When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be

The speaker in “When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be” is consumed by their fear of Death. The speaker’s fear is multifaceted. They’re afraid of leaving work unfinished (Lines 1-4), of not living life to the fullest (Lines 5-8), and of being separated from the one they love (Lines 9-12). The word “when” (Lines 1, 5, 9) clarifies that the fear is something they feel intermittently, and not just the moment in which the poem is written. This fear creeps up at regular, predictable times, like when they look up at the night sky’s “starr’d face” (Line 5). No matter what caused the fear or when they’re caught in the feeling, the speaker has just one solution: they sit and think in their isolation until “Love and Fame” (Line 14) become meaningless concepts. In one sense, this is a liberating experience. The concepts of love and fame lose their power over the speaker. On the other hand, this solution is tragically ironic. The speaker is terrified of losing love and fame, but by sitting in their fear, they have already surrendered exactly what death threatens to take.

While death is one of the major themes, the poem’s form and