Analyse the different attitudes the poets John Keats and P.B. Shelley have towards nature in the poems "Ode To A Nightingale," "Ode On A Grecian Urn," "Ode To Autumn," "Ode To The West Wind" and "To A Skylark."

Q: Analyse the different attitudes the poets John Keats and P.B. Shelley have towards nature in the poems "Ode To A Nightingale," "Ode On A Grecian Urn," "Ode To Autumn," "Ode To The West Wind" and "To A Skylark." A: "Nature is not only all that is visible to the eye -- it also includes the inner pictures of the soul," (Edvard Munch.) The five poems "Ode To A Nightingale," "Ode On A Grecian Urn," "Ode To Autumn," "Ode To The West Wind" and "To A Skylark," reveal the perspectives of John Keats and P.B. Shelley towards life, nature and human identity. The poets fluently convey their innermost feelings to the readers by using effective means of expression and sophisticated forms of language. These five nature poems look differently upon human perspectives and narrate a tale relating to the poets' own lives and experiences. There is a symbolism in every motif used and a hidden truth in every poem. The poems are encrusted with a deep philosophical message concerning either the wastefulness of human life or the fruitfulness of nature. Comprising of the various themes of loss, death and ferocity in nature, the poems cause its readers to enter the very minds of the poets. Keats and Shelley are amongst the most renowned Romantics writers of their times. Keats believed in the inferiority of man as compared to nature because he, as a patient of tuberculosis, could only notice the

  • Word count: 2800
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. What do you understand by this sentence? How are these ideas cashed out in Hymn to Intellectual Beauty and Ode to the West Wind?

"Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world." What do you understand by this sentence? How are these ideas cashed out in Hymn to Intellectual Beauty and Ode to the West Wind? The Defence of Poetry by Percy Shelley is a written commentary as a response primarily to the literary critical piece The Four Ages of Poetry by Thomas Love Peacock who wrote in his essay the following in regard to modern poetry: "But in whatever degree poetry is cultivated, it must necessarily be to the neglect of some branch of useful study: and it is a lamentable spectacle to see minds, capable of better things, running to seed in the specious indolence of these empty aimless mockeries of intellectual exertion. Poetry was the mental rattle that awakened the intellect in the infancy of civil society: but for the maturity of mind to make a serious business of the play-things of its childhood, is as absurd as for a full-grown man to rub his gums with coral, and cry to be charmed to sleep by the jingle of silver bells." Shelley's Defence is inspired by the above passage and is literally defending poetry from the offensive Peacock is laying upon it. He emphasises, however, throughout the work that he is not just responding to the conjecture of Peacock that poetry has become merely a decorative spectacle in an otherwise enlightened society but that this particular piece has a higher cause. It

  • Word count: 1352
  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: World Literature
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Read the poem Ode to the West Wind by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Write an essay of no more than 1500 words in which you analyse the poem and comment on the poetic form and language used

TMA 03 Read the poem 'Ode to the West Wind' by Percy Bysshe Shelley. Write an essay of no more than 1500 words in which you analyse the poem and comment on the poetic form and language used (e.g. rhyme, rhythm, stress pattern, metaphor, imagery, tone, word order, alliteration, point of view) and the way they contribute to the meaning. The dramatic alliteration in line one, 'Wild West Wind', announces energy and force, which flows into the rest of the poem, emphasizing how wild and destructive this wind can be. Parts of the poem suggest the unpredictability of this 'Wind', with 'from whose unseen presence' (L2), 'Uncontrollable' (L 47), and even contradictory statements such as 'Destroyer and preserver' (L 14). Shelley creates a sense of movement, making the wind more effective, with imagery, such as 'Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing' (L 3), 'who chariotest to their dark wintry bed' (L 6) and 'Wild spirit, which art moving everywhere' (L13). This poem is made up of five stanzas', each one a sonnet of four tercets, with a concluding couplet. The tercets share the same rhyme scheme of aba bcb cdc ded throughout, although the closing couplets don't rhyme in each stanza. They do however, all end with an invocation, giving a pleading tone to the poem, as 'hear, oh, hear' (L 14), 'oh, hear' (L 28), 'oh, hear' (L42), 'tameless, swift and proud' (L 56) and 'can

  • Word count: 1617
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Ode To Psyche Commentary

