Keats Keats Keats

Unlike the other poets we have studied, Keats grew up to a working class family and did not have everything handed to him on a silver platter, like our other aristocratic poets. His poems are, in my opinion, much more depressing than the others we have read. In Ode to the Nightingale, Keats starts with a rather melancholy opening. However, the mood changes to a tad happier for a little, but then unfortunately goes back to being dark and depressing. He seems to view death as a positive and a negative, and his statements contradict eachother. The poem is full of contradictions. I feel like he was really trying to get the reader to think deeply and in a new way about the idea of death and other unfortunate things that happen to us. Its also pretty ironic that he died at an early age. Through out the poem the diction is very sophisticated. The purpose of his poems were to get the reader thinking, which I think he accomplishes.

Keats

Unlike Keats’s other writing cohorts, his work truly looked past all pre-existing reasons that other Romantic poets wrote their poetry, and wrote for his own needs. Keats was neither an upper nor lower class born child, but born to a middle-class working family. He immediately faced losing his brother at an early age, which later influenced his work as a writer. Although he was deeply saddened by this lose, Keats was able to channel this loss to create great works of poetry. Some of his most famous writings have been direct reflections of his life. For example, his Ode to a Nightingale presents the introductory line: “my heart aches, and drowsy numbness pains,” which appears to have been taken from some terrible events that occurred in his life, knowing his background information. This point again brings up a unique factor about Keats and his writings. Other Poets, like Bryon and Shelley, attempted to synthesize an issue that they found to be important in the universe (nature) and used that as the lead for their poetry. Keats, however, chose not to take this route of writing for a specific purpose, but writing because he simple loved to write and it provided a therapeutic outlet for him. Through the events that he experienced, writing was the exhale from the distressed world. Because he chose to write about important events that occurred during his life, he had an eclectic repertoire of literature that was written, making him one of the most diverse writers of the era. His poems of Ode to the Nightingale and Ode on a Grecian Urn also employed many specific literary devices that enhanced his message, like, end rhyme, form (iambic pentameter) and a strong sense of the narrator’s role. The narrator’s role is an important one, for it allows Keats to shift between a speaking tone of reality while incorporating the power of the unconscious mind through dreams and the exploration of mythological creatures. This is evident in Nightingale, where Keats uses terminology and ideologies from Greek mythology, like: the wooden dryad, the Hippocrene horse, etc. This alone showed the diversity of his writings and his personality.

Keats is a prime example of the amount of time that one lives on earth not being as significant as what one does with that time. Although he died young, he used his life to the fullest to compose of the most amazing poetry written. He reflections of his own life and important issues in the world teach others that if they have a passion, they should pursue it for their own enjoyment, not the enjoyment of others!

of man raised in poverty;

Comparatively, Keats resembles the darker realm that the other poets prior hadn’t really touched upon. Byron and Shelley relied on the more whimsical aspects in the world around them to convey certain messages. Judging by Keats’ past experiences, having been raised into the working class rather than aristocracy, the mood of his poems seems to take on a form of expression from his childhood. His poems are more somber and delicate and lack the feelings of optimism that lingered in the poetry from other poets. In “Ode to a Nightingale”, Keats begins with “My heart aches, and drowsy numbness pains my sense,” – already beginning with a mellow tone that brings one down from lurking in the clouds but instead down to the more curious faults of man and the more shadowy things that seem to accumulate around the human population. While in Byron’s “She Walks in Beauty” has a darker feel, Keats seems to take things a step further and more blatantly address the things he has seen or knows drifts around him. Keats seems to become more questioning and indecisive in his poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn” which brings mention to elves and “forlorn” fairylands. This more mythical standpoint is reminiscent of Shelley’s “Ozymandias” that seems to also have a fondness towards things in a more dream-like approach.

Oh, Keats

John Keats is not like the other famous Romantic poets. Instead of being involved with revolution, he studied beauty and how everything good had another side which was bad. Keats was all about contradictions more than likely because within a few months he found the love of his life, but his brother died. All of the things that were apart of his life allowed him to understand the irony of life and the ability to look at different angles to see the good, the bad, and the ugly.

