Poems by John Keats: John Keats was one of the most famous Poets in the 80s. John Keats was a profound poet in England. His poetry theme revolves around love, mortality, and human emotions. During his early life, John Keats was a doctor but he truly wanted to write poems and then he changed his profession to poetry. John Keats lived a short life but his works are appreciated till now, “Ode to a Nightingale” is termed the most famous work by John Keats.
Also read: Pomes written by John Milton
1-Poems by John Keats: Ode to a Nightingale
My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
‘Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness,—
That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.
O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool’d a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,
Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!
O for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth;
That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
And with thee fade away into the forest dim:
Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget
What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret
Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,
youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;
Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs,
Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,
Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.
Away! away! for I will fly to thee,
Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the viewless wings of Poesy,
Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:
Already with thee! tender is the night,
And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,
Cluster’d around by all her starry Fays;
But here there is no light,
Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown
Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.
I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,
Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,
But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet
Wherewith the seasonable month endows
The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild;
White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;
Fast fading violets cover’d up in leaves;
And mid-May’s eldest child,
The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,
The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.
Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call’d him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain—
To thy high requiem become a sod.
Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tramp thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
The same that oft-times hath
Charm’d magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.
Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
To toll me back from thee to my sole self!
Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well
As she is fam’d to do, deceiving elf.
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades
Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
Up the hill-side; and now ’tis buried deep
In the next valley-glades:
Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?
Explanation :
The poem “Ode to a Nightingale” is the most famous John Keats work. The poem explores the theme of the world and dreams and the contrast between ideal and reality. The poet wants to escape from this world and wants to join the nightingale in its world where happiness is everywhere. The poet dreams of a world where there is no struggle and depression but at the end of the poem the poet realizes that all of this is his dream and the poet is left to ponder whether it was a dream or reality.
Who was John Keats?
John Keats (1795–1821) was an English Romantic poet known for his vivid imagery and sensuous language.
2- Ode on a Grecian Urn
Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? wild ecstasy?
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,
Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!
Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy’d,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy’d,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead’st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea-shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e’er return.
O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
Explanation :
The poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn” shows the theme of the immortality of art and the beauty of art. The poem features a piece of art called Grecian Urn. The poems show the contrast between the immortal life of art and the mortal life of an artist. The poem reflects the idea that art exceeds all the limitations of time and mortality.
What are some of John Keats’s most famous works?
Keats wrote several notable poems, including “Ode to a Nightingale,” “To Autumn,” “Ode to a Grecian Urn,” and “Endymion.”
3-Poems by John Keats: To Autumn
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the moss’d cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o’erbrimm’d their clammy cells.
Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap’d furrow sound asleep,
Drows’d with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep
Steady thy laden head across a brook;
Or by a cider-press, with patient look,
Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.
Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?
Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—
While barrèd clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing, and now with treble soft
The redbreast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.
Explanation :
The poem “The Autumn” vividly captures the calmness and beauty of the autumn season. The poet says that autumn is a great friend of the sun and helps the fruits and flowers to get ripped. The poet wants the readers to feel the sound, sight, and smell of the autumn season. The poem shows the passage of time from the hot and loud days of summer to the windy and white days of autumn.
When did John Keats live?
John Keats was born on October 31, 1795, and died on February 23, 1821, at the age of 25.
4- When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain;
When I behold, upon the night’s starred 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.
Explanation :
The poem “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” is a lament by John Keats. The poem shows the poet’s fear of death before even reaching his potential for poetry. The poet describes his desire to write poetry even after his death and poems that will stand after the passage of time. The poet says that he wants to write poetry about the night sky but he thinks he may die before writing. The poems explore the theme of mortality and human fear of death.
What is the significance of Keats’s poetry?
Keats’s poetry is celebrated for its beauty, depth of emotion, and exploration of themes such as nature, beauty, and the transience of life.
5-Poems by John Keats: Bright Star
Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art—
Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—
No—yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death.
Explanation :
In the poem “Bright Star” the poet sees a bright star in the night sky, the poet expresses that he wants to be constant just like the bright sky. The poet desires for a love that is constant and unchanged just like the star, the poet wants to be with his beloved forever. The beautiful describes the idea of a love that transcends the limitations of time and mortality. The poem explores the themes of romance, love, and mortality.
How did John Keats die?
John Keats died of tuberculosis at the age of 25 in Rome on February 23, 1821.
6- On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer
Much have I travell’d in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow’d Homer ruled as his demesne;
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He star’d at the Pacific—and all his men
Look’d at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
Explanation :
In the poem “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer” the poet, compares his experience of reading Chapman’s translation to that of an astronomer discovering a new planet or an explorer reaching an uncharted land. The sonnet vividly captures the sense of wonder and amazement that Keats felt upon encountering the beauty and grandeur of Homer’s epic tales through Chapman’s eloquent rendition.
What is Keats’s contribution to the Romantic literary movement?
