School days wrapped among your odes
Carefully crafted from your young mind
Taken far too soon, but you left us magic.
I was awakened to the imagery of words
Given insight into a glorious suspended past
Learnt to understand the desire for constancy.
Those moments frozen as visual images
The maiden’s flight, the young man’s pursuit
Forever caught in that one moment of wonder.
I recall our teacher asking a female student
Was the joy of a lover’s breast, its rise and fall
As wondrous as in the Bright Star?
I have carried your words with me all these years
I still marvel at the concise, brevity of language
Which captured your world for generations to come.
Written for d’verse where today we are asked to write an ode to a poet dead or alive or to poetry in general.
: http://dversepoets.com/2014/07/15/3-year-anniversary-celebrating-poets/
Morpethroad 
we owe much to our poetic ancestors….they paved the way…i wish that my english teacher had been more into poetry…i may have actually started writing it before my 30s…she did awaken my writing though…long form…short story so it wasnt all bad…but poetry, was a much later venture…and i am still discovering many of the early poets….
Keats I did in my last year of high school and at uni so he has stayed with me, I loved the way he wrote, his language the concise nature of every poem I studied. Thanks Brian for your comment.
Wonderful choice, Michael! I studied Keats many moons ago in a secondary school in England. The teacher was a wonderful and inspiring woman and I loved my first encounter with this great poet. A couple of years ago, when I watched the film Bright Star, I realized how many Keats lines I had memorized.
Yes they stay with you that’s for sure. Thanks for reading and your comment Gabriella. Have a good evening.
Lucky for you to have discovered Keats early in your life ~ Poetry and my appreciation for the poets came very late to my life ~ Still its a joy to read their words after all these years ~
Thanks Grace for your comment. Keats seems to have been a part of my growing up, the Grecian Urn ode I have remembered so clearly all these years and often find myself using something from it.
I think many of us learned poetry at the feet of Keats in school. I know I can remember that far back! Lovely tribute.
Hello Victoria, thanks for your comment. It is getting harder to remember though isn’t when our school days are getting further and further away from us. Sigh…what can you do though….
i remember when we read Goethe and Schiller in school i was deeply impressed and that was when my love for poetry started i think without me really realizing…cool that you carried his words all those years – it’s precious..
Thanks Claudia the Grecian Urn has always been special to me….have a good day….
I possibly am the only one who likes to write/try poetry and I haven’t read any poets or studied them in school or afterwards. No fear, I have learnt so much from the poets on WP, I hopefully won’t be left too far behind. This was a wonderful ode Michael.
Thank you Jenny, happy you found it so. Thankfully for me poetry at school for the most part inspired me rather than put me to sleep.
A wonderful tribute… he was most definitely a bright star that burned out too early.
Thank you kelly and yes I agree a short life but one that left a wonderful legacy.
I am still thinking what to write for this prompt, but the last lines of Ode on a Grecian Urn came to mind. Yes, Keats was one of the reasons I like poetry.
Thanks Imelda he certainly stayed with me all these years.
So glad someone chose to write about Keats…speaking of odes. Of all the poets I held my nose and read in high school and college (I know, and I became a poet), he was one of the few who resonated with me. And you did him proud. Thank you.
Thank you Joseph, I appreciate you reading and your lovely comment. Keats made as you can tell an impact on me.
I discovered Keats pretty late, myself. Ode on a Grecian Urn, I think, was my first introduction to his poetry. Lovely piece.
Thank you Linda glad you did discover Mr Keats.
I like this prompt – A poem from a poet to a poet!
Thank you RoSy you are very generous as always.
I’m still learning the old poets, self-study when I scrape a few moments to read. I’ll add this one to my list.
Thanks Nara, read Keats you’ll never look back
this is quite lovely. there is definitely magic left to linger and inspire.
Thank you rmp there is certainly magic indeed.
Yes, Keats was also one of my favourites as I was growing up – so much less histrionics and posing than Byron, so much less wimpy than Shelley. I love your very personal memory of his poetry and his profound effect on you.
Thank you Marina I appreciate your comment. Yes I agree with you about Keats, I think that’s why I loved his poetry so much.