On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again

John Keats 1795 (Moorgate) – 1821 (Rome)




     O golden-tongued Romance with serene lute!
         Fair plumed Syren! Queen of far away!
         Leave melodizing on this wintry day,
     Shut up thine olden pages, and be mute:
     Adieu! for once again the fierce dispute,
         Betwixt damnation and impassion'd clay
         Must I burn through; once more humbly assay
     The bitter-sweet of this Shakespearian fruit.
     Chief Poet! and ye clouds of Albion,
         Begetters of our deep eternal theme,
     When through the old oak forest I am gone,
         Let me not wander in a barren dream,
     But when I am consumed in the fire,
     Give me new Phoenix wings to fly at my desire.

Font size:
Collection  PDF     
 

Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 12, 2023

31 sec read
185

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABCADEFEGG
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 655
Words 103
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. more…

All John Keats poems | John Keats Books

46 fans

Discuss the poem On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again with the community...

0 Comments

    Translation

    Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

    Select another language:

    • - Select -
    • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
    • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
    • Español (Spanish)
    • Esperanto (Esperanto)
    • 日本語 (Japanese)
    • Português (Portuguese)
    • Deutsch (German)
    • العربية (Arabic)
    • Français (French)
    • Русский (Russian)
    • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
    • 한국어 (Korean)
    • עברית (Hebrew)
    • Gaeilge (Irish)
    • Українська (Ukrainian)
    • اردو (Urdu)
    • Magyar (Hungarian)
    • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
    • Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Italiano (Italian)
    • தமிழ் (Tamil)
    • Türkçe (Turkish)
    • తెలుగు (Telugu)
    • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
    • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
    • Čeština (Czech)
    • Polski (Polish)
    • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
    • Românește (Romanian)
    • Nederlands (Dutch)
    • Ελληνικά (Greek)
    • Latinum (Latin)
    • Svenska (Swedish)
    • Dansk (Danish)
    • Suomi (Finnish)
    • فارسی (Persian)
    • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
    • հայերեն (Armenian)
    • Norsk (Norwegian)
    • English (English)

    Citation

    Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

    Style:MLAChicagoAPA

    "On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem/23421/on-sitting-down-to-read-king-lear-once-again>.

    Become a member!

    Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

    March 2024

    Poetry Contest

    Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
    2
    days
    15
    hours
    51
    minutes

    Special Program

    Earn Rewards!

    Unlock exciting rewards such as a free mug and free contest pass by commenting on fellow members' poems today!

    Browse Poetry.com

    Quiz

    Are you a poetry master?

    »
    Published in 1954, "Fighting Terms" was the first collection of poems by which poet?
    A Sylvia Plath
    B Philip Larkin
    C Ted Hughes
    D Thom Gunn