--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I see a lily on thy brow, With anguish…" description: "\"I see a lily on thy brow, With anguish moist and fever dew; And on thy cheek a fading rose Fast withereth too.\" — John Keats" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/john-keats-620_anguish_i-see-a-lily-on-thy-brow-with-anguish-mo_234743.jpg" --- # I see a lily on thy brow, With anguish moist and fever… ![“I see a lily on thy brow, With anguish moist and fever dew; And on thy cheek a fading rose Fast withereth too.” quote by John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/john-keats-620_anguish_i-see-a-lily-on-thy-brow-with-anguish-mo_234743.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/john-keats-620_anguish_i-see-a-lily-on-thy-brow-with-anguish-mo_234743.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/john-keats-620_anguish_i-see-a-lily-on-thy-brow-with-anguish-mo_234743.jpg) > “I see a lily on thy brow, With anguish moist and fever dew; And on thy cheek a fading rose Fast withereth too.” [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He describes a delicate flower on a brow, its fading beauty mirroring the fleeting nature of life and love. **In simple terms:** A lily on a brow fades like a rose. Key Takeaway Cherish transient beauty. Themes beauty mortality transience Mood melancholic contemplative Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - romantic relationships - artistic inspiration - personal loss - seasonal change Key Concepts ephemeral nature symbolic imagery Questions to Reflect On - What moments do you cherish before they fade? - How does impermanence shape your values? A Different Perspective Beauty’s impermanence can cause melancholy. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Anguish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) [Flower](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flower/) [Lilies](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lilies/) [Lily](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lily/) [Rose](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rose/) ## Related quotes > [Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves; And mid-May's eldest child, The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine, The murmurous haunt of flies on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/fast-fading-violets-cover-d-up-in-leaves-and-mid-may-s-eldest-child/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [“This Mary I’m talking about sits in your heart all day long, saying, “Lily, you are my everlasting home. Don’t you ever be afraid.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-monk-kidd/this-mary-i-m-talking-about-sits-in-your-heart-all-day-long-saying/) [Sue Monk Kidd](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-monk-kidd/) > [“Hawley reached over and took Lily's hand. He was always taking her hand. He felt better about things, just by holding her fingers.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hannah-tinti/hawley-reached-over-and-took-lily-s-hand-he-was-always-taking-her/) [Hannah Tinti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hannah-tinti/) > [“this might be a beauty to send men mad. Her body was slight with a child’s slenderness, but her breasts were full and pointed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-stewart/this-might-be-a-beauty-to-send-men-mad-her-body-was-slight-with-a/) [Mary Stewart](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-stewart/) > [“Ok, let me get this straight. 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You would never have spouted that drivel about how…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eloisa-james/my-eyes-would-have-told-you-everything-you-wanted-to-know-in-the/) [Eloisa James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eloisa-james/) > [A lily or a rose never pretends, and its beauty is that it is what it is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-lily-or-a-rose-never-pretends-and-its-beauty-is-that-it-is-what-it/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [“Time crawls in the silence. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock. Tock. Tock. Tock.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emily-mckay/time-crawls-in-the-silence-tick-tock-tick-tock-tick-tock-tock-tock/) [Emily McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emily-mckay/) > [“You'll do fine." "What, you're psychic now?" "Didn't you know?" he asks seriously. "Must be an aftereffect of the bond.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tera-lynn-childs/you-ll-do-fine-what-you-re-psychic-now-didn-t-you-know-he-asks/) [Tera Lynn Childs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tera-lynn-childs/) > [“A lily is a water's diamond.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matshona-dhliwayo/a-lily-is-a-water-s-diamond/) [Matshona Dhliwayo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matshona-dhliwayo/) > [“My dream is to create something so beautiful that it encourages people to present the best version of themselves to me everywhere I go.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-caligiuri/my-dream-is-to-create-something-so-beautiful-that-it-encourages/) [Ross Caligiuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-caligiuri/) > [“Try to think of it as though we are rewriting history––the first time this experience occurred you and I never kissed in this Dream…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-caligiuri/try-to-think-of-it-as-though-we-are-rewriting-history-the-first-time/) [Ross Caligiuri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-caligiuri/) > [“Bringing up the rear, the place of greatest danger, comes Tiger Lily, proudly erect, a princess in her own right. She is the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/j-m-barrie/bringing-up-the-rear-the-place-of-greatest-danger-comes-tiger-lily/) [J.M. Barrie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/j-m-barrie/) ## More by John Keats > [A thing of beauty is a joy for ever;It's loveliness increase;it will never pass into nothingness;but still will keep a bower quiet for us,and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/a-thing-of-beauty-is-a-joy-for-ever-it-s-loveliness-increase-it-will/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Phylosophy will clip an angel's wings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/phylosophy-will-clip-an-angel-s-wings/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [There was an awful rainbow once in heaven: We know her woof, her texture; she is given In the dull catalogue of common things.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/there-was-an-awful-rainbow-once-in-heaven-we-know-her-woof-her/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [“I was never afraid of failure; for I would sooner fail than not be among the greatest.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/i-was-never-afraid-of-failure-for-i-would-sooner-fail-than-not-be/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Thou wast not born for death, immortal bird! 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I shudder no more. I could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/i-have-been-astonished-that-men-could-die-martyrs-for-their-religion/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Dance and Provencal song and sunburnt mirth! On for a beaker full of the warm South, Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene! With…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/dance-and-provencal-song-and-sunburnt-mirth-on-for-a-beaker-full-of/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Many have original minds who do not think it - they are led away by custom!