Percy Bysshe Shelley · “Mutability,” 1816
“We are as clouds that veil the midnight moon;
How restlessly they speed, and gleam, and quiver,
Streaking the darkness radiantly!—yet soon
Night closes round, and they are lost for ever.”
| Source | Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Mutability” (1816) |
| Date | 1816 — not Mary Shelley; Percy’s poem, though quoted in Frankenstein |
| Wording | Exact — verified at Project Gutenberg #4800 |
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About This Line
“Mutability” turns on one question: if nothing holds still, what are we? Shelley’s answer isn’t grief — it’s recognition. We are the clouds, bright and restless and gone by morning. Mary Shelley loved the poem enough to quote it in Frankenstein.
Why We Carry This Line
Because I love the midnight sky and the moon and the planets and the stars.
