Skip to content
quotesby

The awful shadow of some unseen Power Floats though unseen among us; visiting This various world with as inconstant wing As summer winds that creep from flower to flower; Like moonbeams that behind some piny mountain shower, It visits with inconstant glance Each human heart and countenance; Like hues and harmonies of evening, Like clouds in starlight widely spread, Like memory of music fled, Like aught that for its grace may be Dear, and yet dearer for its mystery.

Percy Bysshe Shelley#16

NatureLifePowerBeautySpiritualityHuman natureMystery

About this quote

What does it mean?
An unseen power influences human hearts like nature elements, mysterious yet dear.
In plain terms
A hidden force moves through us like wind and moonlight.
What can you take from it?
Recognize the mysterious forces shaping life.

Where it applies

  • contemplation
  • artistic inspiration
  • spiritual awe

Putting it to work

  • appreciate mystery
  • observe nature

Questions to consider

  • What influences our hearts?
  • Is mystery valuable?

Another view

It does not explain the nature of the power.

More from Percy Bysshe Shelley

  1. Once, early in the morning, Beelzebub arose, With care his sweet person adorning, He put on his Sunday clothes.

    Permalink to quote #15
  2. Spirit of BEAUTY, that dost consecrate With thine own hues all thou dost shine upon Of human thought or form, where art thou gone? Why dost thou pass away and …

    Permalink to quote #17
  3. If a person's religious ideas correspond not with your own, love him nevertheless. How different would yours have been, had the chance of birth placed you in T…

    Permalink to quote #14

Related quotes

  1. There is surely a piece of Divinity within us, something that was before the Elements, and owes no homage unto the Sun.

    Sir Thomas BrowneSir Thomas Browne quote #29
  2. Maybe that's what life is... a wink of the eye and winking stars.

    Jack KerouacJack Kerouac quote #1
  3. A little rule, a little sway, A sunbeam in a winter's day, Is all the proud and mighty have Between the cradle and the grave.

    John DyerJohn Dyer quote #1