"Bright Star", the love sonnet by John Keats

Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—

Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night

And watching, with eternal lids apart,

Like nature’s patient, sleepless Eremite,

The moving waters at their priestlike task

Of pure ablution round earth’s human shores,

Or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask

Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—

No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,

Pillow’d upon my fair love’s ripening breast,

To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,

Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,

Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,

And so live ever—or else swoon to death.

Summary / Analysis

In this love sonnet, John Keats explains a strong desire to be like a star and stay the same, while the world around him constantly evolves. The overall tone of “Bright Star” is a little bit dark, as the speaker wishes for more control of his life. In the first line of the poem, John Keats states the following,“Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art”. The meaning behind this line is Keats wants to emulate the star’s ability to never change. However, he doesn’t want to be lonely like a star, watching Earth like an Eremite (a hermit) secluded from relationships: “Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night”. No, he just wants to be steadfast and unchangeable.

This is where the romance comes in, and the dark undertones of Keats’ wish really sets this up well. He ends by saying, if he could keep things as steadfast as a star, he would spend forever laying with his lover; forever waking beside her; and forever listening to her. Keats concludes, if he had this power of the star to spend every waking moment with her, he would live off that feeling forever, or possibly die from the ecstasy of it. In closing, John Keats does a brilliant job relating his passion to the longevity and consistency of a star in the sky.

What to read next?

Another poem that is similar to “Bright Star” and also alludes to it, is “Choose Something like a Star” by Robert Frost. Both poems praise the attributes that a star possesses, but the poem by Robert Frost is more looking for guidance and advice from the star, compared to John Keats wanting to emulate the qualities of the star. It is a good read, check it out.