Original poem reprinted online here: "Mutability" by Percy Bysshe Shelley Originally read: July 31, 2013 More information about the Poet: Percy Bysshe Shelley Four quatrains. ABAB rhyme scheme. The rhyme scheme would indicate a consistent separation and returning -- changing. However, the first stanza, mostly dealing with natural image, brings a sense of unveiling. The speaker states that "We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon;" and note the semi-colon in which indicates a connection. "How restlessly they speed, and gleam, and quiver / Streaking the darkness radiantly!" So note, the motions of the clouds represent the "we": speed, gleam, quiver. It seems like a very marvelous time, "-- / yet soon Night closes round, and they are lost" So the moment is lost when it's morning -- light revealing the time. So one of the key words here is "or" in the second stanza. What does the "or" compare? "O...
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