...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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...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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...2013 One of England’s greatest poets, John Keats was a key element in the Romantic Movement. Known especially for his love of the country and sensuous descriptions of the beauty of nature, his poetry also resonated with deep philosophic questions. He published only fifty-four poems, in three slim volumes and a few magazines. Keats was born on the 31 of October 1795 in Moorgate, London, England. On the night of the 15 of April 1804 Keats father was seriously injured by his horse and died the next day. Keats mother died of tuberculosis in March of 1809. Keats died of tuberculosis on the 23 of February 1821 in Rome, Italy, and now rests in the Protestant Cemetery. Romanticism is an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak from the 1800’s to the 1850’s. Keats articulates a common Romantic belief that beauty is the path to truth. He finds his beauty in his poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn” in the characters, music, and setting. One way that Keats shows his beauty is through the characters in his poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. We know from the title this is an ode about a Grecian urn. The first four lines serve to present the urn first as a bride, then as a foster-child, then as a historian. Keats calls the urn an “unravish’d bride of quietness” because it has existed for centuries without undergoing any changes as it sits quietly on a shelf or table. The urn looks new and pure although it is very old...
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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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... The poem, “Ode to a Grecian Urn” written by English Romantic poet, John Keats is one of the five ‘great odes’ of 1819. Keats describes the romantic, powerful reaction that overcomes his thoughts from staring at a piece of old pottery, which turns into a never ending love story. When analyzing the work, it is evident that literary devices such as imagery, metaphors and symbolism are used to depict the speakers’ view of this magical urn. Imagery flows through this poem like water through a stream. In the third stanza, the speaker compares the two lovers and the urn itself. “that cannot shed Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu; And, happy melodist, unwearied, For ever piping songs new;(Gioia and Kennedy vol. 4, pg. 477)”. Keats uses the example of a tree that cannot lose its leaves nor can it grow new ones in the spring to show the frozen state of love that these lovers remained trapped in. Another example of imagery comes from the fifth stanza when Keats says, “O Attic shape! Fair attitude! With brede Of marble men and maidens overwrought, with forest branches and the trodden weed;(Gioia and Kennedy vol.4, pg. 477)”. Keats begins to describe the shape of the urn and uses imagery to describe “marble men” and “maidens” that form a type of braid to explain the urn’s physical attributes. These examples allow the audience to form a mental picture of what Keats is describing. Which allows the audience to perceive a better understanding of the points that Keats is trying to...
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...‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ by John Keats is an ode from the Romantic period based on the images found on a Grecian urn. And ode is often a lyrical verse that is written in dedication to someone or something. However the title suggests that the ode is ‘on’ rather than ‘to’ this highlights the images on the urn rather that the pottery itself. This is an important distinction made by Keats to represent the story telling capabilities of the images found on the urn, which makes his ode focused on the images imprinted on the urn. Keats again relays his belief that the urn has the ability to tell stories more successfully than words can, in the line “who canst thus express a flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme”. In this line he is comparing the urns ability to relay a story to his as a poet; however “our rhyme” is very ambiguous as he could be referring to humanity, the romantics or even poets in general. He also highlights the appealing nature of the stories told, through the use of natural imagery in terms such as “flowery” and “sweetly”. The essence of the ode is clear as Keats addresses the urn directly, stating that it is a “still unravish’d bride of quietness”. The word “unravishe’d” can be described as virginal and untainted throughout the years it has sustained the same image, not corrupted by the society around it. Another link to time is the word “still” in the sense that the urn has survived throughout all these years, and is a good way to introduce the spatial/temporal...
