# LXIII explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by John Keats.

## What happens

Isabel dies of a broken heart, pining for her basil plant to the last. The people of Florence mourn her tragic love, and a sad song spreads through the land, lamenting the theft of her basil-pot.

## Themes in this chapter

### Love and Loss

Isabel's death from grief over the loss of her basil plant symbolizes the destructive power of love and loss.

### Sorrow and Melancholy

The entire chapter is steeped in sorrow, with Isabel's pining and the mournful ditty that spreads through the country.

## Character check-ins

### Isabel

Dies forlorn, imploring for her Basil to the last.

### Basil

The stolen basil-pot that Isabel mourns.

## Key lines

> And so she pined, and so she died forlorn, Imploring for her Basil to the last.

She wasted away and died in despair, begging for her basil plant until the very end.

_Describes Isabel's tragic death, still longing for the basil._

> No heart was there in Florence but did mourn In pity of her love, so overcast.

Everyone in Florence felt sorrow and pity for her overshadowed love.

_Highlights the communal mourning for Isabel's tragic fate._

> Still is the burthen sung—'O cruelty, To steal my Basil-pot away from me!'

The refrain of the song is still sung: 'Oh, how cruel to steal my basil-pot from me!'

_The enduring folk song that memorializes Isabel's loss._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/lxiii
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters