When I Have Fears

John Keats 1795 (Moorgate) – 1821 (Rome)




     When I have fears that I may cease to be
         Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
     Before high-piled books, in charactery,
         Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
     When I behold, upon the night's starr'd 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 love;--then on the shore
     Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
     Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.

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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 26, 2023

35 sec read
110

Quick analysis:

Scheme ABCBDEDECCCCFF
Closest metre Iambic pentameter
Characters 680
Words 113
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 14

John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. more…

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