Welcome to Poetry.com!

Poetry.com is a collaborative platform for poets worldwide, offering a vast collection of works by both renowned and emerging poets. It's a community-driven project that serves as a hub for poets to share their works, receive feedback, and connect with like-minded fellow poets.

Explore our poetry collection by navigating through subjects, using alphabetical order, or search by keywords. You can contribute a new poem, share your thoughts and rating on existing works, listen to poems with voice pronunciation, and even translate pieces into a variety of languages, both common and uncommon.

Rate this poem:4.3 / 40 votes

John Keats 1795 (Moorgate) – 1821 (Rome)

Where's the Poet? show him! show him,
Muses nine! that I may know him.
'Tis the man who with a man
Is an equal, be he King,
Or poorest of the beggar-clan
Or any other wonderous thing
A man may be 'twixt ape and Plato;
'Tis the man who with a bird,
Wren or Eagle, finds his way to
All its instincts; he hath heard
The Lion's roaring, and can tell
What his horny throat expresseth,
And to him the Tiger's yell
Come articulate and presseth
Or his ear like mother-tongue.

About this poem

"Fragment. Where's The Poet?" is a poem by John Keats. In this piece, Keats reflects on the role and state of the poet in the modern world. The poem suggests a sense of disillusionment and disconnection, questioning the poet's place in a society that may not fully appreciate or understand the poetic vision. Eliot's work often explores themes of modernity, isolation, and the challenges faced by artists in the changing landscape of the 20th century.

Font size:
 

Modified by acronimous on February 13, 2024

30 sec read
327,350 Views

John Keats

John Keats was an English Romantic poet. more…

All John Keats poems | John Keats Books

45 fans


Translation

Find a translation for this poem in other languages:

Select another language:

  • - Select -
  • 简体中文 (Chinese - Simplified)
  • 繁體中文 (Chinese - Traditional)
  • Español (Spanish)
  • Esperanto (Esperanto)
  • 日本語 (Japanese)
  • Português (Portuguese)
  • Deutsch (German)
  • العربية (Arabic)
  • Français (French)
  • Русский (Russian)
  • ಕನ್ನಡ (Kannada)
  • 한국어 (Korean)
  • עברית (Hebrew)
  • Gaeilge (Irish)
  • Українська (Ukrainian)
  • اردو (Urdu)
  • Magyar (Hungarian)
  • मानक हिन्दी (Hindi)
  • Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Italiano (Italian)
  • தமிழ் (Tamil)
  • Türkçe (Turkish)
  • తెలుగు (Telugu)
  • ภาษาไทย (Thai)
  • Tiếng Việt (Vietnamese)
  • Čeština (Czech)
  • Polski (Polish)
  • Bahasa Indonesia (Indonesian)
  • Românește (Romanian)
  • Nederlands (Dutch)
  • Ελληνικά (Greek)
  • Latinum (Latin)
  • Svenska (Swedish)
  • Dansk (Danish)
  • Suomi (Finnish)
  • فارسی (Persian)
  • ייִדיש (Yiddish)
  • հայերեն (Armenian)
  • Norsk (Norwegian)
  • English (English)

Discuss the poem Fragment. Where's The Poet? with the community...

24 Comments
  • amandak.45897
    powerful, thank u for sharing
    LikeReply15 days ago
  • alanswansea18
    Beautiful piece of work.
    LikeReply1 month ago
  • lokeish_u
    Awesome
    LikeReply1 month ago
  • willied.86748
    At first I had to re-read the poem to grasp what Eliot was eluding too, the Poet in my estimation is a sort of watchman, not gender specific but in the biblical sense pointing out the troubles or issues that abound in the life of it's people, sort of sounding the trumpet and is not bound by status or title as it were. Willie Dean, Jr. Poet 
    LikeReply1 month ago
  • alanswansea18
    Beautiful piece of work.
    LikeReply2 months ago
  • Reil
    Likely my earlier comments are more useful and agreeable, knowing that the main idea of what I am pointing out, is if a poet; who are you and I in this case; are to benefit from the advice to speak our minds-then live it. But look to yourself, inward through contemplation, inward speaking to yourself speaking to Deity, and by Journaling into a place where you better feel protected from anyone else's viewing. Check yourself in a few days, hours, months and years correct it and be perfected in poetic messages of significance, and clarity. You'll sort through your own mental delusions and have a captive audience that at the end of the reading, has no reason to question your desire to connect with them by using things or animals which are both inhuman. Know yourself to know others, not the other way around. Anyone know what their dog is thinking aside from feed me, pet me, play with me, nap time, and I need to potty? 
    LikeReply7 months ago
  • vandhana_k
    Good.
    LikeReply7 months ago
  • Jd003984
    Beautiful
    LikeReply7 months ago
  • vandhana_k
    Good, god.
    LikeReply 18 months ago
  • yomihabib
    Nice
    LikeReply8 months ago
  • yomihabib
    Beautiful
    LikeReply8 months ago
  • vandhana_k
    Good sir panther.
    LikeReply8 months ago
  • garden
    For those who didn't grasp the full picture of this masterpiece here's a small summary

