When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be By John Keats Poem Analysis

The similarities between the poems lie in their abilities to utilize imagery as a means to enhance the concept of the fleeting nature that life ultimately has and to also help further elaborate the speaker’s opinion towards their own situation. In Keats’ poem, dark and imaginative images are used to help match with the speaker’s belief that both love and death arise from fate itself. Here, Keats describes the beauty and mystery of love with images of “shadows” and “huge cloudy symbols of a high romance” to illustrate his belief that love comes from fate, and that he is sad to miss out on such an opportunity when it comes time for his own death.

The study of any poem often begins with its imagery. Being the centralized idea behind the power of poetry, imagery isn’t always there to just give a mental picture when reading the poem, but has other purposes. Imagery can speak to the five senses using figurative language as well as help create a specific emotion that the author is trying to infuse within the poem. It helps convey a complete human experience a very minimal amount of words. In this group of poems the author uses imagery to show that humanity is characterized as lost, sorrowful and regretful, but nature is untainted by being free of mistakes and flaws and by taking time to take in its attributes it can help humans have a sense of peace, purity, and joy, as well as a sense of

After I read Keats’ poem, When I Have Fears That I May Cease to be, it really made me think about all the things that I want to accomplish in my life. Before we know it our time will be here, it’s just a matter of when. This poem really made me think about the way I am living my life right now and how I should not be taking it for granted. I need to change my lifestyle if I want to accomplish all of these things. These three things that I plan on doing in my lifetime before God decides that it is my time to

When you read a long poem, sometimes as a young ready, you lose interest. The longer the poem, the faster a reader gets over it. I believe Neruda does not want his readers to lose interest. He wants his readers to understand the meaning behind his art. The reason I say this, is because of his word choice in his poems. The

Although the basic mood and intended idea of these poems may seem to be the same, the two ways in which these two messages are portrayed are different from one another through diction and imagery. Keats’ poem is much more romantic and enchanting, using eloquent symbols containing imagery such as when he says, “When I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face, /Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,”(5-6). This complex symbol of imagery, complemented by the use of the word “love” twice in the poem, contribute to the poem being characterized as more romantic. On the other hand,”Mezzo

Poetry has a role in society, not only to serve as part of the aesthetics or of the arts. It also gives us a view of what the society is in the context of when it was written and what the author is trying to express through words. The words as a tool in poetry may seem ordinary when used in ordinary circumstance. Yet, these words can hold more emotion and thought, however brief it was presented.

In today’s modern view, poetry has become more than just paragraphs that rhyme at the end of each sentence. If the reader has an open mind and the ability to read in between the lines, they discover more than they have bargained for. Some poems might have stories of suffering or abuse, while others contain happy times and great joy. Regardless of what the poems contains, all poems display an expression. That very moment when the writer begins his mental journey with that pen and paper is where all feelings are let out. As poetry is continues to be written, the reader begins to see patterns within each poem. On the other hand, poems have nothing at all in common with one another. A good example of this is in two poems by a famous writer by

For as long as it can be remembered people have used multiple forms of literature in order to gain knowledge, entertain, and even express a certain idea. Poetry is in fact one of those forms of literature, and before people began to write it, it was known to be told verbally by many. A person would tell a tale and those who listened would memorize it, what eventually caused poetry to spread around. Still to this day, many come to fall in love with the magic poetry possesses. It is the writer’s decision to either have a specific rhythm to it or just have a simple list of words. This essay argues that poetry is a creative way of expressing one's emotions and that it should be, not only preserved, but celebrated, even by those who have not considered themselves poetry fans in the past.

One of the reasons the narrator says he holds a fear of death is because he would no longer be able to see the face of a beautiful woman and have the chance to be loved by her. The image of this woman is created when Keats says, “ And when I feel, fair creature of an hour, that I shall never look upon thee more, never relish in the fairy power of unreflecting love,” (Lines 9-12). These lines show a sense of wishing to belong through the longing for love from this woman, and this wish creates a fear of dying before there is a chance of it coming to be. Another reason for the narrator’s fears is missing the chance of gaining fame before dying and, instead, his remaining time being wasted alone. The image is created when Keats says, “Then on the shore of the wide world I stand alone, and think till love and fame to nothingness do sink,” (Lines 12-14).

