stonepicnicking_okapi

We are already four days into poetry month, and I haven't posted any Keats. *the Dude voice* This willll not stand, you know! This lack of Keats will not stand, man!

When I have fears that I may cease to be by John 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.

I periodically do a coffee-themed collage. This uses a bag from the coffee recommended by DW friend and I really like it. It says Dark Roast but it isn't very dark (on the web site it says 'dark/medium'). The organization supports tuberculosis treatment and research. In the future (when we have an income) I will probably buy more because it's Fair Trade. On the bag it says to pair with A Party of Lovers by Keats so I've included that below. This is my favorite kind of collage because it's very, very busy, many layers and with many different kinds of elements and textures.

A Party of Lovers by John Keats

Pensive they sit, and roll their languid eyes,
Nibble their toast, and cool their tea with sighs,
Or else forget the purpose of the night,
Forget their tea -- forget their appetite.
See with cross'd arms they sit -- ah! happy crew,
The fire is going out and no one rings
For coals, and therefore no coals Betty brings.
A fly is in the milk-pot -- must he die
By a humane society?
No, no; there Mr. Werter takes his spoon,
Inserts it, dips the handle, and lo! soon
The little straggler, sav'd from perils dark,
Across the teaboard draws a long wet mark.
Arise! take snuffers by the handle,
There's a large cauliflower in each candle.
A winding-sheet, ah me! I must away
To No. 7, just beyond the circus gay.
'Alas, my friend! your coat sits very well;
Where may your tailor live?' 'I may not tell.
O pardon me -- I'm absent now and then.
Where might my tailor live? I say again
I cannot tell, let me no more be teaz'd --
He lives in Wapping, might live where he pleas'd.'

I love autumn! My favorite season!

Today (1 Oct) is World Postcard Day!

To celebrate, I put this autumn-themed card in the mail today to a lady in Switzerland (as part of the Postcrossing exchange).

Of course, there's Keats.

To Autumn by John Keats

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves 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'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
( Read more... )

And this favourite beginning to The Code of the Woosters by P.G. Wodehouse

I reached out a hand from under the blankets, and rang the bell for Jeeves.
‘Good evening, Jeeves,’
‘Good morning, sir’
This surprised me.
‘Is it morning?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Are you sure? It seems very dark outside.’
‘There is a fog, sir. If you will recollect, we are now in Autumn – season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.’
‘Season of what?’
‘Mists, sir, and mellow fruitfulness.’

( Fannish 50 list )

It's not autumn until we've heard from John Keats about mists and mellow fruitfulness.

Watch on YouTube

April is National Poetry Month in the US!

So I thought I would start the way I ended last April with one of my favourites: Keats!

There are poets and there is Keats. He is an old white man, but I love him so.

Ode to a Grecian Urn by John Keats

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-fring'd 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?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
( Read more... )

It's the time of year when we remember these iconic lines from The Code of the Woosters:

I reached out a hand from under the blankets, and rang the bell for Jeeves.
‘Good evening, Jeeves,’
‘Good morning, sir’
This surprised me.
‘Is it morning?’
‘Yes, sir.’
‘Are you sure? It seems very dark outside.’
‘There is a fog, sir. If you will recollect, we are now in Autumn – season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.’
‘Season of what?’
‘Mists, sir, and mellow fruitfulness.’

And here is Ben Whishaw reading the poem referenced above "To Autum" by John Keats.

Watch on YouTube

And the poem itself in the cut.

( To Autumn )

I know not everyone reading this likes Keats, but for me, there's poetry and then there's Keats. And there's no one else I want to close Poetry Month out with.

Ode on Indolence by John Keats

‘They toil not, neither do they spin.’

One morn before me were three figures seen,
With bowèd necks, and joinèd hands, side-faced;
And one behind the other stepp’d serene,
In placid sandals, and in white robes graced;
They pass’d, like figures on a marble urn,
When shifted round to see the other side;
They came again; as when the urn once more
Is shifted round, the first seen shades return;
And they were strange to me, as may betide
With vases, to one deep in Phidian lore.
( Read more... )

S	M	T	W	T	F	S
				1	2	3
4	5	6	7	8	9	10
11	12	13	14	15	16	17
18	19	20	21	22	23	24
25	26	27	28	29	30	31

Entries tagged with poet: john keats

Poet's Corner: Keats

Collage Journaling: coffee

Fannish 50 #38: Autumn

Poet's Corner: To Autumn by John Keats

April is Poetry Month!

Poet's Corner: To Autumn by Keats

Poet's Corner: Ode on Indolence by John Keats

Profile

Navigation

May 2025

Syndicate

Most Popular Tags

Page Summary

Active Entries

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags