Poem-A-Day: An Exhortation by Percy Bysshe Shelley

An Exhortation by Percy Bysshe Shelley     Chameleons feed on light and air:    Poets' food is love and fame: If in this wide world of care        Poets could but find the same  With as little toil as they,        Would they ever change their hue        As the light chameleons do,  Suiting it to every ray              Twenty times a day?    Poets are on this cold earth,        As chameleons might be,  Hidden from their early birth        In a cave beneath the sea;  Where light is, chameleons change:        Where love is not, poets do:        Fame is love disguised: if few  Find either, never think it strange              That poets range.    Yet dare not stain with wealth or power        A poet's free and heavenly mind:  If bright chameleons should devour        Any food but beams and wind,  They would grow as earthly soon        As their brother lizards are.        Children of a sunnier star,  Spirits from beyond the moon,              Oh, refuse the boon!         Today's poem is in the public domain.  About This Poem "An Exhortation" was written in Pisa, Italy, a city in which the Shelleys spent a great deal of time toward the end of Percy's life. Today is the anniversary of Percy Shelley's birth. Work by Shelley Shelley's Poetry and Prose (W. W. Norton & Company, 2002)           August 4, 2013 Percy Bysshe Shelley was born on August 4, 1792, near Horsham, England. Considered one of the major poets of the Romantic movement, he is also well-known for his marriage to Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein. Shelley died in 1822. Related Poems While Writing by Noelle Kocot Leo Said by Eileen Myles The Gift by Chard deNiord Poem-A-Day Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-A-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on  weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Browse the Poem-A-Day Archive.     Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.

Forward this email This email was sent to prentice654.allsms@blogger.com by poetnews@poets.org |   Update Profile/Email Address | Instant removal with SafeUnsubscribe™ | Privacy Policy. Academy of American Poets | 75 Maiden Lane | Suite 901 | New York | NY | 10038