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Sonnet: ‘When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be’
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in charact‟ry
Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain;
When I behold, upon the night‟s starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And I 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 fairy power
Of unreflecting love-then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and I think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.
T(caps)he poet examines the themes of death, fear of the unknown, the vanity of life, love, and fame. The poet is preoccupied with the thought of his end, the death that will put an end to his wisdom and knowledge of creativity:
When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-piled books, in character‟y
Hold like rich garners the full-ripened grain.
In his consciousness of the temporal nature of life, the poet believes that the time gets nearer that the inevitable end, “night will stare him in the face”. He reflects on all that he will lose when he dies. Keats thinks of the hour that his life will stop suddenly, “Shall never look upon thee more”, “Never have relish in the fairy power”, a time when his love and fame will sink.
Ode on a Grecian Urn’
Keats‟s Urn symbolises the work of art, religion, and the beauty of nature, especially its lasting value over the ages, a legend of god-like status. Art is also symbolised in the flower vase which reflects perpetual elegance and serenity. The beauty and legendary value of the flower vase are rare qualities that make the vase fascinating and elevate it to a god-like status, “temple or the dales of Arcady”. The symbols of the arts are the „pipes” and “Timbrels”; they are melodious and expressive as the vase as they all perform the function of giving happiness and beauty to the human soul, thus capable of prolonging life. Thus, Keats orders the pipe to release its fine tune - “therefore, ye soft pipes play on: not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared, pipe to the spirit ditties of not one.”
John Keats unfolds the role of traditional society, the altar which is a work of art, the garlands, and priest who leads with an “helfer”, “flanks garlands dressed”, all symbolise the works of art. Though Keats has refused to give the name of the town located near the river or shore or mountain built with perfect citadel, we may not blame the poet for such restraint of art. Keats‟s nameless town may be taken as his acceptance of the universality of art. The town‟s streets are as quiet as the work of art, thus sharing a most admired quality of the work of art, serenity and beauty, with very attractive shapes: “Attic shape”, “marble men”, “and maidens” consider the eternal beauty of the work of art. The poet‟s tribute to the art, Keats concludes, involving the immanent destruction that awaits the world and her generation:
When old age shall this generation waste
Thou shall remain, in midst of other woe
Thou ours, a friend to man to whom thou say‟st
Beauty is truth, truth beauty that is all
Readers cannot but be moved by the Keats idiom, “thus”, “thou”, “thy”, “ditties”, “loath” and so on are the poet‟s generous use of symbolism to revive the work of art. Some of them are “vase” “pipe”, tambourine, “garland”, “green altar, “marble” vault “heifer”. The symbols used in the poem complement the metaphor, “thou still unrushed bride of quietness, thou foster-child of silence and slow time”, “flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme. “Heard melodies are sweet but those unheard are sweeter, therefore, ye soft pipes play on”. The symbols and metaphors overhaul the usefulness of the subject matter, but the use of rhetorical questions reenact the seriousness of the universal relevance and eternal quality of the work of Art, “What men or Gods are these? What maidens to?” We also noticed deliberate omission of words and the use of inverse in the sentence and word arrangement of the poem. Examples are:
“when old age shall this generation waste.”
“Beauty Is Truth, Truth Beauty- That Is All
“Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know
“Thou still unravised bride of quietness” personified the symbols of the works of art used in the poem, such has been used to further justify the humanity of the Art.
This Living Hand, Now Warm and Capable
John Keats, in this poem, is preoccupied with the transient nature of life, especially the symbols of death in comparison with the living. He examines his appearance that comprises his “living hand” that is warm and “capable,” “functional,” and “grasping.” According to the poet, it will be impossible for him to function adequately when he dies. He adds that a “cold” body only adds to the cool and icy silence of the tomb. Keats warns the living to “haunt the days and chill thy dreaming nights.” He adopts the technique of rhetorical questioning and speculation. He is sure of the imminence of death but not sure of what will become of a person after death. The reality of death and people‟s activities in the world are familiar, but he wonders what will become of a person after death. In his anticipation, he continues his speculative reflections, imagining his very end. He asks in confused tone and feeling: Where shall we be? (She whispers) where shall we be, When death strikes home. O‟ where then shall we be Who were you and I? Counting the heats. Counting the slows heartbeats The bleeding to death of the time in slow heartbeats, Wakeful they lie. The poem arouse our curiosity even more delicately as he moves between now and hereafter, probing people‟s speculations of death. Keats advises humanity to be conscious of the approaching death and time. The latter, he says, defines our existence and serves as ensign to our daily advancement to the grave.
