Fragment of an Ode to Maia

By John Keats

1795-1821


MOTHER of Hermes! and still youthful Maia!
         May I sing to thee
As thou wast hymned on the shores of Baiae?
         Or may I woo thee
In earlier Sicilian? or thy smiles
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
         Of heaven, and few ears,
Rounded by thee, my song should die away
         Content as theirs,
Rich in the simple worship of a day.

DayPoems Poem No. 581
<a href="http://www.daypoems.net/poems/581.html">Fragment of an Ode to Maia by John Keats</a>

The DayPoems Poetry Collection, www.daypoems.net
Timothy Bovee, editor

Poets  Poems