John Keats Theodicy John Keats’ life was short, but through its brevity it forced Keats to ponder certain questions and ideas he may not have had (had he lived a full life). Keats faced imminent death since he knew he had tuberculosis. His self-diagnosis was not wrong, and he died just a year or two after learning about his condition. Though Keats devoted the remaining short time in his life to writing poetry, he suffered hardships with his ability to pursue his passion due to his nearing death. He wanted more time to write more, to experience more, and to live more. But his inability to have these things called him to question why he was in such a predicament that his life be shortened, that he must suffer such hardships and endure the pain …show more content…
How could he not when he was faced with it so young? His views on mortality help shape his theodicy and why he thinks that the world is a vale of soul making. In “Ode to a Nightingale,” he discusses the idea of mortality in relation to immortal things. He talks about the nightingale and its ease with which it sings and lives as though he envies it: “My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains/ My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk/ Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains/ One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:/ Tis not through envy of thy happy lot/ But being too happy in thine happiness/ That thou, light winged dryad of the trees/ in some melodious plot/ of beechen green and shadows numberless/ singest of summer in full throated ease” (Keats, 1-10). He describes the nightingale as a tree spirit who sings in ease and has not a care in the world, while he has an aching heart and his senses are sedated and in a world of oblivion. The contrast between his self-description and the nightingale, which sings in the summer, is light winged and sounds like it has no cares at all, almost elf like, is quite a stark contrast. It almost brings an image of darkness and light to mind. Keats also writes in this same poem, “Darkling I listen; and, for many a time/ I have been half in love with easeful Death/ Call’d him soft names in many a mused rhyme/ to take into the air my quiet breath;/ now more than ever seems it rich to die/ To cease upon the midnight with no pain/ while thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad/ in such ecstasy!/ Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain/ To thy high requiem become a sod.” This stanza once again shows a contrast between Keats’ darkness and despair in contrast with the nightingale, which is also in the dark but even in such dark still sings with no pain. Keats can’t even bear to listen to the nightingale’s song, as he has ears in vain and, upon listening, he becomes
Time is endlessly flowing by and its unwanted yet pending arrival of death is noted in the two poems “When I Have Fears,” by John Keats and “Mezzo Cammin,” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Keats speaks with no energy; only an elegiac tone of euphoric sounds wondering if his life ends early with his never attained fame. He mentions never finding a “fair creature” (9) of his own, only experiencing unrequited love and feeling a deep loss of youth’s passion. Though melancholy, “Mezzo Cammin,” takes a more conversational tone as Longfellow faces what is commonly known as a midlife crisis. The two poems progressions contrast as Keats blames his sorrow for his lack of expression while Longfellow looks at life’s failures as passions never pursued. In spite of this contrast, both finish with similar references to death. The comparable rhyme and rhythm of both poems shows how both men safely followed a practiced path, never straying for any spontaneous chances. The ending tones evoking death ultimately reveal their indications towards it quickly advancing before accomplish...
After a four week survey of a multitude of children’s book authors and illustrators, and learning to analyze their works and the methods used to make them effective literary pieces for children, it is certainly appropriate to apply these new skills to evaluate a single author’s works. Specifically, this paper focuses on the life and works of Ezra Jack Keats, a writer and illustrator of books for children who single handedly expanded the point of view of the genre to include the experiences of multicultural children with his Caldecott Award winning book “Snowy Day.” The creation of Peter as a character is ground breaking in and of itself, but after reading the text the reader is driven to wonder why “Peter” was created. Was he a vehicle for political commentary as some might suggest or was he simply another “childhood” that had; until that time, been ignored? If so, what inspired him to move in this direction?
The Virgin and the Whore: An Analysis of Keats’s Madeline in “The Eve of Saint Agnes”
John Keats’s illness caused him to write about his unfulfillment as a writer. In an analysis of Keats’s works, Cody Brotter states that Keats’s poems are “conscious of itself as the poem[s] of a poet.” The poems are written in the context of Keats tragically short and painful life. In his ...
...agery artistically to creatively examine, whether death really is the end of all humanity or whether life was merely purgatorial, a period of time allocated on earth for the purpose of atoning for our sins just like the ‘purgatorial rails’ in this poem. Alternatively it can be argued that religion is not life affirming and only death reveals, the indoctrinatory nature of religious teachings. For example the ‘sculptured dead’ were ‘imprisoned in black’ connoting everlasting torment. It almost contradictorily argues that faith on one hand is a sufferance gladly taken by citizens so they may reap their rewards in the afterlife but on the other hand Keats is demonstrating how religion is restricted and there is really no life after death. This is interesting because it controversially subverts conventions of the time that he was writing in.
