Logos Virtual Library: Keats: Addressed to Haydon

John Keats

John Keats (1795-1821)

Addressed to Haydon

Great spirits now on earth are sojourning;

He of the cloud, the cataract, the lake,

Who on Helvellyn’s summit, wide awake,
Catches his freshness from Archangel’s wing:
He of the rose, the violet, the spring,

The social smile, the chain for Freedom’s sake:

And lo!—whose stedfastness would never take
A meaner sound than Raphael’s whispering.
And other spirits there are standing apart

Upon the forehead of the age to come;
These, these will give the world another heart,

And other pulses. Hear ye not the hum
Of mighty workings?——

Listen awhile ye nations, and be dumb.