Percy B. Shelley's work When the Lamp is Shattered is a love poem that expresses the desolation and gloom experienced by a lover after being separated from his/her beloved. The poem is broken into four stanzas of eight lines each. The first three stanzas describe how, at night, the poet sees his love across the sea; the third-to-last line of the first stanza concludes with the word "shattered," which is repeated in the last line of the second stanza and the beginning of the third stanza. The fourth stanza describes the state of mind of the poet just after seeing his love again. He feels empty without her, like a lamp without oil - unless you consider the fact that lamps were used as symbols of fertility in ancient Greece, then it makes sense that the poet would compare himself to a lamp that has been shattered upon the ground. In conclusion, When the Lamp is Shattered is a love poem that describes the despair of its protagonist after being separated from his love. She has gone back home to her family, leaving him alone on a foreign shore.