Bright stars, may I be as firm as you---
But not alone in the night sky twinkling high,
With a pair of eyes that never close,
Like an ascetic hermit who stays up all night,
Gaze at the cliff shores where the sea washes the earthly world,
It is as if a priest bathed in purification,
Or overlooking the wilderness and mountains of the Nether
Covered in a lightly falling snow cover---
It is not like this--- but it will always be firm,
Resting on the chest of my beautiful lover,
You can always feel its gentle undulations,
Always awake, in a sweet uneasiness,
Listen to her soft breathing forever, forever,
Live like this forever--- or faint and die.
Bright Star is a sonnet by Keats to his girlfriend Fanny Brawne. In this poem, Keats uses images such as bright stars, the moving waters, snow, and love's ripening breast to bring together thoughts about love, death, and eternity, representing eternal themes such as life, death, love, and ideals.