Cancelled Passages of Adonais

And ever as he went he swept a lyreOf unaccustomed shape, and ... stringsNow like the ... of impetuous fire,Which shakes the forest with its murmurings,Now like the rush of the aereal wingsOf the enamoured wind among the treen,Whispering unimaginable things,And dying on the streams of dew serene,Which feed the unmown meads with ever-during green.

And the green Paradise which western wavesEmbosom in their ever-wailing sweep,Talking of freedom to their tongueless caves,Or to the spirits which within them keepA record of the wrongs which, though they sleep,Die not, but dream of retribution, heardHis hymns, and echoing them from steep to steep,Kept--

And then came one of sweet and earnest looks,Whose soft smiles to his dark and night-like eyesWere as the clear and ever-living brooksAre to the obscure fountains whence they rise,Showing how pure they are: a ParadiseOf happy truth upon his forehead lowLay, making wisdom lovely, in the guiseOf earth-awakening morn upon the browOf star-deserted heaven, while ocean gleams below.

His song, though very sweet, was low and faint,A simple strain--

A mighty Phantasm, half concealedIn darkness of his own exceeding light,Which clothed his awful presence unrevealed,Charioted on the ... nightOf thunder-smoke, whose skirts were chrysolite.

And like a sudden meteor, which outstripsThe splendour-winged chariot of the sun,... eclipseThe armies of the golden stars, each onePavilioned in its tent of light--all strewnOver the chasms of blue night--