"When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;
When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;
And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love;--then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink."
John Keats has a theme of fearing death in this poem which a lot of people look down upon but really I view it as more natural to fear death. Why not? Plus, he has good reasons to fear losing his life. He believes that if he loses his life that will ultimately result in losing his LOVE, and losing his LITERATURE such as writing poetry or books or anything of the likes. Obviously losing love is something you wouldn't want to do. Never looking upon his fair creature of an hour anymore. He doesn't want to leave his fair ladies behind, most men don't. That's more self-explanatory. He also doesn't want to leave behind his ability to write and express himself to other people through literature. That's an awesome reason. In the poem he says fame which can be interpreted wrong as if he's a rock star hundreds of years ago. He doesn't want to lose writing because it's one of the most important things in his life. His writing helps him see his life clearly and develop an ultimate perspective over everything. And as the poems help him they also help others, who may not be able to write for themselves to solve their own mysteries. So something as simple as writing a poem that can be shorter than 10 lines can help a person determine something important about life. A few lines of words chosen wisely and put in a specific order, seemingly so simple, can change a person's entire view on life, something seemingly not so simple...
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1 comment:
Very impressive response, Ted: precocious and intuitive. You clearly "get" Keats and the theme of this poem, which is no easy feat at any age. A tip of the hat in your direction.
You are so right: Keats isn't afraid of death in the way a coward would be afraid of dying, but he is afraid of losing the things he loves -- namely, his poetry (i.e., ability to write) and the experience of love (both phsyical and emotional). I am so stoked you see (like Keats) that writing poetry (or any writing for that matter) is a tool that we use to come closer to understanding our universe and our presence within it. Writing offers us a moment to reflect and meditate on this truly random and inexplicable phenomenon we call life. Keats understands the fleeting transience of life on earth and wants to come as close as he can to figuring out its mystery before he must leave that "wide shore of the world" and step behind the curtain of oblivion, where his poetry and fame (i.e., our memory of him) cease to be. I find this to be a beautiful message communicated from a beautiful soul and I am truly impressed and thrilled to see that you've figured it out, made your own brilliant interpretation of it, and made that concept your own.
Thanks for your thoughts, Ted. Keep 'em coming!
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