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John Keats Quotes

Writer

John Keats, one of the great Romantic poets, explored beauty, love, and mortality with lyrical depth and emotional intensity. His quotes reflect his sensitivity to nature, imagination, and the fleeting nature of life. Together, they offer timeless poetic insights that continue to resonate with readers seeking meaning and beauty in the world.

If I am destined to be happy with you here—how short is the longest Life—I wish to believe in immortality—I wish to live with you for ever.
From Letters of John Keats
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When by my solitary hearth I sit,
When no fair dreams before my “mind’s eye” flit,
And the bare heath of life presents no bloom;
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o’er my head.
From The Complete Poems
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My love has made me selfish. I cannot exist without you – I am forgetful of everything but seeing you again – my Life seems to stop there – I see no further. You have absorb’d me. I have a sensation at the present moment as though I was dissolving – I should be exquisitely miserable without the hope of soon seeing you … I have been astonished that Men could die Martyrs for religion – I have shudder’d at it – I shudder no more – I could be martyr’d for my Religion – Love is my religion – I could die for that – I could die for you.
From Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne
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Here lies one whose name was writ on water.
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Can death be sleep, when life is but a dream,
And scenes of bliss pass as a phantom by?
---"On death
From Complete Poems and Selected Letters
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Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a musèd rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath.
From Complete Poems and Selected Letters
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Stop and consider! life is but a day;
A fragile dewdrop on its perilous way
From a tree's summit; a poor Indian's sleep
While his boat hastens to the monstrous steep
Of Montmorenci. Why so sad a moan?
Life is the rose's hope while yet unblown;
The reading of an ever-changing tale;
The light uplifting of a maiden's veil;
A pigeon tumbling in clear summer air;
A laughing schoolboy, without grief or care,
Riding the springy branches of an elm.
From Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne
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Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a musèd rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,
Before high piled 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 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.

When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be
From The Complete Poems
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Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomèd mine—
Unweave a rainbow, as it erewhile made
The tender-person'd Lamia melt into a shade
From Lamia
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A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
From Endymion: A Poetic Romance
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The world is too brutal for me—I am glad there is such a thing as the grave—I am sure I shall never have any rest till I get there.
From Letters of John Keats
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A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard, are sweeter
From Ode On A Grecian Urn And Other Poems
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Wherein lies happiness? In that which becks
Our ready minds to fellowship divine,
A fellowship with essence; till we shine,
Full alchemiz’d, and free of space. Behold
The clear religion of heaven!
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?
From Letters of John Keats
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Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death...
From The Complete Poems
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For axioms in philosophy are not axioms until they are proved upon our pulses.
From Letters of John Keats
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Life is but a day;
A fragile dew-drop on its perilous way
From a tree’s summit.
From The Complete Poems
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Love in a hut, with water and a crust,
Is—Love, forgive us!—cinders, ashes, dust.
Love in a palace is perhaps at last
More grievous torment than a hermit's fast.
From Lamia
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If I am destined to be happy with you here—how short is the longest Life—I wish to believe in immortality—I wish to live with you for ever.
From Letters of John Keats
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When by my solitary hearth I sit,
When no fair dreams before my “mind’s eye” flit,
And the bare heath of life presents no bloom;
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o’er my head.
From The Complete Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
My love has made me selfish. I cannot exist without you – I am forgetful of everything but seeing you again – my Life seems to stop there – I see no further. You have absorb’d me. I have a sensation at the present moment as though I was dissolving – I should be exquisitely miserable without the hope of soon seeing you … I have been astonished that Men could die Martyrs for religion – I have shudder’d at it – I shudder no more – I could be martyr’d for my Religion – Love is my religion – I could die for that – I could die for you.
From Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Here lies one whose name was writ on water.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Can death be sleep, when life is but a dream,
And scenes of bliss pass as a phantom by?
---"On death
From Complete Poems and Selected Letters
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a musèd rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath.
From Complete Poems and Selected Letters
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Stop and consider! life is but a day;
A fragile dewdrop on its perilous way
From a tree's summit; a poor Indian's sleep
While his boat hastens to the monstrous steep
Of Montmorenci. Why so sad a moan?
Life is the rose's hope while yet unblown;
The reading of an ever-changing tale;
The light uplifting of a maiden's veil;
A pigeon tumbling in clear summer air;
A laughing schoolboy, without grief or care,
Riding the springy branches of an elm.
From Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a musèd rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,
Before high piled 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 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.

