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.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on May 04, 2023

54 sec read
4,430

Quick analysis:

Scheme AABBCCDDEEFGHHIEJJKKLMM
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 992
Words 180
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 23

John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. more…

All John Keats poems | John Keats Books

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