...Analysis of John Keats John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, he was one of the key figures in the second generation of the Romantic Movement, despite the fact that his work had been in publication for only four years before his death. During his life, his poems were not generally well received by critics; however, after his death, his reputation grew to the extent that by the end of the 19th century he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He has had a significant influence on a diverse range of later poets and writers. Jorge Luis Borges, for instance, stated that his first encounter with Keats was the most significant literary experience of his life. Keats’ poetry is characterized by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular and analyzed in English literature. John Keats suffered many hardships losing his family to tuberculosis, orphaned as a child and was “mastered and enslaved by a pining, degrading lovesickness” (Brown) for a woman named Fanny Brawne, whom he was never able to wed. However with all his trials and tribulations he was very passionate about his poetry; the rich, sensuous way in which he wrote demonstrates it in poems such as “Bright Star” and “To Autumn”. “Bright Star” by John Keats, expresses the poet’s desire to be like a star. In the poem the tone is melancholic while the theme is the desire to live in an unchanging state...
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...Assignment #4 1. Percy Bysshe Shelley is criticizing the British monarchy in lines three and six. In line three, he talks about the prince as “mud from a muddy spring.” Thus, he believes that the prince will fail England as a ruler because he is very similar to his father. Also, in line six, Shelley suggests that the monarchy is a leech that feeds of the people of England. The monarchy has no emotions and takes advantage of the labor of the poor in order to sustain the ruling class. 2. At the end of the poem, Shelley states that “unrepealed” laws “are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may Burst” in order to suggest the start of a revolution. The “glorious Phantom” is a new start that will help England rise up from the tyranny of the monarchy. The fact that the “glorious Phantom” comes from “graves” is to instill hope in the people of England. Shelley ends his poem on an optimistic tone in order to emphasize that, even in the worst situations, something beautiful will appear. 3. According to the poem “Ozymandias,” the remains of the statue of Ozymandias is abandoned and alone with nothing but “level sands” that stretch around it. The present, dilapidated condition of the statue is used by Shelley to highlight the fact that even the most powerful rulers can be forgotten. The king originally wanted the statue to be a statement of his legacy because he declared that he was “king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” However, in the present day, the king...
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...How does Keats present love in his poems? John Keats was born 1795, in London and was often claimed as one of the most important Romantic figures of the nineteenth century. He had many struggles in his life from his mother and brother dying from tuberculosis, to his poetry being constantly rejected and him running out of money. A lot of Keats’s themes were Romantic, such as the beauty of nature, the contrast of fantasy and reality and the relation of beauty to suffering. Though initially all Keats’s poems that present love seems to be portrayed contrastingly, really they’re actually revealed to be quite similar. Through numerous techniques, from the exploration of senses, to form to the different symbols and styles that Keats’s used to intertwining themes used to express the theme of love. However through all of Keats’s poems, he shares a sense of sacrifice and pain that deal with his idea of the eternal and fantasy world and how in exchange for immortality the lovers have to give up their human experiences and intimacy. In the ninth line of ‘Bright Star’ Keats reveals his desire to remain in the moment “Pillow’d upon [his] fair love’s ripening breast”. However in order to remain in this moment Keats has to sacrifice all his humans’ experiences to be immortal. In the final line of ‘Bright Star’ Keats writes “And so live ever—or else swoon to death”. Many have considered ‘Swoon’ to be an little death or an orgasm as towards the end of the poem the pace and rhythm increases...
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...Examination of John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale Outline and Thesis of “Ode to A Nightingale” by John Keats. Thesis: John Keats correlated the nightingale’s transcendent song with man’s desire for immortality. I. Brief History of Poem A. Outline details, including when, where written. B. Outline interesting relevant historical facts II. Break down of poem – stanza by stanza A. Include description of title. B. Identify rhyme and metrical device employed in poem. C. Include theme, setting description. D. Identify literary devices utilized by Keats III. Closing Analysis A. Speculate about Keats ultimate inspiration. B. Relate inspiration theme to Ode to a Nightingale theme. C. Close with analysis of irony of respective poems compared. D. Repeat thesis statement in closing for synchronicity of essay. Written in May of 1819, “Ode to a Nightingale” was one of five “odes” written by John Keats during that year [1]. The poem, which was published July of the same year in the Annals of Fine Art, was originally titled “Ode to the Nightingale”, but was apparently changed by the publisher twenty years following the death of John Keats(reference here) . According to a recollection of Keats’ good friend, Charles Brown, Keats’ inspiration for the poem came while sitting under a plum tree growing upon Hampstead Heath. There, Keats was said to be mesmerized by the melodic song of a nightingale who proved...
