Ode on Indolence
Ode on Indolence Summary In the first stanza, Keats's speaker describes a vision he had one morning of three strange figures wearing white robes and "placid sandals." The figures passed by in profile, and the speaker describes their passing by comparing them to figures carved into the side of a marble urn, or vase. When the last figure passed by, the first figure reappeared, just as would happen if one turned a vase carved with figures before one's eyes. In the second stanza, the speaker addresses the figures directly, asking them how it was that he did not recognize them and how they managed to sneak up on him. He suspects them of trying to "steal away, and leave without a task" his "idle days," and goes on to describe how he passed the morning before their arrival: by lazily enjoying the summer day in a sort of sublime numbness. He asks the figures why they did not disappear and leave him to this indolent nothingness. In the third stanza, the figures pass by for a third time. The speaker feels a powerful urge to rise up and follow them, because he now recognizes them: the first is a "fair maid," Love; the second is pale-cheeked Ambition; and the third, whom the speaker seems to love despite himself, is the unmeek maiden, the demon Poesy, or poetry. When the figures disappear in the fourth stanza, the speaker again aches to follow them, but he says that the urge is
The two poems I have chosen to look at are the extract of Summer: The second pastoral, or Alexis by Alexander Pope and the extract from Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
2. (a) Choose any two poems from the WJEC Poetry Anthology that you would recommend to a friend. Using literary and linguistic concepts and approaches, look closely at the content, style and structure of each poem in order to justify your selection. The two poems I have chosen to look at are the extract of Summer: The second pastoral, or Alexis by Alexander Pope and the extract from Kubla Khan by Samuel Taylor Coleridge. I enjoy Pope's sense of humour in this piece. It is a piece of satire, and the mockery of conventional love poetry and pastoral lyrics, to me, make a humourous and entertaining piece. Pope opens with an imperative sentence, a command for the reader and the subject of the poem, the lover, to see the scene he is about to set. He uses an exclamation mark, which is the first of five. This abundance of imperatives and exclamations emphasises the poem's exaggerated and mocking tone. In this first line, Pope uses sibilance. The s sound within 'See what delights in sylvan scenes appear' creates a gentle tone, and adds to the idea of being tempted into the scene by the writer. Within this line, there is a sense of being slowly, eased into the scene, created both by the sibilance, and by the assonance created upon the strong, elongated e sound 'See what delights in sylvan scenes appear!'. He continues both these techniques into the next line with 'Descending' and
Compare and contrast Keats 'Ode of Autumn' with Heaney's 'Death of a Naturalist' bringing out clearly the poet's attitudes and techniques
Compare and contrast Keats 'Ode of Autumn' with Heaney's 'Death of a Naturalist' bringing out clearly the poet's attitudes and techniques By Rachel Miller 4H Ode to Autumn by John Keats This ode is a song to Autumn, and is a classic English poem, with that 'old authentic' feel to it. In it Keats manages to create a beautiful picture of what autumn is for him. Unfortunately Keats died from consumption in 1821, and so this was one of his last poems, written in 1819/20, after 'The Fall of Hyperion'. Some people acknowledge this ode as Keats' most perfectly achieved poem, and so this time was Keats' autumn of his life, when he came to produce his best. This typical English poem follows the rules of metre, and characteristically uses Iambic pentameters, as with most good traditional poems. The landscape is also typically English rural countryside, and the side of autumn, which Keats chooses to include, is the custom of the Harvest. Where all the fruits of autumn reach maturity - the farming tradition of autumn. This is a through and through English poem. It was composed soon after a walk in the fields near Winchester (S. England), September 1819. A letter sent to a friend (J.H Reynolds) shows just how much of the poem was written from experience. In the letter Keats makes reference to Diana, goddess of the moon and of chastity, but she is not apparent in the poem, except the
The Ode is used as a poetic form for philosophical contemplation. Compare two odes by Keats in the light of this observation
Come a-knocking on Death's door The Ode is used as a poetic form for philosophical contemplation. Compare two odes by Keats in the light of this observation How much do you agree with the statement: John Keats was unfortunate in his upbringing to some extent? On one hand there was a chance for a budding surgeon but he gave that away to his literary awakening which drew him to write odes such as the ones I am going to analyse. Personally, learning about his life prior to literature, I feel that the situations he dealt with, at such a young age were remarkable but perhaps had he not faced those decisions, he wouldn't have come to write such poetry brimming full with philosophical contemplation. John Keats was born on the October 31st, 1795 in Finsbury Pavement, near the centre of London. He learnt to deal with death from an early age as his father died in an accident when he was only eight years old. Seventeen years later in 1810, his mother died due to consumption, leaving John in the care of his grandmother. Subsequently, under the care of guardians he left school to become an apprentice to a surgeon. Unfortunately, before the completion of his apprenticeship, John had a quarrel with his master and therefore left to pursue a stronger path in literature, deftly in the company of his good friend Cowden Clarke. Three years of receiving scarce and negative feedback on
Romantic Poetry - I am trying to ascertain whether 2 certain poems fall in line with the romantic ideal and to this end the lines of romanticism which were drawn largely by the poets themselves
Romantic Poetry! In this essay, in which I am trying to ascertain whether 2 certain poems fall in line with the romantic ideal and to this end the lines of romanticism which were drawn largely by the poets themselves. Therefore to this end I feel I must define the Romantic Movement and more importantly the motivation behind these Romantic poets and their views on life. The first and perhaps one of the most fundamental questions the Romantic Movement tried to answer was the role of man in relation to other things. What is man? How does he differ from the gods on the one hand and from nature on the other? What is the divine element in man? Of course the answers concerning these questions was not the sole and original concern of the Romantics, however a shift of emphasis in the old answers, changes the style and the subject matter of poetry and the poet's conception of his function. So for instance the Romantic conception of the divine element in man shifts greatly from earlier views of such power. In the middle Ages, the quality which man shares with god and which the creatures do not have is a will that can make free choices. What separates man from God however is sin: that he can and does choose wrongly, love himself, act selfishly. The function of the poet is to exhibit the human soul tempted by competing loves, and to celebrate the ways in which she may be redeemed.
