John Keats
IF thou canst not from some superior sphere Look down upon this world that gave thee birth Or from some glad abode of stingless mirth Bend hitherward thy godbright head to hear Some rainbow-winged etherial messenger Tell thee men worship now thy wondrous worth, If thou art not, having passed away from earth, If thou whose name all sons of song revere Art nothing but the shadow of a name, If through the whole allotted period Of thy brief life thou were allowed to dwell In endless bitter ignorance of thy fame, Then must we yield it that there is no God Or else that he is crueller than hell.
Richard Hovey’s other poems:
Poems of other poets with the same name (Стихотворения других поэтов с таким же названием):