Percy Bysshe Shelley: Song of Proserpine While Gathering Flowers on the Plain of Enna

Updated May 6, 2020 | Infoplease Staff
by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Arethusa
Hymn of Apollo

Song of Proserpine While Gathering Flowers on the Plain of Enna

Published by Mrs. Shelley, "Poetical Works", 1839, 1st edition. There is a fair draft amongst the Shelley manuscripts at the Bodleian Library. See Mr. C.D. Locock's "Examination," etc., 1903, page 24.

1.
Sacred Goddess, Mother Earth,
Thou from whose immortal bosom
Gods, and men, and beasts have birth,
Leaf and blade, and bud and blossom,
Breathe thine influence most divine
On thine own child, Proserpine.
2.
If with mists of evening dew
Thou dost nourish these young flowers
Till they grow, in scent and hue,
Fairest children of the Hours,
Breathe thine influence most divine
On thine own child, Proserpine.
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