John Keats’s contribution to the Romantic movement lies in his emphasis on emotion, imagination, and a connection to nature
7- The Eve of St. Agnes
St. Agnes’ Eve—Ah, bitter chill it was!
The owl, for all his feathers, was a-cold;
The hare limp’d trembling through the frozen grass,
And silent was the flock in woolly fold:
Numb were the Beadsman’s fingers, while he told
His rosary, and while his frosted breath,
Like pious incense from a censer old,
Seem’d taking flight for heaven, without a death,
Past the sweet Virgin’s picture, while his prayer he saith
His prayer he saith, this patient, holy man;
Then takes his lamp, and riseth from his knees,
And back returneth, meagre, barefoot, wan,
Along the chapel aisle by slow degrees:
The sculptur’d dead, on each side, seem to freeze,
Emprison’d in black, purgatorial rails:
Knights, ladies, praying in foolish orat’ries,
He passeth by; and his weak spirit fails
To think how they may ache in icy hoods and mails.
Explanation :
“The Eve of St. Agnes” is a narrative poem written by John Keats in 1819. It tells the story of a young maiden, Madeline, who believes she can see her future husband in a dream if she performs certain rituals on the eve of St. Agnes’ feast day.
What is Keats’s “Negative Capability”?
“Negative Capability” is a term Keats used to describe an artist’s capacity to accept uncertainty and doubt.
8- La Belle Dame sans Merci
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
Alone and palely loitering?
The sedge has withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms,
So haggard and so woe-begone?
The squirrel’s granary is full,
And the harvest’s done.
I see a lily on thy brow,
With anguish moist and fever-dew,
And on thy cheeks a fading rose
Fast withereth too.
I met a lady in the meads,
Full beautiful—a faery’s child,
Her hair was long, her foot was light,
And her eyes were wild.
I made a garland for her head,
And bracelets too, and fragrant zone;
She looked at me as she did love,
And made sweet moan
I set her on my pacing steed,
And nothing else saw all day long,
For sidelong would she bend, and sing
A faery’s song.
She found me roots of relish sweet,
And honey wild, and manna-dew,
And sure in language strange she said—
‘I love thee true’.
She took me to her Elfin grot,
And there she wept and sighed full sore,
And there I shut her wild wild eyes
With kisses four.
And there she lullèd me asleep,
And there I dreamed—Ah! woe betide!—
The latest dream I ever dreamt
On the cold hill side.
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci
Thee hath in thrall!’
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gapèd wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
Explanation :
“La Belle Dame sans Merci,” which translates to “The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy” in French, is a ballad written by John Keats in 1819. The poem tells the story of a knight who encounters a beautiful and enchanting woman in a meadow.
9- Ode on Melancholy
No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist
Wolf’s-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;
Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kissed
By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;
Make not your rosary of yew-berries,
Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be
Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl
A partner in your sorrow’s mysteries;
For shade to shade will come too drowsily,
And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.
But when the melancholy fit shall fall
Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,
That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,
And hides the green hill in an April shroud;
Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,
Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,
Or on the wealth of globed peonies;
Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,
Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,
And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.
She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die;
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips
Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,
Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil’d Melancholy has her sovereign shrine,
Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue
Can burst Joy’s grape against his palate fine;
His soul shall taste the sadness of her might,
And be among her cloudy trophies hung.
Explanation :
In this ode, Keats explores the nature of melancholy, advising the reader not to seek oblivion through various deadly substances. Instead, he suggests embracing and experiencing the full range of human emotions, even the melancholic ones, and finding beauty even in sorrow.
10- Ode to Psyche
O Goddess! hear these tuneless numbers, wrung
By sweet enforcement and remembrance dear,
And pardon that thy secrets should be sung
Even into thine own soft-conched ear:
Surely I dreamt to-day, or did I see
The winged Psyche with awaken’d eyes?
I wander’d in a forest thoughtlessly,
And, on the sudden, fainting with surprise,
Saw two fair creatures, couched side by side
In deepest grass, beneath the whisp’ring roof
Of leaves and trembled blossoms, where there ran
A brooklet, scarce espied:
‘Mid hush’d, cool-rooted flowers, fragrant-eyed,
Blue, silver-white, and budded Tyrian,
They lay calm-breathing on the bedded grass;
Their arms embraced, and their pinions too;
Their lips touch’d not, but had not bade adieu,
As if disjoined by soft-handed slumber,
And ready still past kisses to outnumber
At tender eye-dawn of aurorean love:
The winged boy I knew;
But who wast thou, O happy, happy dove?
His Psyche true!
O latest born and loveliest vision far
Of all Olympus’ faded hierarchy!
Fairer than Phoebe’s sapphire-region’d star,
Or Vesper, amorous glow-worm of the sky;
Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none,
Nor altar heap’d with flowers;
Nor virgin-choir to make delicious moan
Upon the midnight hours;
No voice, no lute, no pipe, no incense sweet
From chain-swung censer teeming;
No shrine, no grove, no oracle, no heat
Of pale-mouth’d prophet dreaming.