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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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...------------------------------------------------- John Keats ------------------------------------------------- --> Negative capability --> Poet(ical character) --> ------------------------------------------------- Wordsworthian/ egotistical sublime (ophøjet) ------------------------------------------------- Ode on a Grecian urn ------------------------------------------------- (Ode = Lovprisning) ------------------------------------------------- (digter)jeg → ? ------------------------------------------------- Jeg → verden↔ ophøjet objekt ------------------------------------------------- Sum: Objektiv romantik ------------------------------------------------- ”a poet has no identity” ------------------------------------------------- “a poet is the most unpoetical of anything in existence; because he has no identity – he is continually in for - and filling some other body – the sun, the moon, the sea and men and women who are creatures of impulse are poetical and have about them an unchangeable attribute – the poet has none; no identity – he is certainly the most unpoetical of all Gods creatures. If then he has no self, and if I am a poet, where is the wonder that I say would write no more? Might I not at that very instant [have] been cogitating on the characters of Saturn and Ops? ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------- John Keats ------------------------------------------------- ...
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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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...because he did not see her worthy of carrying the centuries-old family name or of holding the future of his family--his only possible way of achieving immortality-- in her hands. Little does the speaker know, no person, place or thing can last the test of time. However, this does not prevent people from trying. Artifacts and objects found in the present can be an insightful look into the past; it is a manner of capturing life and how it was lived centuries ago. John Keats’s “Ode to a Grecian Urn” describes a beautiful Urn from the past in which a piece of the Grecian life was captured upon. It is here that the speaker touches the topic of the possible way humans can achieve immortality--through inanimate objects from the past. The speaker, at the end of the poem, laments, “when old age shall this generation waste,/ [the Grecian urn] shalt remain” (46-47). Keats brilliantly approaches the subject of immortality by highlighting the fact that, even when the people who admire the Grecian Urn now are long dead, the Grecian Urn will remain standing as a symbol of a past life lived long ago. Despite the methods of achieving relative immortality, people all have one thing in common--their fear of death and their knowledge that age only brings them closer to it. With this knowledge comes great irresponsibility. Because both youth and beauty are fleeting rarities, young people take it upon themselves to “seize the day” solely using the motto as an excuse to be mischievous and scandalous...
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...• How do Keats' lyrics differ from Shakespeare's in poetic techniques used? How do the differences in poetic technique relate to the differences in subject matter? Whose lyrics do you prefer and why? Provide examples to support your response. John Keats lyrics differ from Shakespeare in poetic techniques because of the Romanticism that is used in Keats works. "Beauty is truth, truth beauty: that's all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." ~ Keats, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" Keats’ applied integrated nature into his poems and uses it as a device to make his works tender and passionate. When reading the poems and letters of Keats, many of the poems have to do with sorrow. Keats used natural references such as the earth, nature, love, and beauty that seem to lighten the sorrowful works. Nature seems to be used a lot during the Romanticism period. I prefer the lyrics of John Keats. Poets of the Romantic era focused more on difficult and maybe abstract topics. In Keats’ poems there is the allusion of the Hellenistic period but he still follows it with beauty in all of its forms and also shows his love for nature which falls right in line with the Romanticism characteristics. John Keats poems are appreciated with great vitality because of his adoration for beauty whom he calls beauty is truth and truth beauty. • In the selection from Thoreau's Walden, what is the author's attitude toward nature? Why do you think such an attitude might emerge during this period? What type...
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...uses figures of speech and imagery designed to appeal to our emotions and imaginations. Ex- If I read a book and it makes my whole body so cold that no fire can ever warm me; I know that it is poetry. If I feel physically as if the top of my head were taken off, I know that it is poetry. ~Emily Dickinson Alliteration- The repetition of the same consonant sounds in words that are close together in a poem. Ex- Open here I flung the shutter, when, with many a flirt and a flutter, In there stepped a stately Raven of the saintly days of yore. ~ From “the Raven,” Edgar Allan Poe Assonance- The repetition of similar vowel sounds followed by different consonant sounds. Ex- Thou foster child of silence and slow time ~ From “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” John Keats Consonance- All the meanings, associations, or emotions that a word suggests. Ex- Skinny and slender both have the same literal definition- thin; but their connotations are completely different. End Rhyme- Rhymes at the end of lines. Ex- My last defense Is the present tense. It little hurts me now to know I shall not go Cathedral-hunting in Spain Nor cherrying in Michigan or Maine. ~ Gwendolyn Brooks Internal Rhyme- Are rhymes in the middle of a line. Ex- Once upon a midnight dreary, while I pondered, weak and weary ~ From “The Raven,” Edgar Allan Poe Onomatopoeia- Created by words that imitates the sound of an object. Ex- Crackle, pop, fizz, click, zoom, and chirp Repetition- The act or process or an...
