25 But thou art as a planet sphered above; But thou art Love itself—ruling the motion Of his subjected spirit: such emotion Must end in sin and sorrow, if sweet May Had not brought forth this morn—your wedding-day. _30 ... ‘Lie there; sleep awhile in your own dew, Ye faint-eyed children of the ... Hours,’ Fiordispina said, and threw the flowers Which she had from the breathing— ... A table near of polished porphyry. _35 They seemed to wear a beauty from the eye That looked on them—a fragrance from the touch Whose warmth ... checked their life; a light such As sleepers wear, lulled by the voice they love, which did reprove _40 The childish pity that she felt for them, And a ... remorse that from their stem She had divided such fair shapes ... made A feeling in the ... which was a shade Of gentle beauty on the flowers: there lay _45 All gems that make the earth’s dark bosom gay. ... rods of myrtle-buds and lemon-blooms, And that leaf tinted lightly which assumes The livery of unremembered snow— Violets whose eyes have drunk— _50 ... Fiordispina and her nurse are now Upon the steps of the high portico, Under the withered arm of Media She flings her glowing arm ... ... step by step and stair by stair, _55 That withered woman, gray and white and brown— More like a trunk by lichens overgrown Than anything which once could have been human. And ever as she goes the palsied woman ... ‘How slow and painfully you seem to walk, _60 Poor Media! you tire yourself with talk.’ ‘And well it may, Fiordispina, dearest—well-a-day! You are hastening to a marriage-bed; I to the grave!’—‘And if my love were dead, _65 Unless my heart deceives me, I would lie Beside him in my shroud as willingly As now in the gay night-dress Lilla wrought.’ ‘Fie, child! Let that unseasonable thought Not be remembered till it snows in June; _70 Such fancies are a music out of tune With the sweet dance your heart must keep to-night. What! would you take all beauty and delight Back to the Paradise from which you sprung, And leave to grosser mortals?— _75 And say, sweet lamb, would you not learn the sweet And subtle mystery by which spirits meet? Who knows whether the loving game is played, When, once of mortal [vesture] disarrayed, The naked soul goes wandering here and there _80 Through the wide deserts of Elysian air? The violet dies not till it’— NOTES: _11 to 1824; two editions 1839. _20 e’er 1862; ever editions 1824, 1839. _25 sea edition 1862; sense editions 1824, 1839. ***
Fiordispina is an incomplete poem by Shelley that tells the story of a young woman, Fiordispina, on her wedding day as she expresses her love for her cousin Cosimo. The setting is a vibrant, sunlit morning filled with flowers and happiness, but there's also a hint of mortality introduced by her elderly nurse, Media. Although the poem doesn’t reach its intended conclusion — ending abruptly mid-line — what remains is a beautiful fragment that captures love in its brightest and most delicate moments.
Line-by-line
The season was the childhood of sweet June, / Whose sunny hours from morning until noon
They were two cousins, almost like to twins, / Except that from the catalogue of sins
'Lie there; sleep awhile in your own dew, / Ye faint-eyed children of the ... Hours,'
Fiordispina and her nurse are now / Upon the steps of the high portico,
'How slow and painfully you seem to walk, / Poor Media! you tire yourself with talk.'
Tone & mood
The tone is warm and celebratory on the surface—this is a wedding morning, after all—but Shelley weaves in an elegiac note. The slow hours, the cut flowers, the ancient nurse, the bride's nonchalant willingness to die for love: none of this feels morbid, but it adds a bittersweet touch to the joy. The voice feels intimate and tender, like someone sharing a love story they know ends all too soon.
Symbols & metaphors
- The flowers — The flowers Fiordispina collects and sets aside quietly symbolize beauty that has been cut off from its source of life. She feels a twinge of guilt about picking them — reflecting the poem's deeper concerns about love and mortality. Their beauty comes from their transience.
