How fever'd is that Man who cannot look Upon his mortal days with temperate blood Who vexes all the leaves of his Life's book And robs his fair name of its maidenhood. It is as if the rose should pluck herself Or the ripe plum finger its misty bloom, As if a clear Lake meddling with itself Should cloud its pureness with a muddy gloom. But the rose leaves herself upon the Briar For winds to kiss and grateful Bees to feed, And the ripe plum still wears its dim attire, The undisturbed Lake has crystal space— Why then should man teasing the world for grace, Spoil his salvation by a fierce miscreed?

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "How fever'd is that Man who cannot look Upon his mortal days with temperate blood Who vexes all the leaves of his Life's book And robs his fair name of its maidenhood. It is as if the rose should pluck herself Or the ripe plum finger its misty bloom, As if a clear Lake meddling with itself Should cloud its pureness with a muddy gloom. But the rose leaves herself upon the Briar For winds to kiss and grateful Bees to feed, And the ripe plum still wears its dim attire, The undisturbed Lake has crystal space— Why then should man teasing the world for grace, Spoil his salvation by a fierce miscreed?" in the context of "John Keats, "On Fame" (1819), in The Letters of John Keats, p. 329" to mean that wisdom is timeless.