England grieved for a heart buried in Rome
Of a poet glor’fied by rhyme and fame
Cremated ashore far away from home
England high over England carved his name
Shelley who allured the world by his verse
To a skylark he cherished to hear heard
Spheres of harmony the whole universe
A flood of songs in the throat of a bird
‘Gain by the wind and the cloud had a flight
Of thought where found the lab of prosody
Thereon he adj’sted rhythm to meaning right
By his computer mind of poesy
Still he had more ambition to explore
Ill fated his boat capsized on the wave
And he died ‘gainst his will to live no more
Leaving a lonesome heart still in the grave
For the larks to mourn, for the clouds to weep
For the wind to moan, the muse to sorrow
For the whole world in memory to keep
A name marked on the gates of tomorrow.
2/1980