O, for Medea's wondrous alchymy,
Which wheresoe'er it fell made the earth gleam
With bright flowers, and the wintry boughs exhale
From the vernal blooms fresh fragrance!(P. B. Shelley, Alastor; or, the Spirit of Solitude, lines 672-75; publ. in Posthumous Poems [1824], ed. M.W.S.)
External link: the complete poem.
Romantic Circles / Electronic Editions / The Last Man / Quotation: 2.9