“Mutability” and “A Defence of Poetry” by Percy Bysshe Shelley
Question 9 of 15 • AA Spring 26 British Literature
Read the excerpt from "A Defence of Poetry,”We are aware of evanescent visitations of thought and feeling sometimes associated with place or person, sometimes regarding our own mind alone, and always arising unforeseen and departing unbidden.
Answer
A
Or like forgotten lyres, whose dissonant strings Give various response to each varying blast
B
To whose frail frame no second motion brings One mood or modulation like the last
C
We rest.—A dream has power to poison sleep; We rise.—One wandering thought pollutes the day
D
It is the same!—For, be it joy or sorrow, The path of its departure still is free