A thing of beauty...

I was introduced to the world of poetry by a teacher in the seventh grade, Usha miss. Though even kindergarten teachers force rhymes down your throat, appreciation of poetry needs something special... to some it comes naturally, but for others such as me there are mentors like Usha miss. A few days back, while I was sitting in the class, thinking and introspecting, something propped up suddenly in my mind. A phrase that Usha miss used to use very regularly "A thing of beauty is a joy forever". Written by John Keats, this is one of the deepest poems I have ever read.

The beggining of the poem goes something like this:

A thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will never
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits.

What moves me is the simplicity of the concept: that a thing of beauty is a joy forever. Let me illucidate this with an example. Suppose you meet a girl whom you find very 'beautiful'. Later, after a few times you don't. So does it mean your eyes have deceived you? NO! A thing of real 'beauty' is always a joy. The beauty increases with time. If you really find a woman beautiful, you will see that after she has grown old, and wizened, she is even more beautiful.
Another important concept is that beauty has no lebels, no standards. Anything that gives sweet dreams is beautiful.