On First Looking into Chapman's Homer.
On First Looking into Chapman's Homer John Keats was a famous romantic poet from England. He was born on 31 October 1795 in Moorfields, son of the manager of a livery stable. His parents died when he was young so he had to live with his brothers and sisters. He began writing poems in 1814, when he was about 19 years old. Keats left school in 1811 to be apprenticed to the surgeon Thomas Hammond. After four years he registered as a student at Guy's Hospital. A year later he abandoned medicine to write poems all this life-time. Keats didn't stop writing poems, even when he was nursing his brother Tom that was ill of tuberculosis. During this time Keats wrote "Isabella". He wrote many poems which are still regarded as classics, including "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "The Eve of St. Agnes." He spent his whole life writing more than 30 poems and died of tuberculosis in Rome in 1821. John Keats first great poem was written on the subject of one of his inspirations, Homer. One of Keats' schoolteachers, Charles Clarke, introduced him to the George Chapman translation of Homer. Clarke and Keats stayed up all night reading Homer's translated works and after Keats got home he sat down and wrote the first poem, which he finished the next morning and posted to Clarke in the mail. That poem was called 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer'. In this Keats makes particularly effective use of
Themes of joy and sorrow in Keats's poetry
Themes of joy and sorrow/real and ideal in Keats The Odes, a Product of Keats's Inner Conflicts It would be true to say that the odes of Keats are the product of certain inner struggles or conflicts. The principal stress in the most important of these odes is a struggle between ideal and actual. They also imply the opposition between pleasure and pain, imagination and reason, fullness and privation, permanence and change, Nature and the human, art and life, freedom and bondage, waking and dream. The "Ode to a Nightingale": Keats's Desire to Escape from Reality Let us first consider the Ode to a Nightingale. In this poem the draught of vintage symbolises an imaginative escape from reality. The longing to fade away into the forest dim results from a desire to avoid another kind of fading away, namely, the melancholy dissolution of change and physical decay. In the third stanza, the actual world of distress and privation is described. The actual world, as depicted in this stanza, is the world of weariness, fever, and fret, a world where palsy shakes a few sad last grey hairs, and where youth, beauty, and love are transient. This picture of the actual world is in direct opposition to the ecstasy of the nightingale and the golden world of Flora, "Provencal song", and the nightingale's forest as described in the second stanza. Both the ideal abundance of the second stanza and
Analysis of Keats To Autumn
Analysis of Keats' To Autumn To Autumn was a poem composed by John Keats, a famous romantic poet who was regarded as a genius by Shelly. His odes are among the mightiest achievements of English verse. In To Autumn, Keats presents a colorful and vivid picture of the autumn, and gives expression to his own thoughts on life as well. This poem shows some of the main features of Romanticism such as the admiration of nature, the use of imagination, the stress on emotion and on artistic effect. Particularly, it is a good example of Keats' poetic principle of "negative power". But by analyzing both the poem and its background, we may find that although Keats wants to conceal his own feeling, this poem, with both its language and its content, is a true reflection of his thoughts and life experience To Autumn deals with the presence of nature and how autumn itself is more significant than any of the other seasons. What most called my attention was the infinite number of images you can imagine by reading it. It seems that john Keats describes what he imagine and while reading it, I can create the picture in my mind, of what he is seeing. To Autumn has three stanzas. Each of three stanzas shows us different time of a day and different time of autumn. I thought this poem exhibited two kinds of progression of time. First is the time of day. The first stanza is the morning with the
"What we have is a charming fragment of romantic self indulgence in medieval atmosphere, free of the narrative particularity enforced in 'The Eve of St Agnes'," Discuss Brian Stone's comments on Keats's two 'Eve' poems.
