By close examination of 'On the Sea' and one other poem, discuss the distinctively Romantic characteristics of Keats' poetry Consider - the themes of the poems and their style and tone and the contexts in which the poems were written
Rachel Miller L6T
By close examination of 'On the Sea' and one other poem, discuss the distinctively Romantic characteristics of Keats' poetry
Consider - the themes of the poems and their style and tone
- the contexts in which the poems were written
Romanticism is sometimes described as a revolt against the 'Age of Reason' of the 17th century. However changes had already taken place; the French Revolution and the American War of Independence made old certainties seem questionable and new possibilities achievable. They were major factors in the 'revolt'. They inspired a new liberal concept of man and his fate. Romanticism followed on with this, by celebrating human freedom and creativity.
Yet Romanticism is hard to define; the changes that stimulated the creation of what we know as the Romantic Period affected the individual in so many different ways that what was created was a range of different voices, not a series of common assumptions.
Romantic poetry sprung from the Romantic Period, dating roughly from as early as 1780 - 1830. Although the Romantic poets were all different in political, religious and artistic beliefs, the poetry they wrote shared common characteristics. The poetry valued feeling and emotion over reason, brought in interests in exploring the self and understanding the self through nature, had a focus on imagination, wanted something beyond the mundane; something transcendent, rebelled against the traditional conformities of poetry in 18th poetry (which included a greater focus on ordinary everyday language) and incorporated many references to the classics and a renewed interest in the medieval world.
The most prominent characteristic was the valuing of an individual's emotions. Blake was perhaps the most extreme believer of this, saying that he would 'sooner murder an infant in cradle than nurse unacted desires'.
Much of Keats early poetry was under the influence of Leigh Hunt. Keats' first poems were also inspired by Spenser (16th century poet) - 'Imitation of Spenser' - and the Romantic poet Wordsworth - 'To Solitude' (a Wordsworthian style sonnet).
Keats' poem 'On the Sea' was composed in 1817, one of Keats earlier poems. It was written in the Petrarchan sonnet form, which consists of the 8 line octave and the 6 line sestet. The octave usually presents a problem, which is then commented upon or resolved in the sestet. Between the octave and sestet there is a caesura/volta (pause), which represents the change in argument or mood of the poem and the rhyme scheme is abbaabba cdecde, cdccdc or cdedce.
Prevalent in much Romantic literature is the glorification and almost worship of nature. It is especially common in much of Keats poetry, who had the ability to describe many simple delights of nature so beautifully. His most famous appreciation of this - 'To Autumn'. Similarly everyone knows of Wordsworth's 'I wander'd lonely as a cloud' where he had been struck by the beauty of a daffodil field - one of the many that were inspired by nature. Here Keats writes of the restorative, almost supernatural power of the sea people can use - part of the force of ...
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Prevalent in much Romantic literature is the glorification and almost worship of nature. It is especially common in much of Keats poetry, who had the ability to describe many simple delights of nature so beautifully. His most famous appreciation of this - 'To Autumn'. Similarly everyone knows of Wordsworth's 'I wander'd lonely as a cloud' where he had been struck by the beauty of a daffodil field - one of the many that were inspired by nature. Here Keats writes of the restorative, almost supernatural power of the sea people can use - part of the force of nature.
The octave opens with Keats' emotive descriptions of the sea:
'It keeps eternal whisperings around
Desolate shores, and with its mighty swell
Gluts twice ten thousand Caverns...'
The 'eternal whisperings' seem to suggest the notion of secrets being made and kept - the secrets of the sea?
The sea is 'eternal', a theme in common with Keats, of permanence. Its presence on 'desolate shores' and in 'Caverns' makes it seem slightly eerie; only visiting deserted and isolated regions. Caverns at the sea nearly prompt thoughts of treasure hidden, with myths of pirates visiting deserted shores. Keats' sea is a supernatural force that seems almost "other worldly" and wanders where it pleases.
The supernatural theme is emphasised by the reference to Hecate, Greek goddess of moon, night and the underworld. As she controls the moon, she controls the tides of the sea, which are under her 'spell'. In her also controlling the underworld and night the dark persona of the sea can be seen.
The classical references to Hecate is a typical Romantic characteristic, as Romantic poetry incorporated much more of the classics. Keats particularly was fascinated with Ancient Greece - 'On Seeing the Eglin Marbles' and 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' are his two most associated with this.
The last four lines of the octave are devoted to Keats conveying the different moods of the sea - the 'gentle temper' and soothing nature coupled with the great strength of the sea make it what it is.
'Often 'tis in such a gentle temper found,
That scarcely will the very smallest shell
Be mov'd for days from where it sometime fell,
When last the winds of Heaven were unbound'
There is the sense that the sea is gentle, but even when so, we are reminded of its immense power - the contrast in the "moods" of the sea.