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/many-have-original-minds-who-do-not-think-it-they-are-led-away-by/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Alas! when passion is both meek and wild!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/alas-when-passion-is-both-meek-and-wild/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [Load every rift with ore.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/load-every-rift-with-ore/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [I shall soon be laid in the quiet grave - thank God for the quiet grave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/i-shall-soon-be-laid-in-the-quiet-grave-thank-god-for-the-quiet-grave/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) > [When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/when-old-age-shall-this-generation-waste-thou-shalt-remain-in-midst/) [John Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) [Explore all 438 John Keats quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/) ## More Anguish quotes > [“He put his forehead against hers. “Alannah, my heart is yours.” He said softly. “And yet, I must hand it over to someone else…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/b-c-morin/he-put-his-forehead-against-hers-alannah-my-heart-is-yours-he-said/) [B.C. Morin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/b-c-morin/) > [Knowledge gives a wider choice and more anguish.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-florman/knowledge-gives-a-wider-choice-and-more-anguish/) [Samuel Florman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-florman/) > [pg.9 "In my heart there's a peaceful anguish, and my calm is made of resignation.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fernando-pessoa/pg-9-in-my-heart-there-s-a-peaceful-anguish-and-my-calm-is-made-of/) [Fernando Pessoa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fernando-pessoa/) > [Memory, with its fugitive adjustments, is the merciful veil to the grim enactments of the first law. It hides the anguish in the human…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stacy-aumonier/memory-with-its-fugitive-adjustments-is-the-merciful-veil-to-the-grim/) [Stacy Aumonier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stacy-aumonier/) > [Our religion is itself profoundly sad - a religion of universal anguish, and one which, because of its very catholicity, grants full liberty to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-baudelaire/our-religion-is-itself-profoundly-sad-a-religion-of-universal-anguish/) [Charles Baudelaire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-baudelaire/) > [Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/spencer-w-kimball/being-human-we-would-expel-from-our-lives-physical-pain-and-mental/) [Spencer W. Kimball](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/spencer-w-kimball/) > [The intellectuals' chief cause of anguish are one another's works. Jacques Barzun, 1959 all ignorance toboggans into know and trudges up to ignorance again.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/e-e-cummings/the-intellectuals-chief-cause-of-anguish-are-one-another-s-works/) [e. e. cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/e-e-cummings/) > [I saw my parents as gods whose every wish must be obeyed or I would suffer the penalty of anguish and guilt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/natalie-wood/i-saw-my-parents-as-gods-whose-every-wish-must-be-obeyed-or-i-would/) [Natalie Wood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/natalie-wood/) > [Every last cast is actually a first cast. The first cast and first chance to catch the next fish. The next time you anguish…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tony-bishop/every-last-cast-is-actually-a-first-cast-the-first-cast-and-first/) [Tony Bishop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tony-bishop/) > [Journalism is an extraordinary and terrible privilege. Not by chance, if you are aware of it, does it consume you with a hundred feelings…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oriana-fallaci/journalism-is-an-extraordinary-and-terrible-privilege-not-by-chance/) [Oriana Fallaci](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oriana-fallaci/) > [I have discovered in my long life that there are many words and phrases which have more power than any spell of magick. The…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-gemmell/i-have-discovered-in-my-long-life-that-there-are-many-words-and/) [David Gemmell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-gemmell/) > [One realizes that human relationships are the tragic necessity of human life; that they can never be wholly satisfactory, that every ego is half…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/willa-cather/one-realizes-that-human-relationships-are-the-tragic-necessity-of/) [Willa Cather](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/willa-cather/) > [I have designed my style pantomimes as white ink drawings on black backgrounds, so that man's destiny appears as a thread lost in an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcel-marceau/i-have-designed-my-style-pantomimes-as-white-ink-drawings-on-black/) [Marcel Marceau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcel-marceau/) > [So silently, peacefully, without hurry, without any tension, without any anguish, move into yourself instantly. It is urgent. Unless meditation becomes urgent to you,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajneesh/so-silently-peacefully-without-hurry-without-any-tension-without-any/) [Rajneesh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajneesh/) > [It breaks my heart to think about a family weeping over the loss of a loved one. I understand the anguish that some feel…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-p-bush/it-breaks-my-heart-to-think-about-a-family-weeping-over-the-loss-of-a/) [George P. Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-p-bush/) [Browse all 570 Anguish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/anguish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I see a lily on thy brow, With anguish moist and fever dew; And on thy cheek a fading rose Fast withereth too.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "John Keats" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/i-see-a-lily-on-thy-brow-with-anguish-moist-and-fever-dew-and-on-thy/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Anguish" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/i-see-a-lily-on-thy-brow-with-anguish-moist-and-fever-dew-and-on-thy/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/john-keats-620_anguish_i-see-a-lily-on-thy-brow-with-anguish-mo_234743.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/john-keats-620_anguish_i-see-a-lily-on-thy-brow-with-anguish-mo_234743.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/9bd/john-keats-620_anguish_i-see-a-lily-on-thy-brow-with-anguish-mo_234743.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I see a lily on thy brow, With anguish moist and fever dew; And on thy cheek a fading rose Fast withereth too.” — John Keats", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "John Keats", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-keats/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "I see a lily on thy...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/i-see-a-lily-on-thy-brow-with-anguish-moist-and-fever-dew-and-on-thy/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-keats/i-see-a-lily-on-thy-brow-with-anguish-moist-and-fever-dew-and-on-thy/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```