Compare and contrast William Wordsworth and John Keats' attitude towards nature in the poems "Ode To Automn" , "Ode To A Nightingale", "The Solitary Reaper", "Daffodils" and "To A Sky-Lark".
Compare and contrast William Wordsworth and John Keats' attitude towards nature in the poems "Ode To Automn" , "Ode To A Nightingale", "The Solitary Reaper", "Daffodils" and "To A Sky-Lark" William Wordsworth and John Keats were two of the greatest poets of the Romantic age. Keats belonged to the younger generation of the Romantic poets who revolutionised the nature of poetry in English literature. The poems showed their great devotion to nature, they emphasis on to imagination to the super natural and also the reverence they showed to every object in nature. The poems I have chosen "Ode To Autumn" , "Ode To A Nightingale", "The Solitary Reaper", "Daffodils" and "To A Sky-Lark" all show even by the titles themselves how the poets give importance to common everyday objects of nature. All these poems show how passionately the poets felt about nature and they link different objects or experiences in nature with a greater understanding about the mystery of nature and the cycle of human life. Wordsworth and Keats through their poems "To A Sky-Lark" and "Ode To A Nightingale" express the desire to escape from the human world into the world of nature's singers. "To A Sky-Lark" is written in a sober but fairly joyous mood. The sense of enjoyment of the sky lark's song and the uplifting effect it has on the poet is shown through the repetition of "Up with me, Up with me into the
Compare the Way in which the Romantic poet Keats presents paradox and contrast with close reference to at least three poems
Compare the Way in which the Romantic poet Keats presents paradox and contrast with close reference to at least three poems By Rowan Poulter Keats had a very short life. He died when he was twenty six after being diagnosed with tuberculosis, the same disease that killed his brother. His illness made him reflect on his life in morbid but sometimes positive points of view. His experience with women and of being rejected also influenced his poetry. Keats was a romantic poet; a type of poetry in which imagination, passion, thoughts and the merging of the sense is key to enhance the rigid formal structure of poetry. The words romantic does not signify that he is romantic, but that he uses imagination and passion to express his views and thoughts about life, and about the world itself within his poetry. Keats uses his life experiences to form themes within his poems, some of these include: life and death, dream and reality, separation and connection and morality and immorality. Literary author and Keats expert Douglas Bush noted that "Keats's important poems are related to, or grow directly out of...inner conflicts." For example, pain and pleasure are intertwined in "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn"; love is intertwined with pain, and pleasure is intertwined with death in "La Belle Dame Sans Merci," "The Eve of St. Agnes." 1 These conflicts are in close relation
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
Rich Sensuousness, well-wrought form and depth of thought are characteristics of Keats poetry. By means of a comparative study examine how Keats poetry reflects these features.
THE ODES Q. Rich Sensuousness, well-wrought form and depth of thought are characteristics of Keats poetry. By means of a comparative study examine how Keats poetry reflects these features. A. The three main odes I will discuss are: Ode to autumn, Ode on Grecian Urn and Ode to Melancholy. The Odes bring to perfection Keats's command of form and richly meaningful use of the English Language. Melancholy -which today perhaps he called depression- was a state at which Keats was very familiar. The inspiration of the Ode came from a book on the subject by Burton who proposed various remedies to alleviate the 'melancholy fit'. The first stanza of the Ode emphatically rejects these remedies, which induce oblivion and associate melancholy with thoughts of death. They numb the sense and dull the keen edge of the melancholic experience. The "rosary of yew-berries" can be easily pictured, the sinister berries of the tree that symbolizes death strung together for the purpose of counting one's prayer. Keat begins the second stanza by referring for the first time in the poem to melancholy as a disease, a "fit" (line eleven) whose onset is as sudden as a spring shower. The lush imagery of lines twelve and fourteen quickly lures attention away from melancholy to the marvel of an April rain, yet the poet is all the while at work characterizing melancholy itself by means of this extended
Discuss The Attitudes Towards Death In Some Of The Poems That You Have Studied.
GCSE English Coursework Discuss The Attitudes Towards Death In Some Of The Poems That You Have Studied By Alexa Glick Death is an inescapable fact of life. All living things die, but humans alone have the ability to reflect on the various ways in which death may be responded to and approached. Death is the end of an era opposed to the end of everything. It is known that our society has special difficulty facing and accepting the reality of death and grief. People find it hard to talk about death for different reasons. Writing poetry about death is a good way of expressing your feelings and your attitude towards it. The word death has two meanings to it; Death is the end of the life of a person or animal and the death of something is the end of it. These are the meanings behind the word death, but people's attitudes towards death are very different. The poems I have studied are both negative and positive about the aspect of death. 'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness...' These are the words of John Keats (1975-1982). John Keats had a memorable and inspiring life, in 1818 his brother Tom died. After his brother's death, Keats started to appreciate life and live it to the full '1carpe diam'. Shortly after his brother's death, Keats died of Tuberculosis at the young age of twenty-four. During his