Written on the Day That Mr. Leigh Hunt Left Prison
The complete poetical works and letters of John Keats, 1815
What though, for showing truth to flatter'd state,Kind Hunt was shut in prison, yet has he,In his immortal spirit, been as freeAs the sky-searching lark, and as elate.Minion of grandeur! think you he did wait?Think you he nought but prison-walls did see,Till, so unwilling, thou unturn'dst the key?Ah, no! far happier, nobler was his fate!In Spenser's halls he strayed, and bowers fair,Culling enchanted flowers; and he flewWith daring Milton through the fields of air:To regions of his own his genius trueTook happy flights. Who shall his fame impairWhen thou art dead, and all thy wretched crew?