Keats’ poetry explores many issues and themes, accompanied by language and technique that clearly demonstrates the romantic era. His poems ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ and ‘Bright Star’ examine themes such as mortality and idealism of love. Mortality were common themes that were presented in these poems as Keats’ has used his imagination in order to touch each of the five senses. He also explores the idea that the nightingale’s song allows Keats to travel in a world of beauty. Keats draws from mythology and christianity to further develop these ideas. Keats’ wrote ‘Ode To A Nightingale’ as an immortal bird’s song that enabled him to escape reality and live only to admire the beauty of nature around him. ‘Bright Star’ also discusses the immortal as Keats shows a sense of yearning to be like a star in it’s steadfast abilities. The visual representation reveal these ideas as each image reflects Keats’ obsession with nature and how through this mindset he was able
Imagery and symbolism merged to express his imagination, he became a unique poet in an evolving world where Romanticism was quickly expanding globally, not into a movement, but a way of thinking. Keats’ mother and brother, and eventually he too, passed away of tuberculosis. At the time of his brother 's passing, he developed ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’. ‘La Belle’ expressed Keats’ intellect and creativity, although at the same time he himself expressed his angst and depression for the loss of his brother. His poem ‘Bright Star’ was written in a part of his life in which a woman had influenced Keats’ greatly, so much in fact that he was driven to write ‘Bright Star’ in appreciation and celebration of the love of his life. These poems reflect Keats’ intellect, originality, creativity, and his ability to merge the contextual aspects of his life and his imagination with the ideals and concepts of Romanticism to create powerful
In Keats “Ode to a Nightingale” we see the sense embodied through a variety of different literary techniques and in particular his use of synaesthesia imagery. The dejected downhearted nature of the poem promotes emotion in the reader even before noting poetic devices at work. The structure of the meter is regular and adds to the depth of this poe...
In a world full of hostility and loss of faith surrounded by war and technological developments, he modernist era of literature developments, the modernists era of literature arose. The sinking of the Titanic symbolized the falling of the Great Britain empire and newly invented standardized time allowed war to become even deadlier than before due to the ability to organize attacks. Due to this new world full of bloodshed and new mechanical inventions, the world was falling further and further away from God. William Butler Years expresses his sudden collapse of society in his poem “The Second Coming”, first composed in January of 1919. The hopelessness of mankind is addressed by Keats’ statement that man cannot save us, God cannot save us, and the question: If man and God can’t save us, then what is going to happen to us?
John Keats was born in London on October 31, 1795. He was educated at Clarke’s School in Enfield. He enjoyed a liberal education that mainly reflected on his poetry. His father died when he was eight and his mother died when he was fourteen. After his mother died, his maternal grandmother granted two London merchants, John Rowland Sandell and Richard Abbey, guardianship. Abbey played a major roll in the development of Keats, as Sandell only played a minor one. These circumstances drew him extremely close to his two brothers, George and Tom, and his sister Fanny. When he 15, Abbey removed him from the Clarke School, as he became an apothecary-surgeon’s apprentice. Then in 1815, he became a student at Guy’s Hospital. He registered for a six- month course to become a licensed surgeon. Soon after he decided he was going to be a doctor he realized his true passion was in poetry. So he decided he would try to excel in poetry also. His poetry that he wrote six years before his death was not very good. As his life progressed his poetry became more mature and amazing. He looked up to Shakespeare and Milton. He studied a lot of there poetry and imitated these two writers. His work resembled Shakespeare.
‘Ode to a Nightingale’ ends with the question, “fled is that music: - Do I wake or sleep?” Which is the product of how profoundly the persona’s journey has impacted on his perception of reality, it also serves to leave the meaning of Keats’ poem up to the responder allowing them to determine the truth behind the persona’ inner journey based on what they felt within the poem itself. By doing this, Keats shows that a journey’s significance can only truly be measured when it ends, when the individuals involved have the chance to decide how the journey they have undertaken will impact them. Contrastingly, Hemingway’s ‘Indian Camp’ tells the story of a young boy and his father who travel to an Indian camp to help with the troubled labour of one of the women. The boy’s father says that he “ought to have a look at the proud father. They’re usually the worst sufferers in these…affairs,” before discovering the Indian man’s suicide, foreshadowing both the demise of the Indian man and the boy’s inevitable change in perception because of the event. However, upon leaving in the “just daylight” Nick denies what he has seen to instead rely on the authoritive figure of his father for guidance. He asks, “is dying hard, Daddy?” returning to language reminiscent of a young child, and seemingly satisfied with his father’s vague response, “it all depends.” Nick’s attitude highlights to the audience that he was not mentally prepared to witness the Indian man’s suicide and allows the audience to contemplate on Nick’s behalf on how such an episode will affect him. Nick’s journey ends in such a way that it was inevitable, regardless of how Nick grew and reflects Nick’s inability to comprehend his journey as he accepts the authority of a parental figure rather than questioning his reality as Keats did when faced with death. Thus
you it has been too hot for to long. You also anticipate the coming of
As pains and sufferings are the part and parcel of man's life,therefore,to forget his personal sorrows. He indulges in the world of natural beauty. As in the "ode to Nightingale", Nightingale and he becomes one, his soul sings in the bird which is the symbol of joy. The song of the bird transfers him into the world of imagination and he forgets his peronal sorrows in the happy world of the nightingale:
In order to experience true sorrow one must feel true joy to see the beauty of melancholy. However, Keats’s poem is not all dark imagery, for interwoven into this poem is an emerging possibility of resurrection and the chance at a new life. The speaker in this poem starts by strongly advising against the actions and as the poem continues urges a person to take different actions. In this poem, the speaker tells of how to embrace life by needing the experience of melancholy to appreciate the true joy and beauty of
In “Ode to A Nightingale,” a prominent significance to Keats is his idea of the conflicted interplay in human life of living and death, mortal and immortal, and feeling versus the lack of feeling or inability to feel. “The ideal condition towards which Keats always strives because it is his ideal, is one in which mortal and immortal,…beauty and truth are one” (Wasserman). The narrator plunges into a dreamlike state when hearing a nightingale sing. As the nightingale sings, he shares its elation and feels the conflicting response of agony when he comes down from his dreamlike ecstasy and realizes that unlike the nightingale in his imagination, “Thou was not born for death, immortal Bird,” his life is finite (61). “Where palsy shakes a few, sad last gray hairs, where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies” (25-26).