Conclusion
Whether the Sensitive Plant, or thatWhich within its boughs like a Spirit sat,Ere its outward form had known decay,Now felt this change, I cannot say.
Whether that Lady's gentle mind,No longer with the form combinedWhich scattered love, as stars do light,Found sadness, where it left delight,
I dare not guess; but in this lifeOf error, ignorance, and strife,Where nothing is, but all things seem,And we the shadows of the dream,
It is a modest creed, and yetPleasant if one considers it,To own that death itself must be,Like all the rest, a mockery.
That garden sweet, that lady fair,And all sweet shapes and odours there,In truth have never passed away:'Tis we, 'tis ours, are changed; not they.
For love, and beauty, and delight,There is no death nor change: their mightExceeds our organs, which endureNo light, being themselves obscure.
Words in this poem
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
- strife n.
- The act of striving; earnest endeavor. [OF. estrif. See Strive.]
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Conclusion is in the public domain. This text is taken from The Complete Poetical Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley — Volume 2, Project Gutenberg ebook #4798; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Percy Bysshe Shelley, Conclusion, in Ode to the West Wind, and Other Poems (1816–1819), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #4798, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/shelley-later-poems/conclusion.html, id L16388.
Form and metre
Conclusion is 24 lines in 6 stanzas of 4 lines each. The rhyme scheme is AABB, complete in 5 of its 6 stanzas. The metre is iambic tetrameter, measured from the stress the words themselves fix (confidence 90%). 88% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 8.4 syllables. 2 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 25% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic tetrameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 AABB thatA · satA · decayB · sayB
- 2 AABB mindA · combinedA · lightB · delightB
- 3 AABB lifeA · strifeA · seemB · dreamB
- 5 AABB fairA · thereA · awayB · theyB
- 6 AABB delightA · mightA · endureB · obscureB
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic tetrameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| Whether the Sensitive Plant, or that | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Which within its boughs like a Spirit sat, | 9 | ·······/· |
| Ere its outward form had known decay, | 8 | ··/···˘/ |
| Now felt this change, I cannot say. | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| Whether that Lady's gentle mind, | 8 | ···/˘/˘· |
| No longer with the form combined | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| Which scattered love, as stars do light, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| Found sadness, where it left delight, | 8 | ·/˘···˘/ |
| I dare not guess; but in this life | 8 | ········ |
| Of error, ignorance, and strife, | 8 | ·/˘/˘˘·· |
| Where nothing is, but all things seem, | 8 | ·/˘····· |
| And we the shadows of the dream, | 8 | ···/···· |
| It is a modest creed, and yet | 8 | ···/˘··· |
| Pleasant if one considers it, | 8 | /˘··˘/˘· |
| To own that death itself must be, | 8 | ····˘/·· |
| Like all the rest, a mockery. | 8 | ·····/˘˘ |
| That garden sweet, that lady fair, | 8 | ·/˘··/˘· |
| And all sweet shapes and odours there, | 8 | ·····/˘· |
| In truth have never passed away: | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| 'Tis we, 'tis ours, are changed; not they. | 8 | ···/···· |
| For love, and beauty, and delight, | 8 | ···/˘·˘/ |
| There is no death nor change: their might | 8 | ········ |
| Exceeds our organs, which endure | 8 | ˘///˘·˘/ |
| No light, being themselves obscure. | 8 | ··/˘˘/˘/ |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.