theme of loveliness

THEME OF LOVELINESS: John Keats is one of the prominent Romantic poets. His life encapsulates a lot of pain and suffering due to the loss of his family members and also his unrequited love for Fanny Browne. Anything in its authentic and original form can be regarded as beauty. Similarly, for Keats beauty is synonymous with Truth. It is in this pursuit of beauty that he completely forgets his pains and sufferings and also the world around him. Thus, he transcends into an imaginary world. Keats saw beauty in truth and truth in beauty. He never escaped the realities of life in pursuit of the beautiful visions of his imagination. Infact his imaginary visions are based on reality. In one of the sonnets, "When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be", John Keats has explored the theme of loveliness and love. In this sonnet, the poet has explored his fatal love besides the mortal beauty of his beloved Fanny. The poet proclaims: "When I behold upon the night's starr'd face, Huge cloudy symbols of high romance, And think that I may never live to trace Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance, And when I feel, fair creature of an hour, That I shall never look upon thee more". In these lines the poet takes the "Huge cloudy symbols" as a threat to his clear love, which is connoted by the phrase, "night's starr'd face". A clear reference to the poet's beloved is witnessed as the

  • Word count: 1196
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Ode on a Grecian Urn - New Criticism.

Ode on a Grecian Urn - New Criticism John Keats' poem Ode on a Grecian Urn describes an urn and the way it makes him feel. The poem begins by asking questions about the characters depicted on the urn and leads into the speaker's feelings of eternity and death. This is followed by a show of frustration and a restatement of the speaker's feelings on eternity. In actuality, the entire poem is the speaker comparing the people and events depicted on the urn to life. Therefore, the urn is symbolic, as it embodies the meaning of life for the speaker. The poem is written about a Grecian urn, not literally but as a symbol for the speaker's feelings about life. The speaker indicates that he enjoys the little mysteries of life and basically that he feels the best things in life should be kept secret. "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard/Are sweater; ..." (ln 11-12) In the last stanza, this feeling is compared to his feelings about the anonymous form of the urn. "Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought/As doth eternity: ..." (ln 44-45) The speaker has many questions that he wants answered and compares this to what he sees on the urn. "What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape/Of deities or mortals, or of both/ ... /What men or gods are these? What maidens loath? ..." (ln 5-8) However, by looking at the urn, he receives no answers only sees a superficial

  • Word count: 544
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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theme of indolence explored in 'ode on indolence'

INDOLENCE Question: How is the theme of indolence explored in the poem 'ode on indolence'? 'Ode on indolence' is the praise of indolence/sluggishness; it makes the claim of the attractions of lethargy being more alluring than the attractions of the more active emotions of love, ambition and poetry. It is the admiration of the state of non-doing and non-feeling. The ode is a simple, straight forward story of a man who spends a lazy summer day in a state of numbness and does not want his visions of love, ambition and poesy to disrupt his indolence. These three figures are strikingly contrasted to the condition of indolence. The poetic persona could be Keats himself. The ode begins with the poetic persona seeing 'three figures' one summer morning passing him by in a dream/vision, as if on a 'marble urn' they returned with each turn of the vase. Their description resembles that of pilgrims with 'bowed necks, and joined hands' wearing 'placid sandals' and 'white robes', they were seen in profile. The figures are called 'shades' and 'strange', the narrator is confused and cannot identify them. The narrator's confusion is shown in the next stanza with the repetition of the questions regarding the identity and the nature of the figures. The word 'ripe' is used to describe his time of idleness; this has positive innuendo and gives the impression of richness. The figures were

  • Word count: 783
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Write a detailed Critical analysis of “Ode on a Grecian urn”

