It keeps eternal whisperings around
Desolate shores, And with its mighty swell
Gluts twice ten thousand Caverns, till the spell
Of Hecate leaves them their old shadowy sound.
Often ’tis in such gentle temper found,
That scarcely will the very smallest shell
Be moved for days from where it sometime fell,
When last the winds of Heaven were unbound.
Oh ye! Who have your eyeballs vexed and tired,
Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea;
Oh ye! Whose ears are dinned with uproar rude,
Or fed too much with cloying melody—
Sit ye near some old Cavern’s Mouth and brood,
Until ye start, as if the sea nymphs quired!
JOHN KEATS
Desolate : forlorn
Hecate : Greek goddess associated with witchcraft and the underworld
Uproar : outcry Quired : choired