In Ode to a Nightingale, Keats switches from sorrowful to hopeful thoughts about death. The poem begins with him believing that hemlock will bring "drowsy numbness;" it will bring a death from the pain of life. He also uses alcohol as a suppressant from his unforgiving life. However, soon he beings to see death as a way to fly with the nightingale. In the end, after seeing all of the beauty around him and the freedom of the nightingale, it would be "rich to die." Ode to a Grecian Urn is a commentary on the foolish wish of humans to live forever. Keats explains in great detail all of the possible scenarios that could be on the vase. He ends stating that "old age shall this generation waste, though shalt remain" all by itself.

Writing to a bird

Keats differed greatly from his other Romantic colleagues. Of the poets that we have read so far, they seem to be writing poetry to emphasize certain aspects of things, whether it be politics, nature, or whatever. However, Keats writes simply because he enjoys it. He writes for the beauty of writing. He does not really have any agenda behind it. For example, he noticed a bird and liked the song of it. So he sat down for several hours and wrote about it. Keats was not trying to display some kind of ideology, he was simply writing for the beauty of writing. His poetry did not go without influence however. The death of his brother at a young age had a lasting impact on him. Keats often included some dark, solemn lines in his poems, including "My heart aches, and drowsy numbness pains," in the first line of "Ode to a Nightingale." This solemn tone sometimes conflicts with the overall cheerful nature of the rest of the poems, but I believe Keats does this on purpose. The contrast and comparisons display the overarching beauty and greatness of life, even though we all go through tough and sad times. He shows that the beauty around us makes life worth living, even when things are tough. This is further emphasized by the fact that he wrote lots of poetry in his last two years of life, when he knew he was dying. Keats continued to emphasize the beauty of nature and the emotion and power it has, even as his life is withering away.

Byron and Shelley

Once again, two friends helped pioneer and push forward the new Romantic era. Lord Byron and Percy Shelley, like Coleridge and Wordsworth, helped invent the Romantic way of writing. Byron and Shelley grew up in opposite households; Byron growing up poor yet obtaining the title of Lord early, while Shelley grew up in a wealthy household with the best education.

Byron was strongly influenced by nature and seemed to develop two different personalities in his writing. He was often portrayed as a "dark and brooding" character, similar to what he wrote about, yet was often nice. His poetry was strongly influenced by revolution and his slightly radical political ideas. In his poems "Apostrophe to the Ocean" and "She Walks in Beauty," the dark side of Byron is shown. Both poems seem to display the strength of nature over man and the idea that man can do nothing to control the will of nature. Nature is able to easily destroy man, which he seems to find beauty in. This dark viewpoint slightly differs from Coleridge and Wordsworth who viewed nature as bright and cheerful almost.

Shelley seemed to be more influenced by politics. He believed in the will of man over the will of government and displayed this through his poetry. In "Ozymandias," he emphasizes the cruel rule of Ramses II. He displays the power of nature and how it affects the statue, yet also displays his disdain for an absolute rule, as Ramses had. Shelley also continued the idea of the power of nature over man, while also including an almost god-like symbolism to nature in the next poem, "Ode to the West Wind." He emphasizes the hierarchy of nature over man, just as Byron did.

The Final Poet

Yet another poet we are studying from the romanticism era is John Keats, who died at the age of twenty-five. Because he died so young, people often wonder what more he would have accomplished had he lived longer in this world of literature, which we often call poetry. John Keats was not an aristocrat like Byron and Shelley, but had a restless spirit and would fight for worthy causes. He earned his pharmacist's license before ditching medicine for the literary world. Keats's health began deteriorating, but had he stayed healthy his “burst of creativity” and his engagement may have been the beginning to a very happy life. Unlike Shelley, Keats did not use poetry to make political statements, nor did he have a rebellious spirit. He would always find beauty in the things people would consider imperfect. “In masterful verse, he explored the beauty he found in the most ordinary circumstances.” Keats also seemed to be very sensitive to the contradictions that life would offer.

In “Ode to a Nightingale,” Keats begins on a negative statement, talking about suicide, and then turns to positivity, then back to death and the negatives again. He discusses death in almost a dream-like manner, switching from heaven to hell, and ending with deceiving contradictions. “Ode On A Grecian Urn” uses superb diction to get the point across about Heaven and happiness. A wedding is primarily discussed throughout this poem, using vivid imagery to describe the “maidens overwrought with forest branches.”

