13 June 2016

When I have fears...Keats




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. -John Keats



Robert Rauschenberg canvas



6 comments:

  1. EVERY DELIGHTFUL ARTICLE. KEATS ON THE PALLET OF CONVERSATION-LIFE AND POETRY - FEW HERE IN SOUTHERN USA LIKE-SORT OF WONDERMENT-LANGUAGE AND ART ALL IN HOUSE DESCRIPTIONS OF LITTLE AUGURY-ATK

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  2. Yes, to be reminded. Thank you. xoxo Mary

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  3. Beautiful! And your post on BC was fabulous. She was a friend of my mother's! Love keeping up with your posts, Jamie Herzlinger

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  4. "to trace / Their shadows with the magic hand of chance," is just an extraordinary confession of those unexpected felicities that come to one's own hand without one's preconception. They did seem to favor him if that's true; and if it isn't, how well he does conceal the art.

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    1. A highly apposite moment to revisit this entry today, as I think about the few 8 years of rmbl, to be completed this coming Sunday. One has to admire his awareness as a vessel, as the brilliance of his control.

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