John Keats (1795–1821)

When I have fears that I may cease to be 1818

When I have fears that I may cease to be

Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,

Before high-piled books, in charactery,° print

Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;

When I behold, upon the night’s starred face, 5

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, 10

Never have relish in the faery° power magic

Of unreflecting love;—then on the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think

Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.