The speaker calls with urgent tenderness for enemies and friends to gather in love and peace. It’s a vision of a world after conflict, where the storm has passed. Waves, which once crashed in battle, now rest side by side. The image is calm, almost hushed — a quiet settling in. Then the poem shifts to something more fanciful: power without fangs, grown mild, playing with a fearless child. There’s no threat, only gentle strength. The final line seals the dream — the dove and the serpent, ancient opposites, finally reconciled. The mood is serene and hopeful, like a lullaby for a truce that feels both longed-for and fragile. The speaker isn’t describing reality but a wish, a brief glimpse of harmony that might vanish as quickly as it appeared. Perhaps that’s why Shelley cancelled the stanza — it’s too perfect to last, a tender note of peace in a turbulent world.
Cancelled Stanza — Summary
Gather, O gather, Foeman and friend in love and peace! Waves sleep together When the blasts that called them to battle, cease. For fangless Power grown tame and mild Is at play with Freedom's fearless child-- The dove and the serpent reconciled!