O Solitude! If I Must With Thee Dwell
by John Keats

O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell,
Let it not be among the jumbled heap
Of murky buildings: climb with me the steep,—
Nature's observatory—whence the dell,
In flowery slopes, its river's crystal swell,
May seem a span; let me thy vigils keep
'Mongst boughs pavilioned, where the deer's swift leap
Startles the wild bee from the foxglove bell.
But though I'll gladly trace these scenes with thee,
Yet the sweet converse of an innocent mind,
Whose words are images of thoughts refined,
Is my soul's pleasure; and it sure must be
Almost the highest bliss of human-kind,
When to thy haunts two kindred spirits flee.

***

An Expressive Gloss. Here I am alone (aren't we all?), but if I must be alone, I don't want to be in the tangled mess of human civilization, with its jumbled heap of murky buildings, where everyone's busy running around and everyone's missing the big picture, seeing nothing. I want to make the dangerous climb to the top of the mountain and feel alive and see the big picture: the beauty of it all, the incredible beauty of this incredible world with its flowery, colorful slopes and its shining, rushing river. That would be something to make me feel alive and happy—keeping watch and nothing more, nestled and protected beneath the big tree (of knowledge? of life?), on the birds and the bees, and whatever else happens to jump past. I could be satisfied with that. I'd gladly stay there forever—except...there'd be something missing. In this spectacular solitary place, to discover another kindred spirit who speaks your language, someone who you really understand and who really understands you, is surely the greatest bliss a person can experience.

What if we said that literature is like that mountain that the solitary writer created and the solitary reader climbs, and gets perspective, sees the order of things, the truth of things, terrible or otherwise? There will be some authors you'll encounter who will frustrate, baffle, amuse, or bore you. But then, too, there will be those who feel like kindred spirits.