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1792–1822

LINES TO A REVIEWER.

Percy Bysshe Shelley

Alas, good friend, what profit can you see In hating such a hateless thing as me? There is no sport in hate where all the rage Is on one side: in vain would you assuage

Your frowns upon an unresisting smile, In which not even contempt lurks to beguile Your heart, by some faint sympathy of hate. Oh, conquer what you cannot satiate!

For to your passion I am far more coy Than ever yet was coldest maid or boy In winter noon. Of your antipathy If I am the Narcissus, you are free

To pine into a sound with hating me.

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LINES TO A REVIEWER. · Percy Bysshe Shelley · Poetry Cove