“The Indian Serenade” is a love poem by the Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. The speaker in this poem awakes from a sweet dream of his beloved. Longing for her he makes his way through a beautiful Indian night to see her. When outside her window our lovesick speaker begs the object of his desire to press her heart against his once more…
Percy Bysshe Shelley (4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was an English poet and writer and is one of the key figures of the British Romantic era. Shelley is known for his radical political and social views but did not achieve fame during his lifetime. He was an atheist, vegetarian and advocated free love.
The Indian Serenade
Poem by Percy Bysshe Shelley
I arise from dreams of thee
In the first sweet sleep of night,
When the winds are breathing low,
And the stars are shining bright:
I arise from dreams of thee,
And a spirit in my feet
Hath led me—who knows how?
To thy chamber window, Sweet!
The wandering airs they faint
On the dark, the silent stream—
The Champak odours fail
Like sweet thoughts in a dream;
The Nightingale's complaint,
It dies upon her heart;—
As I must on thine,
Oh, belovèd as thou art!
Oh lift me from the grass!
I die! I faint! I fail!
Let thy love in kisses rain
On my lips and eyelids pale.
My cheek is cold and white, alas!
My heart beats loud and fast;—
Oh! press it to thine own again,
Where it will break at last.
