quote · Legacy record
Stop and consider! Life is but a day; A fragile dewdrop on its perilous way From a tree’s summit; a poor Indian’s sleep While his boat hastens to the monstrous steep Of Montmorenci,—Why so sad a moan? Life is the rose’s hope while yet unblown; The reading of an ever-changing tale; The light uplifting of a maiden’s veil; A pigeon tumbling in clear summer air; A laughing school boy, without grief or care, Riding the springy branches of an elm.
Stop and consider! Life is but a day; A fragile dewdrop on its perilous way From a tree’s summit; a poor Indian’s sleep While his boat hastens to the monstrous steep Of Montmorenci,—Why so sad a moan? Life is the rose’s hope while yet unblown; The reading of an ever-changing tale; The light uplifting of a maiden’s veil; A pigeon tumbling in clear summer air; A laughing school boy, without grief or care, Riding the springy branches of an elm.
Approximate author period: c. 1808 AD · industrial
Meaning not yet available
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Begin with source-checked readings and explanations ↗Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- John Keats
Attribution: attributed - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Approximate author period: c. 1808 AD · industrial
author lifetime midpoint (1795–1821)
An author lifetime, approximate period or collection date is not necessarily the date when these words were first written or spoken. - Recorded source
- My Commonplace Book (third English edition,1921) (1921 AD)
Page 118 · printed citation: Keats (Sleep and Poetry). · compiler notes excluded
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.