Commentary on Ode to Psyche Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane In some untrodden region of my mind, Where branched thoughts, new grown with pleasant pain, Instead of pines shall murmur in the wind: Far, far around shall those dark-cluster'd trees Fledge the wild-ridged mountains steep by steep; And there by zephyrs, streams, and birds, and bees, The moss-lain Dryads shall be lull'd to sleep; And in the midst of this wide quietness A rosy sanctuary will I dress With the wreath'd trellis of a working brain, With buds, and bells, and stars without a name, With all the gardener Fancy e'er could feign, Who breeding flowers, will never breed the same: And there shall be for thee all soft delight That shadowy thought can win, A bright torch, and a casement ope at night, To let the warm Love in! The extract above is the last stanza of John Keats' Ode to Psyche. Ode to Psyche is the dedication of Keats's verse to the Greek mythological creature, Psyche, who is the only goddess with no temple in her name. Psyche meant 'soul' and Keats's poem emphasizes on the personal issues of religion and worship, regarding Psyche. The last stanza is the most important in the entire poem as it shows the poet's thoughts and feelings, enhanced by visual imagery as he describes his emotions with the help of nature and words. He talks about a mysterious, unknown forest,

  • Word count: 987
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Poem Analysis - "Ode to the Confederate Dead"

English IV Honors Erin Maglaque Poem Analysis Feb. 9 "Ode to the Confederate Dead" The lyric poem "Ode to the Confederate Dead" was written by Allen Tate over a period of ten years. "Ode" was published in 1937, and it was the only poem about which Tate wrote an explanatory essay entitled, 'Narcissus as Narcissus."1 The poem is constructed to tell the thoughts of persona as he stops by the gate of a Confederate graveyard. Persona's thoughts and reflections upon the soldiers who died is the subject of the poem; through imagery and diction, the reader is allowed to then unearth the theme of the poem: a combination of two philosophies about the human mind, narcissism and solipsism. However, in order to understand the connection between the soldiers and the abstract theories of narcissism and solipsism, it is crucial to understand persona. The imagery and diction written by Tate but effectually used by persona is the connection between the subject and the theme. While Tate does not make many historical allusions, the one stanza that begins, "Stonewall, Stonewall..."2 makes reference to Stonewall Jackson, a Confederate general, and several battles that took place during the Civil War. Also, two metaphorical allusions are made when Tate writes, "The gray lean spiders come..."3 which is a metaphor for the gray uniforms the Confederates wore, and "The singular

  • Word count: 2900
  • Level: University Degree
  • Subject: Linguistics, Classics and related subjects
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Critical analysis of 'Ode to Autumn'.

Critical analysis of 'Ode to Autumn' John Keats was born in 1795. He was known to be a romantic poet; poetry that describes the natural world. The poem ode to autumn was written in 1819. Sadly Keats died in 1820. The poem ode to autumn is about how the season of autumn progresses. The first stanza of the poem is about the end of summer beginning of autumn. In this stanza Keats uses powerful adjectives to portray the English autumn. A good example of this are the lines,' And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;.........To swell the gourd, and plump he hazel shells.' The adjectives ripeness and plump paint an image in the mind of lots of fruits, they make the reader think of lush colours like red and orange. He describes fruits in this stanza because since autumn is coming there are lots of fruits that will be harvested. Also in the stanza Keats talks about summer. Evidence of this are the lines,' And still more later flowers for the bees.........Until they think warm days will never cease.' These lines explain that it has been a long summer. Keats explains this because always at the end of summer you it has been too hot for to long. You also anticipate the coming of the next season. The second stanza is about the middle of autumn. Evidence of this is the use of words connected with to harvesting such as granary. Since people harvest in the middle of autumn that is

  • Word count: 567
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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John Keats-Ode To Autumn

John Keats-Ode To Autumn This is the last poem Keats wrote and is an ode, which is a lyric poem addressed to a person or thing and deals with one main idea. The romantic poets like Wordsworth, Shelley and Keats used this form of poem a lot. The Romantics wrote of many things in their poems and believed their emotions and their imagination were very important. In this poem the main subject is autumn which Keats relates to love, death and immortality (Romantics were interested in these areas). He describes Autumn's rich images and uses them as symbols for his own feelings. Keats uses a mature language to convey a 'Romantics' view of Autumn and nature. In the first stanza we are straight away led into the idea of something which is warm, pleasant, smooth and full of richness - autumn.. The word autumn is never used except in the title so we only know it's autumn because of the way Keats paints us a picture with words. With words like "mellow" and "fruitfulness" being used. Keats then talks of the sun and how it ripens everything in a completed and full way, "And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core.." This shows how Keats believes autumn begins and summer ends, with the growth and ripeness of fruit and plants. He uses detailed, complex and innovative language to describe a maturing and full Autumn. For example, when talking about the ripening fruit of autumn

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  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Compare and contrast Keats' presentation of time, transience and mortality in "Ode to Autumn" with that in "Ode on a Grecian Urn and "Ode to Nightingale".

