Do you not see how necessary a world of pains and troubles is to school an intelligence and make it a soul?
John KeatsRead
This Grave contains all that was Mortal of a Young English Poet Who on his Death Bed in the Bitterness of his Heart at the Malicious Power of his Enemies Desired these words to be engraved on his Tomb Stone "Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water."
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the transient nature of life and the fragility of legacy.
John Keats's inscription expresses the poet's sorrow over the fleetingness of life and the superficiality of fame. By declaring that his name was 'writ in Water,' Keats implies that his contributions and existence may leave no lasting impression, contrasting the idea of a permanent legacy with the inevitability of mortality and the power of adversities.
Themes
LegacyMortalityFamePoetryHeartbreak
In practice
Example use cases
This quote would resonate in a eulogy to emphasize the transient nature of life.
More from John Keats
All quotes →Are there not thousands in the world who love their fellows even to the death, who feel the giant agony of the world, and more, like slaves to poor humanity, labor for mortal good?
John KeatsRead
Ask yourself my love whether you are not very cruel to have so entrammelled me, so destroyed my freedom. Will you confess this in the Letter you must write immediately, and do all you can to console me in it — make it rich as a draught of poppies to intoxicate me —write the softest words and kiss them that I may at least touch my lips where yours have been. For myself I know not how to express my devotion to so fair a form: I want a brighter word than bright, a fairer word than fair.
John KeatsRead
Faded the flower and all its budded charms,Faded the sight of beauty from my eyes,Faded the shape of beauty from my arms,Faded the voice, warmth, whiteness, paradise!Vanishd unseasonably
John KeatsRead
I think we may class the lawyer in the natural history of monsters.
John KeatsRead
...I leaped headlong into the Sea, and thereby have become more acquainted with the Soundings, the quicksands, and the rocks, than if I had stayed upon the green shore, and piped a silly pipe, and took tea and comfortable advice.
John KeatsRead
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