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    Lamia
    Lamia
    Lamia
    Ebook29 pages26 minutes

    Lamia

    By John Keats

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    About this ebook

    Lamia is a narrative poem written by the English poet John Keats, which first appeared in the volume Lamia, Isabella, the Eve of St Agnes and Other Poems, published in July 1820.
    The poem tells how the god Hermes hears of a nymph who is more beautiful than all. Hermes, searching for the nymph, instead comes across Lamia, trapped in the form of a serpent.

    John Keats was an English Romantic poet who lived from 1795 to 1821. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential poets in the Romantic literary movement. Keats is known for his lyric poetry, which is characterized by its sensual and vivid imagery, rich language, and exploration of themes such as beauty, nature, love, and the transience of life.

    Tragically, John Keats' life was cut short at the age of 25 due to tuberculosis. Despite his relatively short life and limited output, his work has had a lasting impact on English literature and continues to be studied and admired for its poetic excellence and exploration of profound human experiences. 
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPasserino
    Release dateJan 19, 2024
    ISBN9791222497815
    Lamia
    Author

    John Keats

    Born in London in 1795, John Keats is one of the most popular of the Romantic poets of the 19th century. During his short life his work failed to achieve literary acclaim, but after his death in 1821 his literary reputation steadily gained pace, inspiring many subsequent poets and students alike.

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      Book preview

      Lamia - John Keats

      Part I

      Upon a time, before the faery broods

      Drove Nymph and Satyr from the prosperous woods,

      Before King Oberon's bright diadem,

      Sceptre, and mantle, clasp'd with dewy gem,

      Frighted away the Dryads and the Fauns

      From rushes green, and brakes, and cowslip'd lawns,

      The ever-smitten Hermes empty left

      His golden throne, bent warm on amorous theft:

      From high Olympus had he stolen light,

      On this side of Jove's clouds, to escape the sight

      Of his great summoner, and made retreat

      Into a forest on the shores of Crete.

      For somewhere in that sacred island dwelt

      A nymph, to whom all hoofed Satyrs knelt;

      At whose white feet the languid Tritons poured

      Pearls, while on land they wither'd and adored.

      Fast by the springs where she to bathe was wont,

      And in those meads where sometime she might haunt,

      Were strewn rich gifts, unknown to any Muse,

      Though Fancy's casket were unlock'd to choose.

      Ah, what a world of love was at her feet!

      So Hermes thought, and a celestial heat

      Burnt from his winged heels to either ear,

      That from a whiteness, as the lily clear,

      Blush'd into roses 'mid his golden hair,

      Fallen in jealous curls about his shoulders bare.

      From vale to vale, from wood to wood, he flew,

      Breathing upon the flowers his passion new,

      And wound with many a river to its head,

      To find where this sweet nymph prepar'd her secret bed:

      In vain; the sweet nymph might nowhere be found,

      And so he rested, on the lonely ground,

      Pensive, and full of painful jealousies

      Of the Wood-Gods, and even the very trees.

      There as he

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