- The two cousins as one stem — Shelley's image of two flowers growing from a single stem illustrates that Fiordispina and Cosimo are not two individuals who simply chose each other; instead, they represent one organism that was always destined to blossom this way. This imagery makes their love feel natural and inevitable rather than a mere choice.
- Media, the aged nurse — Media serves as a constant reminder of mortality — a memento mori situated beside the bride on her wedding morning. Her body, likened to a lichen-covered trunk rather than a human form, represents the future that lies ahead, overshadowing the joy of this special day.
- June as childhood — Opening the poem by referring to early June as the *childhood* of the month serves two purposes: it creates a sense of innocence and leisurely moments, while also hinting that everything — seasons, people, love — has a fleeting childhood that won't endure.
- The wedding-day — The wedding symbolizes the culmination of a love so profound that it could easily have spiraled into sin or despair. This event legitimizes and sustains their love, yet the poem is filled with imagery of decay and death, hinting that even this resolution may be fleeting.
- Elysian air — In Media's final speech, the soul after death roams through *the wide deserts of Elysian air* — a phrase that paints the afterlife as expansive and solitary instead of soothing. This prompts the question of whether love can endure beyond the physical form, and the poem stops short of providing an answer.
Historical context
Shelley wrote this fragment before he drowned in July 1822. His wife, Mary Shelley, first published part of it in *Posthumous Poems* in 1824. The complete text, sourced from a manuscript in Boscombe, didn't come out until 1862 in Richard Garnett's *Relics of Shelley*. The name Fiordispina is borrowed from Ariosto's *Orlando Furioso*, where she is a Spanish princess embroiled in a web of love and misunderstandings—Shelley adopts the name but invents his own characters. This poem is part of the final, most lyrical phase of Shelley's work, during his time in Italy when he was creating pieces like *Epipsychidion* and *Adonais*, fixated on the themes of ideal love, physical beauty, and death. Its unfinished nature is due in part to issues with the manuscript and, perhaps, reflects Shelley's creative process: bursts of inspiration that often outpaced his ability to finish.
FAQ
She is a fictional character, and her name comes from Ariosto's epic poem *Orlando Furioso*. However, Shelley's Fiordispina is an original creation — a young woman on her wedding morning, distinct from the Spanish princess in Ariosto's tale.
Shelley passed away in July 1822 before he could finish it. The text we have left is from a damaged manuscript, which explains the many gaps indicated by ellipses. Unfortunately, we don’t know the poem's intended direction.
Yes. Shelley tackles this head-on, suggesting that nature has absolved their love of any sin by making them cousins instead of strangers. Their closeness is depicted as natural, akin to two flowers growing from the same stem, rather than something forbidden.
Media stands out as the poem's most striking contrast. She feels ancient and almost non-human in her portrayal, speaking bluntly about death while everyone around her is in celebration. Her interaction with Fiordispina — *you are hastening to a marriage-bed; I to the grave* — captures the emotional core of the remaining fragment.
She expresses that her love for Cosimo is so profound that she would choose to die with him rather than live without him. It's a powerful statement of unwavering devotion, but Media quickly chastises her for making such a dark remark on her wedding day.
Elysium represents the classical afterlife—the destination for souls after death. Media is exploring the question of whether love endures beyond the physical body, pondering if souls can still connect while drifting through that expansive, empty space. The poem leaves us hanging, cutting off before she completes her thought.
It aligns perfectly with his later Italian-period themes. Similar to *Epipsychidion*, it delves into the concept of ideal love and the struggle between earthly pleasure and mortality. Like *Adonais*, it grapples with what endures after death. The rich natural imagery and the disjointed, visionary style reflect his later years.
He is expressing the sensation of time during moments of deep happiness—slow, abundant, and seemingly endless. On a perfect June morning before a wedding, each hour seems to hold everything. This stands in stark contrast to the experience of time during suffering, and Shelley is intentionally highlighting this difference, aware that the poem will soon bring in themes of death.