Severn and Tennyson as Memorialists
Let us now praise famous friends. We begin
With Joseph Severn, brushing time away
With immortality in John Keats’ chin
As poetry lay dying. In the sway
……………. John Keats on his deathbed
Of brush the artist made eternity
Come down and plant its kiss in painted strokes
On dying in Keats’ deathlessness. A plea
……………Arthur Hallam
From Arthur Hallam was enough to coax
His lover poet, later lord, to take
Up Keats’ lost cause. And so the dead spoke out
Again because two lovers put their stake
Through Tory hearts. Yet friendship is not stout
Enough for death. It came and killed again.
For Tennyson the rest was only pain.
