Fragment Of An Ode To Maia. Written On May Day 1818
Mother
of
Hermes!
and
still
youthful
Maia!
May
I
sing
to
thee
As
thou
wast
hymned
on
the
shores
of
Baiae?
Or
may
I
woo
thee
In
earlier
Sicilian?
or
thy
smiles
Seek
as
they
once
were
sought,
in
Grecian
isles,
By
bards
who
died
content
on
pleasant
sward,
Leaving
great
verse
unto
a
little
clan?
O
give
me
their
old
vigour!
and
unheard
Save
of
the
quiet
primrose,
and
the
span
Of
heaven,
and
few
ears,
Rounded
by
thee,
my
song
should
die
away
Content
as
theirs,
Rich
in
the
simple
worship
of
a
day.
John Keats
John Keats (born October 31, 1795, London, England—died February 23, 1821, Rome, Papal States [Italy]) English Romantic lyric poet who devoted his short life to the perfection of a poetry marked by vivid imagery, great sensuous appeal, and an attempt to express a philosophy through classical legend. He is best known for his odes, including "Ode to a Grecian Urn," "Ode to a Nightingale," and his long form poem Endymion. His usage of sensual imagery and statements such as “beauty is truth and truth is beauty” made him a precursor of aestheticism.