Poetry Explorer


Classic and Contemporary Poetry


KEATS by JOHN BANISTER TABB

First Line: UPON THY TOMB 'TIS GRAVEN, 'HERE LIES ONE
Last Line: THY NAME, A DEATHLESS SYLLABLE, REMAINS.
Subject(s): KEATS, JOHN (1795-1821); POETRY & POETS;

UPON thy tomb 't is graven, "Here lies one
Whose name is writ in water." Could there be
A flight of Fancy fitlier feigned for thee,
A fairer motto for her favorite son?
For, as the wave, thy varying numbers run --
Now crested proud in tidal majesty,
Now tranquil as the twilight reverie
Of some dim lake the white moon looks upon

While teems the world with silence. Even there,
In each Protean rainbow-tint that stains
The breathing canvas of the atmosphere,
We read an exhalation of thy strains.
Thus, on the scroll of Nature, everywhere,
Thy name, a deathless syllable, remains.



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