3.4 Ode to a Nightingale:
The ode has its origin from the Greeks as a poem in song form. However, ode is popular with many oral cultures. An ode with its lofty or elevated style has elaborate structure. A private ode celebrates; it is meditative, reflective, and subjective. A public ode is often used for ceremonial occasions like housewarming and funeral ceremonies as well as heroic return from war. The commonest ode in Western Literature is John Keats‟ ‘Ode to Nightingale’, Sapho‟s ‘Ode to Aphrodite’ and ‘Ode to the Duke of Wellington’.
The poet was inspired by Keats experience of the aesthetics in the songs of a nightingale in the spring of 1809. The first stanza of the poem expresses the poet‟s deep feeling that overwhelmed him while listening to the beautiful songs of the bird. Such feeling becomes apparent in the poet - “heart aches” “drowsy numbness of pains”. This is further revealed as the poet compares this emotional transport to that of a “drunk” or “emptied some dull opiate to the brain”. The poet explains that the experience triggered in him by the songs of the nightingale is not out of being envious of the song star-bird. But he views and creates a convergence between his rhythm and the songs of the nightingale - the songs unite him with the nightingale. Keats declares:
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
Keats is further enthused by the bird‟s song that he embarks on a comprehensive, description of the bird‟s activities in the green foliage of the “green trees a draught of vintage” “deep–delved earth” “Tasting of flora and the country green”, the songs of the bird in the green trees of the green country. The bird‟s beak provides warmth and comfort as thus, his songs of truth about life and humanity. The poet says the nightingale is quite familiar and comfortable with its green environment where it lives and feeds on the leafy green trees. The bird and humanity are brought to the fore, as the green environment serves as shade for the nightingale and humanity.
The poet‟s descriptive and solemn time changes in verse four as the poet ordered the songster to go away “Away!” “Away for I will fly to thee”, as he compares himself to Bacchus (the god of wine). Keats is actually deeply impressed by the songs of the nightingale. The poet is reconciled with the night, the “green moon in her throne.” The beautiful songs of the nightingale in the poem are reconciled with nature - “the grass” “the thicket”, “fruit three wild”, “fast fading violet covered up in leaves”. Indeed, the poet wishes the nightingale long life so that generations could benefit from the bird‟s wealth of songs. The magic in the songs of the nightingale makes it famous and inviting to the soul. He bids the nightingale farewell as he admires how it glides through the still stream and valley.
3.5 Sonnet: Bright Star, Would I Were Steadfast as Thou Art
Bright star! Would I were steadfast as thou art Bright star!
Would I were steadfast as thou art
Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like Nature‟s patient, sleepless
Eremite, The moving waters at their priest-like task
Of pure ablution round earth‟s human shores
Or gazing on the new soft fallen mask
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors
No-yet still steadfast, still unchangeable,
Pillowed upon my fair love‟s ripening breast,
To feel forever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender taken breath
And so live ever-or else swoon to death
In this sonnet, usually a fourteen-line long poem, Keats turns his searchlight on nature, praising the bright star that illuminates the night, fulfilling her eternal responsibility of “watching with eternal lids apart.” He admires nature‟s patience and its enduring ability. The star awakes, keep vigil over the sea, moving round the earth, “human shores” “the mountains moon”. The poet wishes he were as consistent as the star. The poem reads “Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art not in line splendor hinge aloft the night and watching with eternal held.”
SELF-ASSESSMENT EXERCISE
Compare at least two of the poems discussed in this unit revealing their relevance to the human society.
4.0 CONCLUSION
In this unit, we have discussed John Keats‟ ