Nor happiness, nor majesty, nor fame,
Nor peace, nor strength, nor skill in arms or arts,
Shepherd those herds whom Tyranny makes tame;
Verse echoes not one beating of their hearts;
History is but the shadow of their shame;
Art veils her glass, or from the pageant starts,
As to Oblivion their millions fleet
Staining that Heaven with obscene imagery
Of their own likeness. What are numbers knit
By force or custom?  Man, who man would be,
Must rule the empire of himself;  in it
Must be supreme, establishing his throne
On vanquish'd will, quelling the anarchy
Of hopes and fears, -- being himself alone.

About the headline (FAQ)

Published by Mrs. Shelley, "Posthumous Poems", 1824.

Text Authorship:

• by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822), "Sonnet: Political greatness", written 1821 [author's text checked 1 time against a primary source]

Musical settings (art songs, Lieder, mélodies, (etc.), choral pieces, and other vocal works set to this text), listed by composer (not necessarily exhaustive):

• by Leonard J[ordan] Lehrman (b. 1949), "Sonnetina #4", op. 32 no. 1 (1971) [ soprano, mezzo-soprano, or tenor with piano ], from Two Shelley songs, no. 1 [sung text not yet checked]
• by Leonard J[ordan] Lehrman (b. 1949), "Man who man would be", op. 84 [ bass and piano ] [sung text not yet checked]

Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):

• CZE Czech (Čeština) (Jaroslav Vrchlický) , "Politická velkost", Prague, J. Otto, first published 1901

Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]

This text was added to the website: 2010-09-16
Line count: 14
Word count: 104