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...Critical Analysis Gerald Holt English 216 Liberty University Ode to a Lyrical Masterpiece Introduction Creative writing is seen by many as a way to free the expression of the mind, allowing anyone who feels the urge to put their thoughts on paper can do so. There are a large number of people who have lived throughout time that have had their legacy live forever through their writing because they were able to eloquently configure their thoughts in a manner to reach others. Writing in literature has stretched over many long periods since the beginning of time and that could easily be established by taking note that the Bible is the highest selling book of all time. The Bible may have not been written all at one time, but the majority of the works and its authors were mainly from the same time period. Writing has gone through different ages where the majority of writers had the same idea, or style of writing that they wanted to focus on. Some of the ages of writing that had a strong influence on literature as a whole were that of the neoclassical and romantic age of writing. One piece of literature in particular that has been the topic of many discussions is the “Ode to a Nightingale”. This piece of artwork has been under much scrutiny for its lyrical anatomy, and it has also received much praise for its elegance in form. This short poem has given the world of literature much to discuss all the way down to when it was actually written and how many pages it was originally...
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...wordsworth-optimism keats-skeptical arts are really powerful.l what's the story behind the poem?? trigger the imagination. urn has the power to create our imagination. I. THOU still unravish’d bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape Of deities or mortals, or of both, In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy? II. Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d, Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone: Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare; Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss, Though winning near the goal - yet, do not grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! III. Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu; And, happy melodist, unwearied, For ever piping songs for ever new; More happy love! more happy, happy love! For ever warm and still to be enjoy’d, For ever panting, and for ever young; All breathing human passion far above, That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy’d, A burning forehead, and a parching tongue. IV. Who are these coming to the sacrifice?...
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...Love & Beauty John Keats: Keats is called the poet of beauty or some critics address him as ‘the worshiper of beauty’. Keats’s notion of beauty and truth is highly inclusive. That is, it blends all life’s experiences or apprehensions, negative or positive, into a holistic vision. Art and nature, therefore, are seen as therapeutic in function. Keats was considerably influenced by Spenser and was, like the latter, a passionate lover of beauty in all its forms and manifestation. This passion for beauty constitutes his aestheticism. Beauty, indeed, was his pole-star, beauty in Nature, in woman, and in art. He writes and defines beauty: “A think of beauty is joy for ever” In John Keats, we have a remarkable contrast both with Byron and Shelley. He knows nothing of Byron’s stormy spirit of antagonism to the existing order of things and he had no sympathy with Shelley’s humanitarian real and passion for reforming the world. But Keats likes and worships beauty. In his Ode on a Grecian Urn, he expresses some powerful lines about his thoughts of beauty. This ode contains the most discussed two lines in all of Keats's poetry: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” The exact meaning of those lines is disputed by everyone; no less a critic than TS Eliot considered them a blight upon an otherwise beautiful poem. Scholars have been unable to agree to whom the last thirteen lines of the poem are addressed. Arguments can be made...
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...Analysis of “The Human Seasons” by John Keats This sonnet is written in the Shakespearean form and consists of three quatrains and a volta in the final couplet. In the first quatrain, Keats introduces the topic of the four seasons and then elaborates on the “lusty spring.” He finds this to be a healthy time of year where humans can easily enjoy the beauty around them. The spring symbolizes youth and childhood. The poet considers spring to be the start of the year like a childhood is the beginning of a person’s life. Yeats then transitions to autumn after the subject has “chew[ed] the honied cud of fair spring thoughts.” These thoughts of honey and spring soon dissolve as the subject’s health begins to diminish. Autumn represents the part of a human’s life when he leaves the prime months of spring and summer; people start to be unable to complete activities and jobs that they once could. Early autumn is represented in the second quatrain, and then the poem shifts to late November/early December in the third quatrain. These two months represent the last years of a human’s ability to function for himself. They consist of retired days of “idleness” where people will hopefully be “content” to look upon their past achievements. The couplet shifts the poem from fall to winter, thus shifting the subject from a living man to a dead one. Death is the “mortal nature” of all humans and cannot be avoided. Some lines of this poem are written in iambic pentameter, but others include an extra...
