Quotes from work
Hellas

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Hellas is a verse drama by Percy Bysshe Shelley, written in 1821 and published in 1822 by Charles and James Ollier in London. Shelley wrote it while living in Pisa, with a view to raising money for the Greek War of Independence. It was to be Shelley’s last published poem during his lifetime.

Percy Bysshe Shelley photo

“Life may change, but it may fly not;
Hope may vanish, but can die not;
Truth be veiled, but still it burneth;
Love repulsed, — but it returneth!”

Percy Bysshe Shelley Hellas

Source: Hellas (1821), l. 34

Percy Bysshe Shelley photo

“The world's great age begins anew,
The golden years return,
The earth doth like a snake renew
Her winter weeds outworn;
Heaven smiles, and faiths and empires gleam,
Like wrecks of a dissolving dream.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley Hellas

Source: Hellas (1821), l. 1060

Percy Bysshe Shelley photo

“The moon of Mahomet
Arose, and it shall set;
While, blazoned as on heaven's immortal noon,
The cross leads generations on.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley Hellas

Source: Hellas (1821), l. 221

Percy Bysshe Shelley photo

“We are all Greeks. Our laws, our literature, our religion, our arts have their root in Greece.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley Hellas

Preface
Hellas (1821)

Percy Bysshe Shelley photo

“But Greece and her foundations are
Built below the tide of war,
Based on the crystalline sea
Of thought and its eternity;
Her citizens, imperial spirits,
Rule the present from the past,
On all this world of men inherits
Their seal is set.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley Hellas

Source: Hellas (1821), l. 696-703

Percy Bysshe Shelley photo

“Kings are like stars — they rise and set, they have
The worship of the world, but no repose.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley Hellas

Source: Hellas (1821), l. 195

Percy Bysshe Shelley photo

“Let there be light! said Liberty,
And like sunrise from the sea,
Athens arose!”

Percy Bysshe Shelley Hellas

Source: Hellas (1821), l. 682

Percy Bysshe Shelley photo

“The world is weary of the past,
Oh, might it die or rest at last!”

Percy Bysshe Shelley Hellas

Final chorus
Hellas (1821)

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