Poetry Express

On the Sea by John Keats

It keeps eternal whisperings around
Desolate shores, and with its mighty swell
Gluts twice ten thousand caverns, till the spell
Of Hecate leaves them their old shadowy sound.
Often 'tis in such gentle temper found,
That scarcely will the very smallest shell
Be moved for days from whence it sometime fell,
When last the winds of heaven were unbound.
Oh ye! who have your eye-balls vexed and tired,
Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea;
Oh ye! whose ears are dinned with uproar rude,
Or fed too much with cloying melody, -
Sit ye near some old cavern's mouth, and brood
Until ye start, as if the sea-nymphs choired!

I remember doing a project involving this poem a while back for a design class. I had to work with an apple at minimum, and ended up with a strange little sinking apple. Anyway, I fell in love with the poem at that point. It's graceful and light, and even with its semi-hard-to-understand old English it's rich with imagery. I mean, who wouldn't want to see a bunch of sea-nymphs singing in a choir?

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