"When I have fears that I may cease to be"

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high piled books, in charactry,
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 many 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 fairy power
Of unreflecting love;-then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do I sink
-John Keats, "When I have fears that I may cease to be"

First of all this poem is a Shakespearean sonnet, inspired by Shakespeare which was inspired by Ovid. This poem is a desperate attempt by Keats to preserve his short life by recording it before its too late. He knows that everything wonderful in life is temporary. He believes in melancholy which is the idea that with happiness comes sadness. This poem was written in 1848 during the romantic period in Britain. Although it was written more than a hundred years ago one can still read it and realize how beautiful but temporary life is, and how important it is to record the beauty as well as the ugly parts of life that people in the future can look at in order to realize they must do the same. Recording life in order for the future to see what the past thought of as important is the best contribution one can give to society. Keats might have has the slightest clue that in 2007 people would continue to read his work in awe.