‘Tis said in after times her spirit free
Knew what love was, and felt itself alone.
But holy Dian could not chaster be
Before she stooped to kiss Endymion
Than now this Lady,– like a sexless bee,
Tasting all blossoms and confined to none:
Among those mortal forms the Wizard Maiden
Passed with an eye serene and heart unladen.
Shelley was a power, to be sure. the full piece may be read here.
i have read a good many interpretations of this piece, most revolving around ancient mythos and literary complexity. it is an odd telling, wherein this fiercely fair maid travels the world with a companion who is ageless, sexless, and forever dreaming.
she, immortal, taken with delight by all the world and the beings within it, denies herself more than the enjoyment of the observing and renders to the world compassion and care from afar.
bodhisattva, perhaps. perhaps merely a fanciful dream by Shelley. all the same, beauteous. noting it for myself as a piece worth revisiting when there is time and peace of mind in which to truly savor it.