TWO YOUNG FAUNS ARE SITTING ON A ROCK LISTENING. by Percy Bysshe Shelley: Summary, Meaning & Analysis
This is a scene from Shelley's verse drama *Prometheus Unbound*, where two young fauns sit on a rock, captivated by the mysterious spirit-music that flows through an enchanted forest.
The poem
SEMICHORUS 1 OF SPIRITS: The path through which that lovely twain Have passed, by cedar, pine, and yew, And each dark tree that ever grew, Is curtained out from Heaven’s wide blue; Nor sun, nor moon, nor wind, nor rain, _5 Can pierce its interwoven bowers, Nor aught, save where some cloud of dew, Drifted along the earth-creeping breeze, Between the trunks of the hoar trees, Hangs each a pearl in the pale flowers _10 Of the green laurel, blown anew, And bends, and then fades silently, One frail and fair anemone: Or when some star of many a one That climbs and wanders through steep night, _15 Has found the cleft through which alone Beams fall from high those depths upon Ere it is borne away, away, By the swift Heavens that cannot stay, It scatters drops of golden light, _20 Like lines of rain that ne’er unite: And the gloom divine is all around, And underneath is the mossy ground. SEMICHORUS 2: There the voluptuous nightingales, Are awake through all the broad noonday. _25 When one with bliss or sadness fails, And through the windless ivy-boughs, Sick with sweet love, droops dying away On its mate’s music-panting bosom; Another from the swinging blossom, _30 Watching to catch the languid close Of the last strain, then lifts on high The wings of the weak melody, Till some new strain of feeling bear The song, and all the woods are mute; _35 When there is heard through the dim air The rush of wings, and rising there Like many a lake-surrounded flute, Sounds overflow the listener’s brain So sweet, that joy is almost pain. _40 NOTE: _38 surrounded B, edition 1839; surrounding 1820. SEMICHORUS 1: There those enchanted eddies play Of echoes, music-tongued, which draw, By Demogorgon’s mighty law, With melting rapture, or sweet awe, All spirits on that secret way; _45 As inland boats are driven to Ocean Down streams made strong with mountain-thaw: And first there comes a gentle sound To those in talk or slumber bound, And wakes the destined soft emotion,— _50 Attracts, impels them; those who saw Say from the breathing earth behind There steams a plume-uplifting wind Which drives them on their path, while they Believe their own swift wings and feet _55 The sweet desires within obey: And so they float upon their way, Until, still sweet, but loud and strong, The storm of sound is driven along, Sucked up and hurrying: as they fleet _60 Behind, its gathering billows meet And to the fatal mountain bear Like clouds amid the yielding air. NOTE: _50 destined]destinied 1820. FIRST FAUN: Canst thou imagine where those spirits live Which make such delicate music in the woods? _65 We haunt within the least frequented caves And closest coverts, and we know these wilds, Yet never meet them, though we hear them oft: Where may they hide themselves? SECOND FAUN: ’Tis hard to tell; I have heard those more skilled in spirits say, _70 The bubbles, which the enchantment of the sun Sucks from the pale faint water-flowers that pave The oozy bottom of clear lakes and pools, Are the pavilions where such dwell and float Under the green and golden atmosphere _75 Which noontide kindles through the woven leaves; And when these burst, and the thin fiery air, The which they breathed within those lucent domes, Ascends to flow like meteors through the night, They ride on them, and rein their headlong speed, _80 And bow their burning crests, and glide in fire Under the waters of the earth again. FIRST FAUN: If such live thus, have others other lives, Under pink blossoms or within the bells Of meadow flowers, or folded violets deep, _85 Or on their dying odours, when they die, Or in the sunlight of the sphered dew? NOTE: _86 on 1820; in B. SECOND FAUN: Ay, many more which we may well divine. But should we stay to speak, noontide would come, And thwart Silenus find his goats undrawn, _90 And grudge to sing those wise and lovely songs Of Fate, and Chance, and God, and Chaos old, And Love, and the chained Titan’s woful doom, And how he shall be loosed, and make the earth One brotherhood: delightful strains which cheer _95 Our solitary twilights, and which charm To silence the unenvying nightingales. NOTE: _93 doom B, edition 1839; dooms 1820. SCENE 2.3:
This is a scene from Shelley's verse drama *Prometheus Unbound*, where two young fauns sit on a rock, captivated by the mysterious spirit-music that flows through an enchanted forest. They ponder the homes of the spirits creating such beautiful sounds, exchanging playful ideas about tiny, invisible beings living in lake bubbles, flower bells, and drops of dew. The moment concludes before they can share more, as their duties—and the enchanting songs of old Silenus—beckon them back.
Line-by-line
The path through which that lovely twain / Have passed, by cedar, pine, and yew,
There the voluptuous nightingales, / Are awake through all the broad noonday.
There those enchanted eddies play / Of echoes, music-tongued, which draw,
Canst thou imagine where those spirits live / Which make such delicate music in the woods?
'Tis hard to tell; / I have heard those more skilled in spirits say,
If such live thus, have others other lives, / Under pink blossoms or within the bells
Ay, many more which we may well divine. / But should we stay to speak, noontide would come,
Tone & mood
The tone remains rapt and curious throughout — like someone describing a place they only half-believe is real. The Semichorus sections have a slow, spellbinding quality, crafting long sentences that layer image upon image until the music feels almost physically overwhelming. When the fauns speak, the tone shifts to something nearly playful and childlike: two creatures genuinely confused by the world around them. There’s no hint of irony. Shelley believes every word of the enchantment.