Write a detailed Critical analysis of "Ode on a Grecian urn" 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? The poet speaks of two qualities of the urn. As an "unravished bride" it is a perfect object, unmarked by the passage of time. As a "sylvan historian" it provides a record of a distant culture. The poet seems to ask the urn who or what are the figures carved on its sides. The questions suggest that the scene depicts maidens running from "men or gods" to the accompaniment of music. It is a Dionysian (Dionysius: the god of wine and revelry) scene that represents the wild, uninhibited celebrations of the god of wine and fertility. This first stanza sets the pattern of paradoxes that runs throughout the poem. Firstly in its structure, it is split into two sections - the first four lines are a series of apostrophes and the last six are a series of questions. Cole notes here that Keats also refers to the urn in terms of the relationship between time and silence - "A relationship that suggests

  • Word count: 1266
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How successfully does Keats address the theme of love and loss in La Belle Dame Sans Merci

"How successfully does Keats address the theme of love and loss in La Belle Dame Sans Merci" The poem shows us how powerful a beautiful woman can be, luring men away because of their lust and desire. It tells us of the power of "Amour" against "Armour", how a knight can be enchanted by the love and beauty of a woman and be made useless. The knight is lead by his desire rather than reason, he is intoxicated by the woman who does as she pleases with him. In the poem the first speaker finds a lonely knight who tells him the story of "wild" lady in the meads, which the knight met. "Her eyes were wild", her wildness makes her seem to be uncivilised and uncontrollable, with no restraint. She has elements of supernatural linked to her, described by the knight as, "a faery's child" living in her "elfin grot". The knight uses supernatural description because the woman seems too good to be true, he sees her as a faery because of her enchanting and seductive powers. "For sidelong would she bend and sing a faery's song", the woman can also be compared to the Sirens from The Odyssey, who use their beauty and songs to bewitch men drawing them to their island, where their ships would smash against the rocks, and then the cannibal Sirens would eat them. The first speaker describes the knight as having "a lilly on thy brow", "and on thy cheeks a fading rose". Keats originally wrote

  • Word count: 1325
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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What arguments, supported by evidence from his poetry, would you put forward to show that Keats was a Romantic poet?

What arguments, supported by evidence from his poetry, would you put forward to show that Keats was a Romantic poet? Plan * Introduction * The use of nature * Use of imagination and idealism * Reference to pain and suffering * Use of mythology * The 'voice of the poet' * Conclusion The Romantic Movement affected most of Europe. It changed the way people thought about themselves and their world through poetry, art, theatre, music and much more. Romanticism was prominent in England between 1792 and 1832. Keats started writing in 1818 and is considered a modern Romantic. Romantic poetry rejects the rationality and logic of the enlightenment period and embraces beauty and emotion. Keats expresses excitement in his poetry, over nature, and indulges the reader in the creativity of his imagination. Keats' reference to mythology throughout his poetry shows him to be intelligent and educated but also allows him to explore and personify nature. Prior to Romanticism poets did not openly speak in their poetry; any attitudes were expressed subtly, often in the guise of a story. Keats, however, participates in the poem and often describes and comments on his own experiences. Another characteristic of Romantic poetry that we see in Keats is a reluctant acknowledgement of reality in contrast to the fantastical world created by the poet. In accordance with Romantic tradition nature

  • Word count: 788
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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The interplay of dreams and reality is frequently found within John Keats' poems.

INTRODUCTION The interplay of dreams and reality is frequently found within John Keats' poems. In these poems, Keats uses his imaginative literature to help him to escape from the real world. Keats' mind drifts between an almost permanent and unchanging dream world full of great beauty and perfection, in comparison to reality, where he believes everything is subject to mutability and decay. Through this Keats presents a regret that nothing in reality lasts forever as although the world is full of beauty this beauty shall not last. Particularly in the poems, "Ode on a Grecian Urn," and "Ode to Nightingale," Keats presents this regret of impermanence strongly. Thus, through this interplay of dreams and reality Keats portrays his interpretation of the world. As Fred Inglis argues in his book 'Keats,' by contrasting himself with the 'detached' poet, Keats defined his poetic process as a complete absorption of his whole being in the object of contemplation, so that he lost his own 'identity' and took on its nature. Keats himself in fact, often refers to the idea of the "chameleon poet." I believe this helps Keats to fully explore his idealised dream world and thus demonstrates effective use of interplay between dreams and reality. Keats explores this world of idealism steered by the active imagination, and fuses reality with an imaginative ideal world. H.W. Garrod, author of

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  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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How do the poems you have studied portray women? Refer to at least two poems in detail.

