When I have Fears that I may Cease to Be                                                John Keats (1795-1821) When I have fears that I may cease to be     Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, Before high-piled books, in charactery,     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.