 The poem centres on humanity and human nature . When the poet sees the figures , he wants to know their names and laments his ignorance . Eventually , he realizes that they are representative of Love , Ambition , and Poetry . While he longs , he fears they are out of reach and therefore tries to reject them . He argues that love is what he needs least and dismisses it by questioning what " love " actually means ( " What is Love ? and where is it ? " ) . He rejects ambition , but it requires more work ( " And for that poor Ambition — it springs / From a man 's little heart 's short fever @-@ fit ; " ) . Unlike the personas of Love and Ambition , the narrator is unable to find a reason to banish Poesy ( Poetry ) , which reflects the poets ' inner conflict : should he abandon poetry to focus on a career in which he can earn a decent living ? Keats 's sought to write great poetry but feared his pursuit of literary prominence was based on a delusional view of his own merit as a poet . Further , he was incapable of completing his epic , " Hyperion " . As Walter Jackson Bate explains , to Keats " Neither a finished ' grand Poem ' nor even the semblance of a modest financial return seemed nearer . " 
