Photo: Pete Swan (click to enlarge)

From Percy Bysshe Shelley’s The Triumph of Life, I. 427-431, his incomplete, final poem. The poem explores notions of life and death, and hope and despair, where ‘life’ is stifling and domineering and its ‘triumph’ is subsequently debilitating. Instead, Shelley advocates ‘dreams’ for their possibilities and connection to the imagination, and in the above lines, he combines this idea with light imagery in order to question our very existence and all the elusive things we seek.

What They Wrote is where I share my favourite literary quotes in image form, seasoned with a sprinkle of commentary. This photo is courtesy of the lovely Pete Swan.