<P> This fear is evident on his gravestone, with the words "Here lies one whose name was writ in water ." The epitaph, which Keats requested on his deathbed, reflects Keats' fears of death and anger with fate, as "When I have Fears" does . The last three lines of the poem which describe "the shore" and state, "Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink" may relate to the reference to water in Keats' epitaph . His name will sink in water as the fame of writing will . </P> <P> William Flesch notes the poem's echoes of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. (12) Comparisons have also been made to Shakespeare's Sonnet 60 for references to time, endings, and the sea and to Sonnet 64 for references to time destroying man - made creations . </P>

When i have fears that i may cease