We look before and after, And pine for what is not: Our sincerest laughter With some pain is fraught; Our sweetest songs are those that tell Of sadde… - Percy Bysshe Shelley

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We look before and after,
And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell
Of saddest thought.

Yet if we could scorn
Hate, and pride, and fear;
If we were things born
Not to shed a tear,
I know not how thy joy we ever
Should come near.

life-lessons inspirational shelley longing to-a-skylark
English
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About Percy Bysshe Shelley

Percy Bysshe Shelley (4 August 1792 – 8 July 1822) was one of the major English romantic poets, widely considered to be among the finest lyric poets in the English language; husband of Mary Shelley.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Alternative Names: Percy Byssche Shelley • Percy Shelley • Shelli Persi Bish
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Originators like Percy Bysshe Shelley:
Lord Byron John Keats Alfred Tennyson Samuel Taylor Coleridge William Wordsworth

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We look before and after,
And pine for what is not:
Our sincerest laughter
With some pain is fraught;
Our sweetest songs are those that tell of saddest thought.

Yet if we could scorn
Hate, and pride, and fear;
If we were things born
Not to shed a tear,
I know not how thy joy we ever should come near.
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