    This poem, explores the idea of what it means to be a true poet. The speaker calls upon the Muses to help him find the poet, who is described as someone who can connect with all living things - from other people, regardless of their social status, to animals, and even to the primal instincts of wild beasts. The poet is someone who can understand and interpret the natural world in a way that is both instinctual and intellectual.

    Emerson's poem emphasizes the importance of the poet's ability to connect with the world around them and to express those connections through their art. The poem suggests that the true poet is someone who is able to transcend the boundaries of human experience and connect with the universal experiences that exist in all living things.
     
    LikeReply 38 months ago
  • jeremyt.40101
    I really like this poem. The conceit is good, I just think it could use a little more refinement.
    LikeReply8 months ago
  • vandhana_k
    Rule on my friend.
    LikeReply8 months ago
  • yomihabib
    This is a song along.Nice poem!
    LikeReply8 months ago
  • Reil
    Its odd to me that this poet is offending not to know where the poet is. Every line he reveals another perspective where he is envisioning himself or another being; simply being in the imagined state, or listening to something specific. I think I disagree that any of these figures of example works on the surface to demonstrate the location of a poet. OK lets consider he is so practiced in his philosophical roll playing and does in fact want this work to serve a purpose of value by inspiring others to ponder there own equivalence to the set stages he windows open in front of himself in front of us. So as to subconsciously place the realization we are found everywhere (said missing poet(s)), in fact here I am. You know it just dawned on me I was already a poet and likely would have done more good explaining the wisdom of one humans considerations to others so they stop getting so hung up on the literal impossibility of existing in any of those places or that if you could that it would be the recipe for ascertainment of the designation; poet. I feel better now. 
    LikeReply8 months ago
  • kimba75
    Great! Poetry can come from all walks of life.
    LikeReply9 months ago
  • jerrywlawrence2666
    Classic. There Is A Genius Presented That I Oft Strive 4.
    LikeReply9 months ago
  • aloo.denish3
    Wow, wonderful poem.... Where's the poet?
    LikeReply9 months ago
  • author177
    The poet is everywhere no matter the class
    LikeReply10 months ago
  • luisestable1
    This seems to be saying: These are where the poet is found. This is what my reading tells me.
    Some uniqueness in the lines is seen.
    Good poem!
    LikeReply10 months ago
  • carloss.69843
    He was looking for himself thru introspection while deflecting himself thru frustration while including himself to be as equal as king or or those he observed as poor while drifting in his mind as as a bird observing his own swift instinct thru observation. Cool. Poem 
    LikeReply1 year ago
  • PatriciaAdams
    PatriciaAdams
    Good
    LikeReply1 year ago

Citation

Use the citation below to add this poem to your bibliography:

Style:MLAChicagoAPA

"Poetry.com" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 19 Mar. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/>.

Become a member!

Join our community of poets and poetry lovers to share your work and offer feedback and encouragement to writers all over the world!

March 2024

Poetry Contest

Join our monthly contest for an opportunity to win cash prizes and attain global acclaim for your talent.
12
days
13
hours
59
minutes

Browse Poetry.com

Quiz

Are you a poetry master?

»
"Now I become myself. It's taken time, many years and places."
A W.H. Auden
B Rita Dove
C Robert Frost
D May Sarton

Our favorite collection of

Famous Poets

»