On Re-Reading Keats
Re-reading you, (my friend, though long since dead),
I am suffused with feelings strange and strong;
A flood – a whirl of words – pours through my head,
My captured heart bursts into happy song!.
John Keats, perfect instructor, gracious mind!.
In your rare works my inner self can find
Repose, contentment, pleasure, complete ease.
My eyes had not met lines as fine as these
Beautiful, bubbling, wonderful refrains
From life – nor had my ever-active brains
Gleaned garners half so rich, half so diverse –
Until I read this splendid book of yours!.
Bright Keats!. Forever may your influence be great
Throughout the world!. Come!. Be the poet of my Fate!.
