by phillipw | May 20, 2020 | JO, KE
Virgins in Self-sacrificial Auto da Fé Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem John Keats on his deathbed. ~Joseph Severn “His ‘magic’ does not take account of what cannot be known.”* His beauty does not care...
by phillipw | May 10, 2020 | BU, DI, EM, EZ, JO, KE, KH, OM, OR, PE, PO, RA, RO, SA
The Bones of Orpheus, the Hair of Keats Modern poetry modern verse contemporary poetry contemporary verse modern poem contemporary poem If we collected poets’ body parts And put them in glass cases, would the world Adore them there like saints? Pickled hearts Of...
by phillipw | Mar 1, 2020 | BR, FA, JO, KE, ST
The Hard Truth: Keats The myth rides gently on that wasting death. Consumption weakened him as if a spell Were cast by Tories hating lines with breath For weaker ones among us. He was well In brain and soul, this little giant filled With all nobilities, this...
by phillipw | Feb 25, 2020 | JO, KE, SE
Abandoned by All but Two: Joseph Severn & Immortality The man who sailed to Italy with Keats Was chosen just because he was the one Available. Deaf circumstance defeats Our friends. Concerns about the family stun Some men who otherwise might offer us Their...
by phillipw | Feb 17, 2020 | JO, KE
Firm Fluidity The sunlight wavers from the ripples down Below. The surface of the fountain in The square beneath his deathbed cannot drown Keats’ poetry. The wavelets’ discipline Had killed his writing earlier, before He saw their wavering refractions on...
by phillipw | Feb 17, 2020 | BR, FA, JO, KE
The Jewel a Bright Star Gave Him . The lover holds carnelian between His thumb and finger (far too late to write More poetry), then palms it there to lean Against his lifeline. If the stone is white Or red like blood that turns away from life Is well beyond God’s...