When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be
From The Complete Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomèd mine—
Unweave a rainbow, as it erewhile made
The tender-person'd Lamia melt into a shade
From Lamia
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
From Endymion: A Poetic Romance
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The world is too brutal for me—I am glad there is such a thing as the grave—I am sure I shall never have any rest till I get there.
From Letters of John Keats
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard, are sweeter
From Ode On A Grecian Urn And Other Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Wherein lies happiness? In that which becks
Our ready minds to fellowship divine,
A fellowship with essence; till we shine,
Full alchemiz’d, and free of space. Behold
The clear religion of heaven!
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?
From Letters of John Keats
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death...
From The Complete Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
For axioms in philosophy are not axioms until they are proved upon our pulses.
From Letters of John Keats
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Life is but a day;
A fragile dew-drop on its perilous way
From a tree’s summit.
From The Complete Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Love in a hut, with water and a crust,
Is—Love, forgive us!—cinders, ashes, dust.
Love in a palace is perhaps at last
More grievous torment than a hermit's fast.
From Lamia
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
If I am destined to be happy with you here—how short is the longest Life—I wish to believe in immortality—I wish to live with you for ever.
From Letters of John Keats
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When by my solitary hearth I sit,
When no fair dreams before my “mind’s eye” flit,
And the bare heath of life presents no bloom;
Sweet Hope, ethereal balm upon me shed,
And wave thy silver pinions o’er my head.
From The Complete Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
My love has made me selfish. I cannot exist without you – I am forgetful of everything but seeing you again – my Life seems to stop there – I see no further. You have absorb’d me. I have a sensation at the present moment as though I was dissolving – I should be exquisitely miserable without the hope of soon seeing you … I have been astonished that Men could die Martyrs for religion – I have shudder’d at it – I shudder no more – I could be martyr’d for my Religion – Love is my religion – I could die for that – I could die for you.
From Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Here lies one whose name was writ on water.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Can death be sleep, when life is but a dream,
And scenes of bliss pass as a phantom by?
---"On death
From Complete Poems and Selected Letters
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a musèd rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath.
From Complete Poems and Selected Letters
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Stop and consider! life is but a day;
A fragile dewdrop on its perilous way
From a tree's summit; a poor Indian's sleep
While his boat hastens to the monstrous steep
Of Montmorenci. Why so sad a moan?
Life is the rose's hope while yet unblown;
The reading of an ever-changing tale;
The light uplifting of a maiden's veil;
A pigeon tumbling in clear summer air;
A laughing schoolboy, without grief or care,
Riding the springy branches of an elm.
From Bright Star: Love Letters and Poems of John Keats to Fanny Brawne
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a musèd rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;
Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean’d my teeming brain,
Before high piled 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 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.

When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be
From The Complete Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomèd mine—
Unweave a rainbow, as it erewhile made
The tender-person'd Lamia melt into a shade
From Lamia
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
From Endymion: A Poetic Romance
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
The world is too brutal for me—I am glad there is such a thing as the grave—I am sure I shall never have any rest till I get there.
From Letters of John Keats
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard, are sweeter
From Ode On A Grecian Urn And Other Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Wherein lies happiness? In that which becks
Our ready minds to fellowship divine,
A fellowship with essence; till we shine,
Full alchemiz’d, and free of space. Behold
The clear religion of heaven!
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?
From Letters of John Keats
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death...
From The Complete Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
For axioms in philosophy are not axioms until they are proved upon our pulses.
From Letters of John Keats
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Life is but a day;
A fragile dew-drop on its perilous way
From a tree’s summit.
From The Complete Poems
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote
Love in a hut, with water and a crust,
Is—Love, forgive us!—cinders, ashes, dust.
Love in a palace is perhaps at last
More grievous torment than a hermit's fast.
From Lamia
Avg Rating: --Rate This Quote