When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be
BYJOHN KEATS
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pild books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;
When I behold, upon the nights starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting lovethen on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.
John Keats(/kits/; 31 October 1795 23 February 1821) was
anEnglishRomanticpoet. He was one of the main figures of the second
generation of Romantic poets along withLord ByronandPercy Bysshe
Shelley, despite his work having been in publication for only four
years before his death.
Although his poems were not generally well received by critics
during his life, his reputation grew after his death, so that by
the end of the 19th century, he had become one of the most beloved
of allEnglish poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse
range of poets and writers.Jorge Luis Borgesstated that his first
encounter with Keats was the most significant literary experience
of his life
The poetry of Keats is characterised by sensual imagery, most
notably in the series ofodes. Today his poems and letters are some
of the most popular and most analysed in English literature.
