The Dove

Very literal illustration for a nice and short poem by John Keats. It had been sitting around in a stack of unfinished drawings for quite a while, and I finally found the motivation to finish it. Here is the poem:

I had a dove, and the sweet dove died;
And I have thought it died of grieving:
Oh, what could it grieve for? its feet were tied
With a silken thread of my own hands’ weaving.
Sweet little red feet! Why should you die—
Why would you leave me, sweet bird! why?
You lived alone in the forest tree;
Why, pretty thing! would you not live with me?
I kiss’d you oft and gave you white peas;
Why not live sweetly, as in the green trees?

- John Keats