John Keats: Collected Lyrics
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Public-domain lyrics

Dedication

John Keats

“Dedication” as printed in The Poetical Works of John Keats (1884).

John Keats: Collected Lyrics Text 6 1884 · historical text
Public domainSong lyricsRomantic
Complete public-domain lyrics

This text comes from The Poetical Works of John Keats, a historical songbook transcribed on Wikisource and reproduced from the pinned revision linked below.

Verse 1

What more felicity can fall to creature

Than to enjoy delight with liberty!

Fate of the Butterfly.—Spenser

Verse 2

Glory and Loveliness have pass'd away;

For if we wander out in early morn,

No wreathed incense do we see upborne

Into the east to meet the smiling day:

No crowd of nymphs soft-voiced and young and gay,

In woven baskets bringing ears of corn,

Roses, and pinks, and violets, to adorn

The shrine of Flora in her early May.

But there are left delights as high as these.

And I shall ever bless my destiny,

That in a time when under pleasant trees

Pan is no longer sought, I feel a free,

A leafy luxury, seeing I could please

With these poor offerings, a man like thee.

Credits

Written by John Keats

Words by John Keats. Historical text published in The Poetical Works of John Keats (1884); public domain. No claim to a modern recording or arrangement.

Source & text edition

The Poetical Works of John Keats (1884), “Dedication”

Every text in this 1884 collected edition is by John Keats (1795-1821), who died more than 200 years ago, so the text is in the public domain worldwide; the edition carries a Wikisource PD-old determination.

How to read this historical text and its source

Read the source on Wikisource

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Retrieved 2026-10-27. Line spacing and section labels are adapted for reading. The displayed text follows the linked edition. Editorial notes and abstract artwork are by 52lyrics.
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