Edmund Clarence Stedman, ed. (1833–1908). An American Anthology, 1787–1900. 1900.

By Lizette WoodworthReese

1258 Keats

AN English lad, who, reading in a book,

A ponderous, leathern thing set on his knee,

Saw the broad violet of the Egean Sea

Lap at his feet as it were village brook.

Wide was the east; the gusts of morning shook;

Immortal laughter beat along that shore;

Pan, crouching in the reeds, piped as of yore;

The gods came down and thundered from that book.

He lifted his sad eyes; his London street

Swarmed in the sun, and strove to make him heed;

Boys spun their tops, shouting and fair of cheek:

But, still, that violet lapping at his feet,—

An English lad had he sat down to read;

But he rose up and knew himself a Greek.