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...The Strongest Support of the Soul ——Appreciation of the eternal artistry in Ode on a Grecian Urn and Sailing to Byzantine Abstract: From the romantic poet John Keats to symbolical poet W. B. Yeats, both of them were persistently searching the eternity in the long journey of life. This paper tries to through the analysis of the two poems, Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn and Yeats' Sailing to Byzantium to reveal the truth that the strongest support of the soul not lies in the empty and rapidly decayed body but relies on the eternal artistry which transcends the time and space. Although the former comes from the romantic imagination of an exquisite works of art---an ancient Grecian urn, the latter originates from the Byzantium which is the symbol of art, of eternity, both of them contain the similar life philosophy, that is the immortal life lies in the art of eternal. Key words: Ode on a Grecian Urn ; Sailing to Byzantium; eternal artistry; timeless Introduction Life is limited, yet it is possible to find the eternal life. Is it contradictory? How can life be limited as well as eternal at the same time? Could it be true that life has no ending? Actually, as we all know, no matter who you are, rich or poor, beautiful or ugly, smart or mediocre, eventually you will die. However, there is one thing will never die, which is not belong to this dusty world.—that is the eternal artistry. It is true that the art will never die. Only...
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...magic in it, and moral profundity". And to achieve this the poet must aim at high and excellent seriousness in all that he writes.This demand has two essential qualities. The first is the choice of excellent actions. The poet must choose those which most powerfully appeal to the great primary human feelings which subsist permanently in the race. The second essential is what Arnold calls the Grand Style - the perfection of form, choice of words, drawing its force directly from the pregnancy of matter which it conveys. This, then, is Arnold's conception of the nature and mission of true poetry. And by his general principles - the" Touchstone Method" - introduced scientific objectivity to critical evaluation by providing comparison and analysis as the two primary tools for judging individual poets. Thus, Chaucer, Dryden, Pope, and Shelley fall short of the best, because they lack "high seriousness". Even Shakespeare...
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...Stanza 1 Summary Lines 1-2 Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun; * From the title it's clear that the speaker is talking about autumn. The speaker briefly describes the season and immediately jumps into personification, suggesting that autumn and the sun are old pals. * "Mists" often accompany chilly weather because the moisture in the air condenses into a vapor when it's cold. * "Mellow fruitfulness" sounds like something people would say at a wine tasting, doesn't it? "Mmm...this season has a mellow fruitfulness, with just a hint of cherry and chocolate." The word "mellow," meaning low-key or subdued, is a good fit for autumn, with its neutral colors and cool, yet not cold, weather. And it's also the season when many fruits and other crops are harvested, making autumn fruit-full. * Autumn is a close friend of the sun, who is "maturing" as the year goes on. "Maturing" could be a polite way of saying "getting old." The sun is no longer in its prime. * A "bosom-friend" is like that friend you told all your secrets to in junior high school. Lines 3-4 Conspiring with him how to load and bless With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run; * Ah, so now the sun and autumn are "conspiring," eh? Looks like we might have to separate the two of them. What are they whispering about over there? * OK, so not quite as thrilling as we thought. They are planning how to make fruit grow on the vines that curl...
