Analysis of A Thing of Beauty (Endymion)

John Keats 1795 (Moorgate) – 1821 (Rome)



A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its lovliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkn'd ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
'Gainst the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink.


Scheme AABBCCDDEEFGHHIEJJKKLMM
Poetic Form
Metre 01110101110 110101110 1011001111 0101011001 11110101010 1110010111 01001111101 111100101 1101010101 11001001011 11101010111 1111010101 11011010101 1101100101 110101110 1011110011 1101010101 1011001101 1101011111 0111001101 1101010101 1101010101 1010110101
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 992
Words 180
Sentences 4
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 23
Lines Amount 23
Letters per line (avg) 34
Words per line (avg) 8
Letters per stanza (avg) 772
Words per stanza (avg) 178
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 04, 2023

54 sec read
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John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. more…

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