| Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900. |
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| Percy Bysshe Shelley. 1792–1822 |
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613. From the Arabic
AN IMITATION |
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| MY faint spirit was sitting in the light | |
| Of thy looks, my love; | |
| It panted for thee like the hind at noon | |
| For the brooks, my love. | |
| Thy barb, whose hoofs outspeed the tempest's flight, | 5 |
| Bore thee far from me; | |
| My heart, for my weak feet were weary soon, | |
| Did companion thee. | |
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| Ah! fleeter far than fleetest storm or steed, | |
| Or the death they bear, | 10 |
| The heart which tender thought clothes like a dove | |
| With the wings of care; | |
| In the battle, in the darkness, in the need, | |
| Shall mine cling to thee, | |
| Nor claim one smile for all the comfort, love, | 15 |
| It may bring to thee. | |
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