Music, When Soft Voices Die
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Music, when soft voices die,
Vibrates in the memory;
Odours, when sweet violets sicken,
Live within the sense they quicken.
Rose leaves, when the rose is dead,
Are heaped for the beloved's bed;
And so thy thoughts, when thou art gone,
Love itself shall slumber on.
This poem found in a notebook, was published after Shelley's death by his widow. Since the poem is probably unfinished, some of the obscurities may never be understood. The "beloved" seems to be the dead rose; "they thoughts" seems to mean "my thoughts of thee."