When I have fears
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-ripend grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd 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 lovel then on the shore
Ofthe wide world I stand alone, and think, Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.


Use the following guiding questions to guide your analysis.
* Who is the speaker of the poem? How does identifying the speaker contribute to your understanding of the poem?
* How closely can you identify the speaker with the author of the poem?
* What attitude toward the subject of the poem does the speaker convey?
How does the tone of the poem help you understand this attitude?
* What use has the poet made of technical means such as imagery, alliteration, allusion, and specific figures of speech?
* How has the poet used metaphor and simile in the poem?
* How would you describe the diction and the syntax of the poem?
* What is the form of the poem? Why did the poet choose this form and not another?
* Why do you feel the poet might have written this poem?
* What does the language of the poem tell you about the reader for whom the poem was written? Is it addressed to a person close to the poet, or to a more general reader?
* How might different readers interpret the poem?