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...The Edge…There is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are ones who have gone over.” - Hunter S. Thompson. Explore the presentation of the troubled mind in Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights and the poetry of John Keats, with illuminating reference to Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. “The Edge” described by Hunter S. Thompson is, he says, unexplainable. What seems clear is that ‘the Edge’ is at the limit of the human mind. It can’t be explained, Thompson says, because the only people who ‘really know where it is’ are the ones who ‘have gone over’ it, those who have died or else never returned to ‘reality’ and ‘sanity’. Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights, the poetry of John Keats, and Ken Kesey’s One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest all describe, in differing ways, states of mind on ‘the Edge’. When they were first published, the contemporary reception to Keats’s poems and to Wuthering Heights was remarkably similar. Keats was described as writing ‘the most incongruous ideas in the most uncouth language’ , while Bronte’s novel (published under the male pseudonym Ellis Bell) was called ‘too coarse and disagreeable to be attractive’, and described as ‘wild, confused, disjointed, and improbable’ with characters who are ‘savages ruder than those who lived before the days of Homer.’ These accusations of ‘uncouth’, ‘coarse’ and ‘disjointed’ writing suggest that both authors had already crossed one edge with their writing: the edge...
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...‘’Where is the Pastoral Tradition in Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale?’’ Two hundred years after the Renaissance period in England, critics became concerned in the reasoning behind John Keats’s poetry. They searched many of the origins of the poet’s references to his works and this gave assistance into asserting that he was a poet in search of the ideal to escape from the real world of ‘’fever and fret’’. (Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale: stanza 3) This is due to the experience of cruel disappointments in his personal life. Ode to a Nightingale is a fine example of the cruel disappointments that Keats faced in life for he wrote the Ode soon after the death of his brother Tom who was suffering from tuberculosis. In one of Keats’s personal letters (Gittings 1970: letter 263) Keats claimed that he and his brothers could never count on any happiness lasting – that they were continually confronting death in the family. Keats shows this pain in stanza 3 of the poem: ‘’Here, where men sit and hear each other groan; Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey hairs, Where youth grows pale and spectre-thin, and dies;’’ (Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale: stanza 3) However, Ode to a Nightingale also portrays Keats’s escape from the cold realities of life. It is through this ‘escape’ that I am going to shape this essay into the pastoral tradition. My main focus shall be how the Ode offers a resemblance to a poem of pastoral retirement but has a pastoral elegy concealed within it. The...
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...John Keats John Keats (/ˈkiːts/ 31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, despite his work having been in publication for only four years before his death.[1] Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his lifetime, his reputation grew after his death, and by the end of the 19th century, he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of poets and writers. Jorge Luis Borges stated that his first encounter with Keats was the most significant literary experience of his life.[2] The poetry of Keats is characterised by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. This is typical of romantic poets, as they aimed to accentuate extreme emotion through the emphasis of natural imagery. Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analysed in English literature. 1 1.1 Biography Life mask of Keats by Benjamin Haydon, 1816 Early life John Clarke’s school in Enfield, close to his grandparents’ house. The small school had a liberal outlook and a progressive curriculum more modern than the larger, more prestigious schools.[11] In the family atmosphere at Clarke’s, Keats developed an interest in classics and history, which would stay with him throughout his short life. The headmaster’s son, Charles Cowden Clarke, also became an important...
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