Sonnet IV. How Many Bards Gild The Lapses Of Time!

John Keats 1795 (Moorgate) – 1821 (Rome)



How many bards gild the lapses of time!
A few of them have ever been the food
Of my delighted fancy,—I could brood
Over their beauties, earthly, or sublime:
And often, when I sit me down to rhyme,
These will in throngs before my mind intrude:
But no confusion, no disturbance rude
Do they occasion; 'tis a pleasing chime.
So the unnumbered sounds that evening store;
The songs of birds—the whispering of the leaves—
The voice of waters—the great bell that heaves
With solemn sound,—and thousand others more,
That distance of recognizance bereaves,
Makes pleasing music, and not wild uproar.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 14, 2023

31 sec read
87

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABBAABBACDDCDC
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 596
Words 104
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. more…

All John Keats poems | John Keats Books

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