The sestet tells of the sea's restorative power - for any one with 'vex'd' and 'tir'd' eyes or that have ears 'dinn'd with uproar rude, / Or fed too much with cloying melody'. Keats is imploring the reader to be by the sea, to 'feast [their eyes] upon the wildness of the Sea' and 'Sit...near some old cavern's mouth, and brood'. The long vista of the sea can be restful for the eyes; the crashing of the waves can be soothing for the turbulent spirit. Keats is trying to convey the effect of the sea as a healing, soothing balm on the human spirit.
The supernatural qualities of the sea almost make it seem transcendent, the power and meekness, the calm and craze, and the healing, nearly spiritual, disposition of the sea. Keats is sharing the inspiration of the sea with the reader. The focus on the transcendent qualities is a great Romantic characteristic that Keats employed here, and to great effect.
The sonnet is a common medium for expressing emotions, but with the strict metric and rhyme scheme, its discipline prevents the poet from wallowing in self-pity or sentimentality. The rhythm of the poem is indicative of the tides, the first sentence especially; it's hard to say without getting short of breath. Also there is sibilance, the repetition of the 's' sound, making the sound of the water heard in it's tumbling waves, with some of the words like 'whisperings', 'desolate' and 'swell'.
The tone of the poem is tranquil, providing the soothing effect of the sea. The sea is seen as a benign great force of nature and this is emphasised more instead of the roughness. The rough tendencies of the furling waves find calmness in this poem, an almost passiveness in it; Keats doesn't get involved in the sea, he only watches and listens. However listening to crashing waves has that calm and peace too. The tone's calm attitude is reflective of the theme - the calm created even with the roaring waves of the sea.
As Keats wrote this poem in 1817 it was one of his earlier poems. Keats wrote nearly 60 sonnets and much of his early work was in this form. In 1816 there had been much civil unrest in England with riots after a bad harvest and heavy taxation. This unrest continued into 1817. This poem may have been just simply an escape for the turmoil and conflict of the times - Keats drawing into his world of 'eternal whisperings'.
Keats' sonnet 'Bright Star, would I were steadfast as thou art' was believed to be written in 1819 and revised on that final boat trip to Italy in 1820 where he would die. 'Bright Star' is written with the rhyming scheme of a Shakespearean sonnet and the octave and sestet of the Petrarchan sonnet.
The poet's main theme is the common one of permanence vs. mutability. In much of his poetry Keats is searching for something fixed and eternal in the human world. In his more mature poetry he realises that this can be found in that world of change, death and decay.
'Bright Star, would I were steadfast as thou art
...
No - yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon thy fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft fall and swell,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever - or else swoon to death.'
The image of the star is developed into a symbol of utter perfection, the kind of perfection he admires and craves - timelessness. However he realises that this kind of "perfection" is incompatible with the pleasure he gets from his human life.
The poem is almost like Keats' progression of thought - from admiring and wishing to be the star, to realising the star's isolation, to rejecting that kind of eternity for the image of himself 'Pillow'd upon [his] fair love's ripening breast'.
The poem has a Romantic valuing and feeling of emotion very much evident. Despite the fact that to be able to have the star's permanence is impossible, this never crosses his mind. In the end Keats rejection of the star is not so much that he cannot have the star's permanence, it's that he decides he doesn't want it. The imagination Keats uses to try to escape his impending, inescapable death has to be cast off as reality closes in - the recognition that in the human world death is the only true permanence.
Keats uses the star as a contrast to the fleeting human life. While the star is personified in some respects - it has eyelids, it watches - there is great difference between the two. The star in splendour, high above the earth for all eternity, but also remote, isolated, passionless, cold and fixed. Human life, fleeting but also warm, changing and to do with emotions. The star feels nothing, while the poet feels great love.
'Bright Star' is very introspective, it explores Keats' emotions, feelings and this is a very typical Romantic characteristic. Keats explores his desire to live forever, without reason to tie down his imagination. Without this logic and reason the human emotion can often contradict itself - the 'sweet unrest' of human immortality. In exploring the desire for immortality and human love he realises that he cannot have both.
Another Romantic characteristic is the use of nature in the poem, although it is only used to describe the star, as 'nature's patient, sleepless Eremite'. Clearly an inhuman figure because of the 'patient, sleepless[ness]'. This "hermit", although human, is like the star in that they live a solitary life. The waters the star gazes upon are described as performing their 'priestlike task' - another human figure, although this time they are separated by their pious nature from other humans. Also both these figures are never likely to experience love, which seems to be the defining characteristic for humans for Keats.
