The name of this blog comes from a sonnet by John Keats titled “When I have fears that I may cease to be” and appears in the opening lines:
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain….
Written in 1818, the poem expresses the young man’s fear of dying before he has made his mark as a poet and experienced all the beauty of nature and romantic love. Around the time he composed this poem, Keats was nursing his brother in the last stages of tuberculosis, which had earlier killed his mother. He also died of the disease in 1821 at the age of 25.
I chose My teeming brain as the blog’s name because of the phrase’s resonance for me. While I’ve been a professional writer and editor for more than two decades, I’ve either postponed or abandoned most of my creative and personal writing projects and have little to show for my ideas. I’ve often chided myself with the lines above—while wincing at the absurdity of any comparison to this prolific, precocious genius.
I also chose My teeming brain because of a brain cancer diagnosis that has given me a new sense of urgency about self expression and life. It’s now apparent that I don’t have “world enough and time” to say all I want to say, and my mind is teeming with thoughts I’d like to share. Some are based on my journey with cancer. Others are about personal interests and passions that have been rattling around inside my head for a long time. I’m hoping they’ll find a receptive audience on this site.
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About me
My name is Geoffrey Booth, and I’m a writer, editor and content strategist based in Toronto. I have a Ph.D. in English literature, but don’t worry, you won’t find any academic writing on this site. I’m a voracious reader with a passion for Victorian and Edwardian fiction, so watch out for personal reflections on a lifetime of reading as well as other random and idiosyncratic topics.
My teeming brain 