"What we have is a charming fragment of romantic self indulgence in medieval atmosphere, free of the narrative particularity enforced in 'The Eve of St Agnes'," Discuss Brian Stone's comments on Keats's two 'Eve' poems. From reading the title we can see that Brian Stone believes that 'The Eve of St Mark' is charming. Obviously, it is up to the reader to decide but I would not personally use 'charming' to describe the poem. However I can see the reasons why Brian Stone could think this. The poem is in octosyllabic couplets of 137 lines. Sixteen lines (101-16), in Middle English. The poem has a beautiful rhyme throughout which is very delightful and it makes you want to carry on reading it. There is also a lot of excellent imagery. "Of the green thorny bloomless hedge, Of rivers new with spring-tide sedge." (L9-10) These two lines show the wonderful rhyme and imagery that Keats uses. I found that by the poem not being finished it frustrated me. This is probably why Brian Stone describes the poem as a 'fragment' because it is not complete. When a lot of people read a poem or book they want to get to the ending and find out what happens. The readers cannot do this in 'The Eve of St Mark' because Keats did not finish it. This is one of the reasons why I did not thoroughly enjoy the poem. Another factor that made me dislike the poem was the part in Middle English. I found this
How does Keats present women in his poetry?
"Towards women I feel a Gordian complication of feelings"- How does Keats present women in his poetry? Within Keats' poetry there are some repeating themes, with some poems being constructed around certain ideas. One such is women, and how Keats feels towards them. His poetry reflects different periods of his live, when he feels a certain way about them. Generally, there is a sense of ambiguity about his feelings towards women, as said in the title, he felt a "Gordian complication"- a knot that could not be undone- of feelings, and usually just as a reader feels they begin to know his opinions, the poem seems to move in a contradictory way. In both 'Lamia' and 'The Eve of St Agnes' Keats draws our attention to the fragility of the moment. In both of these narrative poems, he points out how nothing is forever, whatever feelings we have for another are destined to die, either through our own mortality "There they reposed,|Where use had made it sweet...came a thrill|Of trumpets - Lycius started", or through time "And they are gone - ay, ages long ago". Although it is unknown if Keats ever had sex, his writing shows his high thoughts about it-"Into her dream he melted, as the rose|Blendeth its odour with the violet"- and this is one of his contradictory thoughts. Although he likes the idea of making love and the perfection of the moment, he understands that it does not, indeed
Comparison of Two Poppy Poems By Sylvia Plath.
SHABNAM ABUBAKER ENGLISH LITERATURE 2001 COMPARISON OF TWO POPPY POEMS BY SYLVIA PLATH When looking at the titles of the two poems "Poppies...." I automatically think of the war. This is because poppies are a symbolism of the war and are sold every year at the time that the war occurred. It is a symbolism of all the people that died, sort of like sympathy for them. This could relate with, or it could be about the war. Also when I looked at the pomes again I thought of flowers and how beautiful they are. I have noticed that I had the same reaction with "Tulips", as it meant two different things. The first poem "Poppies in October", also was quiet surprising at the though of the poppies appearance so late in the year, like a surprise gift. This is presumably intentionally contrasted with the second poem "Poppies in July", as this is the time for Poppies. The poppy could be represented as an unexpected gift because of the blistering red colour of them. I found out that the 'July' poem was written just when her marriage was about to break up, so the 'October' one could suggest that this break up was a surprise to her. Both the poems are very short, which suggests not having much to say which could relate to pain and loneliness. The first poem is divided into five parts, each with unequal lines and breaks. The second one is also divided into eight
In Martin Heidegger's booklet The Origin of the Work of Art the German philosopher attempts to answer the question of the origin of the work of art which he places on an equal footing with the issue of the essence of art.
Alan Pejkovic 710131-3372 In Martin Heidegger's booklet The Origin of the Work of Art the German philosopher attempts to answer the question of the origin of the work of art which he places on an equal footing with the issue of the essence of art. To Heidegger, these two questions are interwoven. What is very problematic for the reader is the fact that Heidegger begins his investigation with a hermeneutic circle. The phrase 'hermeneutic circle' refers to the circle of interpretation involved when understanding some work of art. According to this reasoning, it is not possible to really understand any part of a work until you understand the whole, but it is not possible either to understand the whole without understanding all of the parts. Heidegger starts by defining what to examine. In other words, we must identify something as a work of art. Only then it will be possible to infer what art is from the investigated work. But, to do that, Heidegger continues in a hermeneutic circle, we must already know which things are works of art and which are not. Further, if we can do this successfully, we must already know what art is. Heidegger's reasoning is complicated and can be seen as a logical problem but his intention is to get the reader to think in different orbits, to try not to get around the circle but to break into it in a way that is not completely clear to me.
