When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be(sonnet)

When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be

When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain, Before high-piled books, in charact'ry, Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain; When I behold upon the night's starred face Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, And think that I may never live to trace Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance; And when I feel, fair creature of an hour, That I shall never look upon thee more, Never have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love! -then on the shore

Of the wide world I stand alone, and think, Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.