Compare and contrast Keats' presentation of time, transience and mortality in "Ode to Autumn" with that in "Ode on a Grecian Urn and "Ode to Nightingale" During the period of 1814- 1820 Keats was at his most successful throughout this time he wrote both of his major poems "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "Ode to a Nightingale". Another flourishing poem of his was "Ode to Autumn" which he wrote shortly before his death. In this essay I will be addressing many areas, clarifying Keats' thoughts and feelings. To do this I will compare and contrast the way in which Keats presents time, transience and mortality I will then explain how this idea is a delusion and how Keats realises this. To conclude these ideas I will find evidence for resolution to this point in "Ode to Autumn". Keats is very conscious of mortality for the duration of both "Ode on Grecian Urn" and "Ode to a Nightingale" because Keats feels this apprehension he tries to escape by imagining immortality. Keats writes "struggle to escape" (line 9) in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and this reveals Keats is questioning himself, along with why he cannot escape the thought of eventually dying. Many emotions are expressed while he goes through this experience. Keats feels very envious of the nightingale and this is shown in "tis not through envy of thy happy lot" (line 5). Keats wants to escape from this depression and also the

  • Word count: 2003
  • Level: GCSE
  • Subject: English
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Comparative Essay - Ode on a Grecian Urn, Ode to a Nightingale and To Autumn

Comparative Essay - "Ode on a Grecian Urn", "Ode to a Nightingale" and "To Autumn" Throughout the three poems that Keats composed: "Ode on a Grecian Urn", "Ode to a Nightingale" and "To Autumn", Keats is principally concerned to explore the concepts of time, the relationships between art and nature, mortality and immortality, using a series of paradoxes both thematically and literally in the poem to contrast the main elements discussed in his work, and to enhance the fact that "Ode" in itself is a paradox as it is a result of both celebration and commemoration. However, he looks at these elements in depth from different aspects and perspectives in order to find a way in which art and nature can both exist, developing his ideas within the poems. In all his three poems, he focuses on the main themes: art, nature and time. Nevertheless, although he looks at the same elements in these poems, he always finds different ways of understanding these concepts in all three poems, as if he is developing his ideas towards a final conclusion. In "Ode on a Grecian Urn" he propels the idea of nature contained by art; "Ode to a Nightingale" is about art contained in nature; whereas "To Autumn" reveals the idea that art and nature are reconciled. In each of Keats's poems, he uses different techniques to back up the main idea that he wants to suggest in each ode. In the poem "Ode on a Grecian

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  • Level: International Baccalaureate
  • Subject: World Literature
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Ode to a Nightingale

Ode to a Nightingale Summary The speaker opens with a declaration of his own heartache. He feels numb, as though he had taken a drug only a moment ago. He is addressing a nightingale he hears singing somewhere in the forest and says that his "drowsy numbness" is not from envy of the nightingale's happiness, but rather from sharing it too completely; he is "too happy" that the nightingale sings the music of summer from amid some unseen plot of green trees and shadows. In the second stanza, the speaker longs for the oblivion of alcohol, expressing his wish for wine, "a draught of vintage," that would taste like the country and like peasant dances, and let him "leave the world unseen" and disappear into the dim forest with the nightingale. In the third stanza, he explains his desire to fade away, saying he would like to forget the troubles the nightingale has never known: "the weariness, the fever, and the fret" of human life, with its consciousness that everything is mortal and nothing lasts. Youth "grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies," and "beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes." In the fourth stanza, the speaker tells the nightingale to fly away, and he will follow, not through alcohol ("Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards"), but through poetry, which will give him "viewless wings." He says he is already with the nightingale and describes the forest glade, where

  • Word count: 1254
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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