How do the poems you have studied portray women? Refer to at least two poems in detail. Within the five poems we have studied, 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci', 'Lady of Shalott', 'My last duchess', 'Porphyria's lover' and 'Marianna'. Women are portrayed as weak characters with no voice. All of these poems are seen through the eyes of men, who accuse them of being self-centred and lacking in morals. However, these judgements can be placed upon the men themselves. The social/historical position of women during the nineteenth century can be identified within the poems. Browning's dramatic monologues in particular show women's lack of voice and dependency on men during the eighteen hundreds. Showing both women as possessions of men. The powerlessness of women is shown within Tennyson's poems; 'Mariana' and ' The Lady of Shalott'. 'Mariana' wastes her life because of a man and the 'The Lady of Shalott' looses her life due to Sir Lancelot. However, in Keats' poem 'La Belle Dame Sans Merci", the balance of power changes. The mythical female in the poem woos the knight and takes him under her control, but still she is portrayed negatively. She is displayed as a deceitful character who lures men into danger 'she took me to her elfin grot. And there she wept and sigh'd full sore'. 'La Belle Sans Merci. Thee hath in thrall.' This quote highlights the female's seduction of the Knight and

  • Word count: 967
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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On the Grasshopper and the Cricket from John Keats

Another famous entitled two insects is "On the Grasshopper and the Cricket". It was written by John Keats in a competition against Leigh Hunt, his great friend Leigh Hunt, as to who could write the best verse in a short time on a specified topic. Keats won on this occasion. The sonnet vividly depicts two creatures that easily be neglected by people, which reflects the poets’ belief that the beauty of nature never ends. The poetry of earth is never dead: When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead; This first line is an epic introduction. “hot sun” and “cooling trees” show a strike contrast, which indicates the reason why the chirping birds stop singing. However, The music of earth does not come to an end. Another voice is echoing “from hedge to hedge”. The integration of movement and stillness makes the scene lively. Here, the author threw mists before the reader’s eyes and didn’t specify the source of the voice. That is the Grasshopper's -- he takes the lead In summer luxury -- he has never done With his delights; for when tired out with fun He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. In the second stanza, Keats reveals the source of the voice. Instead of using the word “it”, Keats chooses the word “he” and the grasshopper is equal to

  • Word count: 693
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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Write about how Keats uses places in telling of "The Eve of St Agnes".

LYDIA GEORGE Write about how Keats uses places in the telling of The Eve of St Agnes. The Eve of St Agnes opens with the place of the cold and desolate chapel, we are immediately plunged into senses; a theme which continues through the rest of the poem. There is a semantic field of cold, for example, words such as ‘bitter chill’, ‘frozen grass’, ‘numb’, ‘frosted breath’ and ‘icy hoods’ all convey a sense of chill that surrounds the Beadsman at the start of the poem. The religious setting, the stone tombs with their “black purgatorial rails’’, present not only a compelling visual picture but also a comfortless religion, where not even death promises a release from pain. There is no warmth in the prayers offered by the Beadsman’s numb fingers or by the “sculptur’d dead” and in this setting Keats could be suggesting towards the ineffectiveness of religion with the isolation and loneliness in the chapel. However, the gothic chapel does give the reader a slight sense of hope as there is reference to heaven, ‘Seem’d taking flight for heaven’, as well as ‘the sweet Virgin’s picture’; this creates a feeling of optimism for the poem and restores any expectations of the reader following this detached imagery. From this stillness and taciturnity the Beadsman leads us to the joy inside to a hall full of wealth and energy “scarce three

  • Word count: 544
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: English
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