"In many of his poems Keats starts out from the familiar and everyday but quickly takes off into different territory" - In light of this comment, explore Keats' poetic methods in "Ode to a Nightingale".
"In many of his poems Keats starts out from the familiar and everyday but quickly takes off into different territory." In light of this comment, explore Keats' poetic methods in "Ode to a Nightingale" On examination of Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale" it is possible to advocate the potential contention of the hypothesis. For, whilst it may be argued that the poem terminates in the "familiar" and "everyday", the first few lines intimate nothing of the like; rather Keats alludes to a sense of inebriation, evoked by the transcendental beauty of the bird's song. By line four the destination is indubitably reached as Keats describes himself as having sunk "Lethe-wards". The use of the classical allusion is commonly identified as something of a Keatsian leitmotif. The appeal lies in the gain of a subtle facet in implication. Here, for example, "Lethe-wards" refers to the river of the lower world from which the shades drank in order to forget the past. There are two possible lines of interpretation, first; in illustrating a slip from conscious thought, second; in conveying the penetration of another world, its foundation lying in myth. This particular form of imagery remains prevalent throughout the poem, indeed within the subject matter itself: According to legend; Philomena, following her rape and torture, was transformed into a nightingale. Thus, the creature is
"Keats characteristically gives visual form to the idea that human life is soon over"Do you agree? You should base your answer on: 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and a poem of your choice.
"Keats characteristically gives visual form to the idea that human life is soon over" Do you agree? You should base your answer on: 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and a poem of your choice. John Keats is well known for his escapism-based poetry. Critics argue that this escapism is Keats way of escaping life and death, the latter, a subject well experienced by the poet. However, this could also be the basis behind Keats attitude that human life is 'short-lived.' Loosing his father at the age of eight and his mother to tuberculosis at fourteen, it is perhaps no wonder that he has this attitude. Within the poems 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and 'To Autumn' Keats gives visual form to the idea that human life is soon over. He does this through detailed descriptions of sensation. In both 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and 'To Autumn' Keats begins with an apostrophe, addressing both with respect. Personifying the Urn, Keats praises it. He calls it the "foster child of... slow time" and this shows the greatness of immortality against the mortality of human life. This comparison highlights Keats belief that human life is too soon over. Keats in 'To Autumn' personifies the autumn, however not for the same reason. He appears contradictory to his attitude in 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' portraying short life as a good thing. Throughout the poem Keats visually illustrates the abundance of the autumn. He
As a direct address to an inanimate object "The Fountain" presents three main conflicts concerning the appearance to the observer and the reality in the poem.
As a direct address to an inanimate object "The Fountain" presents three main conflicts concerning the appearance to the observer and the reality in the poem. First, since the speaker addresses an object usually considered voiceless, the reader may abandon his/her normal perception of the fountain and enter the poet's imaginative address. Secondly, the speaker not only addresses the fountain but asserts that it speaks and sings, personifying the object with vocal abilities. These acts imply that, not only can the fountain speak in a musical form, but the fountain also has the ability to present some particular meaning ("what do you say" (1)). Finally, the poet gives the fountain a voice to say that its perpetual motion (rising and falling) is "enough" to maintain its sense of existence. This final personification fully dramatizes the conflict between the fountain's appearance and the poem's statement of reality by giving the object intelligence and voice. The first strophe, four lines of alternating 4- and 3-foot lines, takes the form of a ballad stanza. In this way, the poem begins by suggesting that it will be story that will perhaps teach a certain lesson. The opening trochees and repetition stress the address to the fountain, and the iamb which ends line 1 and the trochee that begins line 2 stress the actions of the fountain itself. The response of the fountain