Mitchell, S. (Silas) Weir : The Grave of Keats

Literature Annotations

Genre	Poem
Keywords	Death and Dying, Grief, Human Worth, Loneliness, Love, Mourning, Pain, Suffering, Time
Summary	The poet stands in the Protestant Cemetery at Rome, beside the grave of John Keats, on which the epitaph is written: "Here lies one whose name was writ in water." The poet addresses the cemetery ("Fair little city of the pilgrim dead"), commenting on the beauty of the place and of its music: "Sing in the pure security of bliss." Yet, even this serene place cannot comfort the poet, who has inherited "the anguish of the doubt / Writ on this gravestone."
Commentary	The interesting image of a late 19th century American physician-poet (this poem was written in 1891) standing at the grave of this great British poet-physician who had died at such an excruciatingly early age of consumption.
Source	Complete Poems
Publisher	Century
Edition	1914
Place Published	New York
Annotated by	Coulehan, Jack
Date of Entry	05/01/96