In Hyperion , the quality of Keats ' blank verse reached new heights , particularly in the opening scene between Thea and the fallen Saturn : Deep in the shady sadness of a vale , Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn , Far from the fiery noon , and eve 's one star , Sat gray-hair 'd Saturn , quiet as a stone , Still as the silence round about his lair .
Though neither version was ever finished , some critics think that they contain some of Keats 's best verse , as in the gloomy and powerful opening lines of the first Hyperion : Deep in the shady sadness of a vale Far sunken from the healthy breath of morn , Far from the fiery noon , and eve 's one star , Sat gray-hair 'd Saturn , quiet as a stone , Still as the silence round about his lair ; Forest on forest hung about his head Like cloud on cloud .