Arthur Quiller-Couch, ed. 1919. The Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250–1900.
John Keats. 17951821629. Fragment of an Ode to Maia (Written on May-Day, 1818)
MOTHER of Hermes! and still youthful Maia! | |
May I sing to thee | |
As thou wast hymnèd on the shores of Baiæ? | |
Or may I woo thee | |
In earlier Sicilian? or thy smiles | 5 |
Seek as they once were sought, in Grecian isles, | |
By bards who died content on pleasant sward, | |
Leaving great verse unto a little clan? | |
O give me their old vigour! and unheard | |
Save of the quiet primrose, and the span | 10 |
Of heaven, and few ears, | |
Rounded by thee, my song should die away | |
Content as theirs, | |
Rich in the simple worship of a day. |