When I Have Fears

The Arcadian Shepherds, Nicolas Poussin

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. 


John Keats


Keats was facing his mortal death and his fears were fears we all have in our lives - will we be remembered, will we do all the things in life we wanted to do, be all the things we hoped to be, loved and was loved, had friendships that were beyond measure, got all our creative passions out in caporal form for others to share with us, learned all there was to learn..... we do not want to be alone and we all want to be loved yet so often we waste what time we have over petty or unimportant matters until it is too late.... Live your lives to the fullest every moment. Love with all your heart, laugh with all your soul, and be joyful with your entire being and then you too will have an Arcadian existence like Poussin painted.