Open the window, and let the air Freshly blow upon face and hair, And fill the room, as it fills the night, With the breath of the rain's sweet might. Hark! the burthen, swift and prone! And how the odorous limes are blown! Stormy Love's abroad, and keeps Hopeful coil for gentle sleeps.
Not a blink shall burn to-night In my chamber, of sordid light; Nought will I have, not a window-pane, 'Twixt me and the air and the great good rain, Which ever shall sing me sharp lullabies; And God's own darkness shall close mine eyes; And I will sleep, with all things blest, In the pure earth-shadow of natural rest.
How sweet it were, if without feeble fright, Or dying of the dreadful beauteous sight, An angel came to us, and we could bear To see him issue from the silent air At evening in our room, and bend on ours His divine eyes, and bring us from his bowers News of dear friends, and children who have never Been dead indeed,--as we shall know forever. Alas! we think not what we daily see About our hearths,--angels that are to be, Or may be if they will, and we prepare Their souls and ours to meet in happy air;-- A child, a friend, a wife whose soft heart sings In unison with ours, breeding its future wings.
He was a central figure in the Romantic literary circle, associated with poets such as John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His verse often explores themes of beauty, imagination, and the pleasures of everyday existence, employing a relaxed, intimate style. As editor of the Examiner and other periodicals, he introduced the work of many emerging poets and advocated for political reform. His narrative poem 'The Story of Rimini' helped popularize the use of colloquial diction in English poetry. Among his best-known works are the lyric 'Jenny kiss'd Me' and the narrative poem 'Abou Ben Adhem'. His literary journalism significantly shaped public taste and poetic trends in the early nineteenth century.
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