Symbols & metaphors
- The enclosed forest path — The canopied path, protected from the sun, moon, wind, and rain, creates a sacred space beyond the usual flow of time and nature — a realm where transformation and love follow their own unique rules.
- The nightingales — The nightingales singing at noon—when they’re usually quiet—represent art and beauty that go beyond natural boundaries. Their music flows seamlessly from one bird to another, capturing the endless flow of inspiration.
- The lake bubbles — The tiny bubble-pavilions on the lake floor are the hidden, delicate homes of spiritual life—beauty and consciousness thriving in spots too small and fleeting for our ordinary perception to notice.
- Demogorgon's law — Demogorgon, the primal force in *Prometheus Unbound*, embodies the essential drive that pushes everything — including spirits — toward their destined ends, regardless of their awareness.
- The dewdrop — The sunlit sphere of dew represents Shelley's smallest unit of wonder: an entire world of light and life packed into something that will disappear in minutes. This image recurs throughout his work, symbolizing beautiful impermanence.
- Silenus and his songs — Silenus, the wise old satyr from classical mythology, embodies the tradition of cosmic storytelling—the epic tales of Fate, Love, and liberation that shape the fauns' everyday lives.
Historical context
This passage is Act II, Scene 2 of *Prometheus Unbound* (1820), which is Percy Bysshe Shelley's lyrical drama that reinterprets the Greek myth about the Titan who was punished by Jupiter for bringing fire to humanity. Instead of using force, Shelley presents Prometheus's liberation as a result of tyranny collapsing under its own weight, serving as a political allegory aimed at the reactionary governments of post-Napoleonic Europe. The scene featuring the fauns offers a deliberate pause in the larger narrative: Shelley shifts focus from the cosmic struggle to highlight two minor, inquisitive creatures who are on the periphery of events they hardly grasp. This scene was composed in Italy between 1818 and 1819, during one of the most fruitful periods of Shelley's brief life, alongside works like *Ode to the West Wind* and *The Mask of Anarchy*. While the poem as a whole draws inspiration from Aeschylus, Dante, and Milton, moments like this reveal Shelley's lyrical voice in its most musical form.
FAQ
It’s a scene from *Prometheus Unbound* (1820), which is Shelley's four-act lyrical drama. The entire play reimagines the myth of Prometheus, the Titan who was punished by Jupiter for bringing fire to humanity. This specific scene — Act II, Scene 2 — is a short, standalone interlude that features two fauns who have been listening to the spirit-music described by the two Semichoruses.
The Semichoruses are groups of spirits—like a split chorus from Greek drama. By dividing the chorus into two halves that alternate, Shelley employs a classic theatrical technique, creating a harmonious interplay where music responds to music and echoes reply to echoes. Each Semichorus captures a unique facet of the enchanted grove and its sounds.
Demogorgon is the enigmatic primal force at the heart of *Prometheus Unbound* — a power lurking beneath Jupiter, embodying deep necessity or fate. In Act III, he topples Jupiter. His "mighty law" here is the unseen force that irresistibly guides all spirits along their destined paths, much like rivers flowing toward the sea. While the spirits believe they are pursuing their own desires, it is actually Demogorgon's law that propels them forward.
It’s Shelley’s way of expressing beauty so intense that it overwhelms the senses. The nightingales' song is so sweet that it floods the listener's mind — the pleasure becomes almost painful because it’s too much to bear. This notion, that extreme beauty and deep pain are closely linked, appears throughout much of Romantic poetry.
Silenus is a character from Greek mythology—an elderly, often inebriated yet truly wise companion of Dionysus. In classical tradition, he was known for singing songs filled with cosmic wisdom when he was caught and forced to do so. Here, he serves as the master of the fauns, who must milk his goats before noon. In exchange, he sings them about Fate, Chaos, Love, and the tale of Prometheus—the very narrative at the heart of the drama.
It’s Shelley’s way of envisioning consciousness and beauty at a scale that’s usually beyond our sight. The bubbles emerge from delicate water-flowers resting on the lake bed, illuminated by soft green and gold light — these tiny, perfect, fleeting homes. When they pop, the spirits shoot upward like meteors. It represents a full miniature life-cycle: birth, living, dissolving, and returning. Shelley was drawn to this imagery — the vastness contained within the small and fragile.
Because this is an enchanted grove where the usual rules of nature don’t apply. Nightingales singing at noon indicate that this place functions outside of regular time. It also ties into a rich poetic tradition—from Keats's *Ode to a Nightingale* to Milton—where the nightingale represents art that goes beyond its natural limits.
The scene accomplishes multiple things simultaneously. It provides the reader a moment of pause amid a grand mythological tale. It illustrates that even the tiniest, most everyday beings in Shelley's realm — two fauns fretting over their goats and daily tasks — are enveloped by unseen beauty and cosmic energies they can feel but not entirely comprehend. Moreover, it subtly suggests that wonder and curiosity are the appropriate reactions to a universe that's far too vast and peculiar to completely grasp.