Keats use of “huge cloudy symbols” serves to explain how it is an obstacle he must overcome. His passion for completing this task is invalid when he states that “on the wide world stand alone”, making it evident he will never achieve this dream. On the other hand, Longfellow initially starts out regretful but he reflects on it when he becomes aware of his past, “a city of twilight dim and vast” pushes him to keep going with the utmost motivation. Keats uses a more regretful tone when he says “when I behold, upon the night’s starr’d face”.

However, the impending death that creates the incapacity to write down thoughts does not detract from the complexity of the thoughts. On the contrary, Keats’ comparison of his imagination to harvestable grain shows confident self-recognition of his own ability, highlighting the awareness of “the poet’s own ripeness in his art” (Grosholz 604). This art “teems” in his brain and is “rich,” and these qualities compel him to pour out his feelings into this one sonnet, despite his belief that this will be the last sonnet he writes. However, his fervent but vain desire to express the entirety of his poetic notions “imparts to [him] the hunger, or poverty, necessary for production, but…also dwarfs whatever [he] has already written” (Hecht 116). Accordingly, by longing to write his unspoken wisdom, Keats rejects any greatness associated with his previous works. This untapped potential consequently creates a paradox for Keats as he is both the field of grain and its harvester (Saksono 97). Thus, he alone is capable of cultivating and sharing his work despite his waning health. The prospect of this work is still tantalizing to him, though, as Hecht states that “‘The high piled books, in charactry’ promise that if they could only be written, meaning would outlive the

During the romanticism era, Line 1-8 talks about how Keats is afraid that he won’t be able to become a writer. The poem was written during Romanticism where a lung disease, tuberculosis was widespread over Europe. Even Keats mother died from this disease when Keats was a child. Because he grew up alone, he didn’t have anyone to tell about his feelings therefore he started writing poems to express his feelings. He was worried that he may die at a young age with tuberculosis before he could write down all the ideas in his head. Line 9-12 is about Keats fear that he will lose his beloved one. It is normal to lose your beloved ones during your life. However, Keats lost both of his parents when he was still young therefore he didn’t receive the love that he needed when he was young. Because of this, he was very desperate for a love which is another reason why he wrote this poem to show his passion for love. Background of the poet and the era are a significant context which contribute to my

In both openings, each poet recognizes the ephemeral element of life. Keats’ fears that he “may cease to be,” while Longfellow reflects, “half of life is gone” (Keats 1; Longfellow 1). Through diction, this trend becomes evident. For example, Keats uses the words, “Huge cloudy symbols,” and “shadows,” indicating almightiness and transcendence (Keats 6, 8). Longfellow too recognizes nature’s power, going even further, capitalizing the words “Past” and “Death” (Longfellow 9, 14). Such capitalization is done out of respect for the power of these words, and further, as a reiteration that the present is determined by the past and the future. In effect, Longfellow realizes that the present is the morphed version of the past and the future, and thus gives no capitalization, or significance, to it. Keats experiences the opposite. He very much endorses the attitude of carpe diem, trying to move on from the past only to be greeted by the grim face of death. By the end of the poem, each poet describes similar circumstances. Keats approaches a shore, while Longfellow ascends a hill to contemplate life. They differ, however, as Keats views a “wide world” replete with literary repute and love, but realizes it is “nothingness” in the bigger picture (Keats 13-14). Thus, he pursues what remains of his opportunities, despite knowing his human insignificance. Conversely, Longfellow sees the “gleaming lights” of an idyllic past with a waterfall of death that will haunt him now and what remains of his future (Longfellow

poem is not merely a static, decorative creation, but that it is an act of communication between the poet and

At the mere age of seventeen, Pablo Neruda wrote ’Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair’ and it has since become one of his most famous collection of poems. Once, in an interview, Neruda stated that he could not understand “why this book, a book of love-sadness, of love-pain, continues to be read by so many people, by so many young people” (Guibert, 2015). He also mentioned that “Perhaps this book represents the youthful posing of many enigmas; perhaps it represents the answers to those enigmas.” (Guibert, 2015). Neruda was one of the first poets to explore sexual imagery and eroticism in his work and become accepted for it. Many Latin-American poets had attempted the same, but failed to become popular with their critics. He merges his own experiences and memories with that of the picturesque Chilean scenery to present a beautifully poetic sense of love and sexual desire. The collection hosts quite a controversial opinion, however, amongst critics and readers alike, with the risqué themes running throughout the poems. Eroticism being one of the most evident and reoccurring themes.