Sunday, March 06, 2011
Inspiration for the Day, March 6, 2011:
A few days ago, I watched the film "Bright Star", which was about the British poet John Keats and his relationship with Fanny Brawne during the early 1800's and definitely worth seeing. Being a closet romantic myself, I have always found Keats' writings particularly inspiring and have a 71-year-old book of his complete poetic works. Here is a sonnet recited during the film that underscores the irony of his early death at age 25:
"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 fairy 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."
"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 fairy 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."
Comments:
Post a Comment
