554. When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be by John Keats

J Keats read by Classic Poetry Aloud:
http://classicpoetryaloud.podomatic.com/

Giving voice to the poetry of the past.

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When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be
by John Keats (1795 – 1821)

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high pil`d books, in charact'ry,
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 feel 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.

First aired: 28 July 2007

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Reading © Classic Poetry Aloud 2007