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...Wilfred Owen letter: My own dearest Mother, Immediately after I sent my last letter, more than a fortnight ago, we were rushed up into the Line. Twice in one day we went over the top, gaining both our objectives. Our A Company led the Attack, and of course lost a certain number of men. I had some extraordinary escapes from shells & bullets. Fortunately there was no bayonet work, since the Hun ran before we got up to his trench. You will find mention of our fight in the Communiqué; the place happens to be the very village which Father named in his last letter! Never before has the Battalion encountered such intense shelling as rained on us as we advanced in the open. The Colonel sent round this message the next day: 'I was filled with admiration at the conduct of the Battalion under the heavy shell-fire.... The leadership of officers was excellent, and the conduct of the men beyond praise.' The reward we got for all this was to remain in the Line 12 days. For twelve days I did not wash my face, nor take off my boots, nor sleep a deep sleep. For twelve days we lay in holes, where at any moment a shell might put us out. I think the worst incident was one wet night when we lay up against a railwav embankment. A big shell lit on the top of the bank, just 2 yards from my head. Before I awoke, I was blown in the air right away from the bank! I passed most of the following days in a railway Cutting, in a hole just big enough to lie in, and covered with corrugated iron. My brother...
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...Love and Death in Keats’ “La Belle Dame Sans Merci ------------------------------------------------- Hereby I certify that the essay conforms to the international copyright and plagiarism rules and regulations. ------------------------------------------------- Student’s signature: Ditti Kovács Boglárka Kiss British Literary Seminar 05 May 2013 Ditti Kovács Boglárka Kiss British Literary Seminar 2013.05.05. Love and Death in Keats’ “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” In poetry the most important things are to express feelings and to tell a story. Obviously most of the time these poems are about life, death, the meaning of life, love, but it can also tell a complete story. Throughout the history, basically every poet has written about love and death. Because of the fact that these themes surround our whole life, it is not surprising that these topics have an impact on people’s mind, and they have to deal with these in a way, and poetry is perfect for this. People have always been interested in the question of death, the unfulfilled love and suffering, and because of the fact that these feelings are related to every people in the world somehow, these poems, which deal with these themes, are considered to be the most beautiful ones. These works can be understood easily, and readers can feel close to the poet’s feelings. In the early 19th century, in Europe, people became interested in the folk roots of literature. Poets want to show the natural, ancient state...
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...To the romantic poets poetry was an instrument of emotion and feeling intended to reconnect man with the natural world, and in general the poet was viewed as a person uniquely equipped to guide the layman to this reconnection. Romanticism as a movement appeared following a period in history when great importance was put on scientific discovery and formal education. In the eyes of the romantic poets mankind had become so swept up in the pursuit of knowledge and innovation that they had disconnected from both the natural world, and their deeper, natural selves. Though the philosophies of the individual poets differed, in general romantic poetry focused on and lauded primitivism, and emotion, while minimizing (but not discounting) the importance of reason and logic. The ultimate goal of romantic poetry was the attainment of the sublime, the ultimate, transcendental connection with the natural self. Samuel Taylor Coleridge, one of the pioneers of the Romantic Movement, believed that the creative imagination was the key to man achieving his connection to the sublime. This caused much difficulty though, as the source of creative imagination was impossible to trace and because creative inspiration was quite fickle. Coleridge struggled with this conundrum throughout his life, but felt that as a poet and as one who understood the importance of the creative imagination it was his right and responsibility to better mankind through his poetry. William Wordsworth was, along with Coleridge...
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...John Keats passed away when he was 25 years old. So he had a difficult childhood. His parents died when he was young, He lost his younger brother due to tuberculosis. And he himself was suffering from the same disease. He met a lovely woman, and fell in love with her, he was going to die soon. In “Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art“, Keats expresses both his love for her. And his painful, knowledge awareness that he cannot be with her forever. At the beginning of the poem, Keats shows a strong desire to be like a bright star. “Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art”ll. A star stands for something eternal or unchanging. Although various things happen in our day- to- day, stars always reside in the sky each night. So the bright star symbolizes immortality Keats wants to have. However, Keats clearly says that he does not want to be as lonely as the bright star. In this line, Keats expresses the importance of companionship, and the fear of being alone. Line 12, “Awake for ever in a sweet unrest”, means his love. Instead, he wants to be near and with his lover forever. but he could not stay with her. And in the next line, he says “Still,still to hear her tender-taken breath”, means that he used depletion with the word ‘still’, which is used to make an impression or for emphasis. He loved everlasting star and he thought that he star was her. The line explains that he wanted to live forever with his lover, and, that moment, it was very...
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