# LXXXI explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by John Keats.

## What happens

The speaker describes a flight observed by onlookers who gaze with hungry eyes and run with mad-cap pleasure or hand-clasped amaze. Sweet music plays in the air, and flowers such as daisy, primrose, and hyacinth are scattered or wreathed around white columns.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature and Imagination

Flowers like daisy, primrose, and hyacinth are scattered and wreathed, blending natural imagery with the imaginative scene.

### Beauty and Transience

The fleeting moment of flight and the scattering of spring buds evoke the transient beauty of the scene.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The speaker describes the flight and the observers' reactions.

## Key lines

> As flowers turn their faces to the sun, So on our flight with hungry eyes they gaze

Just as flowers orient themselves toward the sun, the onlookers stare intently at our flight.

_The simile compares the observers' focused attention to flowers seeking sunlight._

> Sweet in the air a mild-toned music plays, And progresses through its own labyrinth

A gentle, pleasant music fills the air and moves through its own intricate path.

_The music is described as having a labyrinthine progression, suggesting complexity and beauty._

## Links

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