O brightest! though too late for antique vows,
Too, too late for the fond believing lyre,
When holy were the haunted forest boughs,
Holy the air, the water, and the fire;
Yet even in these days so far retir’d
From happy pieties, thy lucent fans,
Fluttering among the faint Olympians,
I see, and sing, by my own eyes inspir’d.
So let me be thy choir, and make a moan
Upon the midnight hours;
Thy voice, thy lute, thy pipe, thy incense sweet
From swinged censer teeming;
Thy shrine, thy grove, thy oracle, thy heat
Of pale-mouth’d prophet dreaming.
O brightest! thou whose love
Is like the golden satyrs of the wood!
O! that I saw thee in some pleasant place,
While round I sang; Ah, thou shouldst ever be
A soft sweet lady of thy cloudy house,
And thou shouldst please me, and thy husband dear
Should hover o’er us soft as air, and silent as the flow
Of azure rivers in a summer’s night.
Well-sounding flutes, and laurel crowns, and groves
Of graceful trees, and many a flowery spot,
And eloquent of lips of mossy stone,
And thee, my dearest Psyche, thou shouldst rear
Thy head in that far-glorious cloudy place.
Explanation :
The poem is characterized by its rich and sensual imagery, as well as the theme of transcendent love. Keats’s exploration of the mythological realm reflects his fascination with classical themes and his ability to infuse them with deep emotional resonance. “Ode to Psyche” is a lyrical and evocative ode that captures the essence of beauty and the transcendental power of love.
What is the most famous quote by John Keats?
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever” s the most famous quote by John Keats.
11- To Fanny
I cry your mercy—pity—love!—aye, love!
Merciful love that tantalizes not,
One-thoughted, never-wandering, guileless love,
Unmasked, and being seen—without a blot!
O! let me have thee whole,—all—all—be mine!
That shape, that fairness, that sweet minor zest
Of love, your kiss,—those hands, those eyes divine,
That warm, white, lucent, million-pleasured breast,—
Yourself—your soul in pity give me all,
Withhold no atom’s atom or I die,
Or living on, perhaps, your wretched thrall,
Forget, in the mist of idle misery,
Life’s purposes,—the palate of my mind
Losing its gust, and my ambition blind!
Explanation :
The poem “To Fanny” conveys the intensity of Keats’s emotions and his longing for a deep and all-encompassing connection with Fanny. Keats’s love for Fanny Brawne is a prominent theme in many of his works, and “To Fanny” is a poignant expression of his feelings for her. The sonnet captures the Romantic ideal of passionate and transcendent love, emphasizing the transformative power of deep emotional connection.
Did John Keats achieve recognition during his lifetime?
No, John Keats did not achieve widespread recognition during his lifetime. His work gained prominence posthumously.
12- To Sleep
O soft embalmer of the still midnight!
Shutting, with careful fingers and benign,
Our gloom-pleas’d eyes, embower’d from the light,
Enshaded in forgetfulness divine;
O soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close,
In midst of this thine hymn, my willing eyes,
Or wait the “Amen,” ere thy poppy throws
Around my bed its lulling charities;
Then save me, or the passed day will shine
Upon my pillow, breeding many woes;
Save me from curious Conscience, that still lords
Its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole;
Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,
And seal the hushed Casket of my Soul.
Explanation :
In the poem, Keats addresses sleep as the “soft embalmer of the still midnight,” portraying it as a gentle and soothing force that brings relief to the troubles of the day. The poet expresses a desire for sleep to close his “gloom-pleased eyes” and provide a respite from the harshness of reality. The imagery of being “enshaded in forgetfulness divine” emphasizes the idea that sleep serves as a sanctuary where one can escape from the cares and anxieties of life.
What is the significance of Keats’s poem “To Autumn”?
“To Autumn” is considered a masterpiece, celebrating the beauty and richness of the autumn season.
13- Isabella; or, The Pot of Basil
Fair Isabel, poor simple Isabel!
Lorenzo, a young palmer in Love’s eye!
They could not in the self-same mansion dwell
Without some stir of heart, some malady;
They could not sit at meals but feel how well
It soothed each to be the other by;
They could not, sure, beneath the same roof sleep
But to each other dream, and nightly weep.
Explanation :
The poem begins by introducing the central characters, Fair Isabel and Lorenzo. Keats describes their deep and mutual love, emphasizing the emotional and physical closeness they share. The use of the term “palmer” suggests that Lorenzo is a pilgrim or traveler, and this adds a romantic and adventurous element to the narrative.
How many siblings did John Keats have?
John Keats had three siblings: George, Tom, and Fanny.
There are some of the best poems by John Keats with explanations in English. Stay tuned for more great poems and updates.