Poor Little Keatsy Kat

Compared to Bryon and Shelley, John Keats was far more dignified and humble poet. Having come from a common birth, he chose to stick to his roots of earthiness in both his life and in his writing. It is tragically ironic that Keats had first decided to study medicine before developing an interest in poetry despite his unstable health. His untimely death seems to make his his poems all the more reflective and recondite. If was as if Keats knew that he only had so many years to live and decided to view the simple world through a dimensional lens. Fanciful yet melancholy, Keats is the ideal Romantic poet in my opinion. The most famous of his poems are odes to ordinary, daily occurrences, objects, or emotions that Keats found higher meaning in. In "Ode to a Nightingale," Keats depicts the enchantment brought on by the bird's singing; it blurs the lines between reality and the imagination. Keats expresses how he wants to sink into the night, become consumed in the dreamy scene, and "fade far away, dissolve,and quite forget." He hints that the nightingale has put him at such peace that Death would be welcomed at that moment. The poem is rich in eloquent language and passionate tones along with many references to magic of Greek mythology. Another of his poems, "Ode to a Grecian Urn," contains even more of these allusions as he ponders over the painted figures of the vase. He envies the eternal youthful beauty and joy portrayed by the couple but contrasts it with the woeful circumstance that they are trapped in; that though they will remain forever young but cannot kiss either due to their static position. The poem presents a paradox between the world displayed on the urn and the reality that Keats must face.

In Awe of the Ode

John Keats' career as a poet was brief, yet powerful. The young man presented a profound reverence towards the world within his works of literature. As a student, Keats' early pieces were not well accepted as they were associated with radical ideals and introduced uncharted forms of poetic verse. As the poet grew older and underwent more life experiences his poetry developed rapidly into an assembly of masterpieces. His odes to the world around him were far less controversial than Shelley's pieces but contained many similarity in the praise of nature and complex description of simple observations. Keats was ultimately a romantic that sought after what could not be, creating beauty out of the ordinary.
In his piece, "Ode to the Nightingale," Keats uses basic end rhyme to establish a rhythm for his song of appreciation. He produces a very descriptive piece, using adjectives and adverbs to describe every aspect of the scene thoroughly. Keats places variation within the rhyme scheme in several places in order to amend the pace and tone of each descriptive aspect. The author creates imagery through implements of color variation and specific word repetition. He also conveys biblical and monarchic allusions and personifies nature. Finally, Keats alludes to his personal illness and the envy he holds towards the nightingale's perfection.
The author continues this envious tone for immortality and perfection in his piece, "Ode on a Grecian Urn." Here Keats describes his analysis of a urn that adorns a painted scene. He does so by using adjectives of the naturalistic context and a rhyme scheme that consists of both end and internal rhyme. Keats implements a good amount of rhetoric questions and repetition in order to present a somewhat pleading, or desperate cry for conclusive enlightenment from the urn. Just as in the previous piece, Keats seems to be envious of the urn's tranquil permanence in respect to human life. This repeated theme ultimately indicates the writer's sorrow over his own circumstances of mortality.

Keats

John Keats personified the tragic hero which the poets of the Romantic period sought to emulate. Unlike the other poets, he was not born into the upper classes, which made him much more accessible to the everyday person. Tragedy struck him at an early age when Tuberculosis took his brother. The pain and grief which this event caused becomes evident in lines such as “my heart aches, and drowsy numbness pains.” As many of the poets of this period showed, tragedy can also bring out the best in people. Keats refused to bow to his unfortunate circumstances; instead he used them as motivation. Just two years before his death, when his health began to deteriorate he wrote the majority of his pieces.
Keats did not use his poetry to accomplish certain things as Shelley and Lord Byron did. He simply wrote for the sheer beauty of it. To me, this is what separates him from his contemporaries. While they all appreciated beauty, especially in nature, Keats was the only one who wrote simply for the pleasure of it. The titles of his odes such as “ode to a Nightingale,” and “Ode to a Grecian Jar” convey the beauty and joy he found in everyday objects. His poetry includes numerous allusions so Classical Mythology., and they are almost always used as adjectives. Although he enjoyed the simplicity of nature, lines such as “That I might drink, and leave the world unseen/” convey his disillusionment with life, probably brought on by his deteriorating health and the death of his brother. His poems offer stark contrast between the happiness and life and the inevitable coldness of death.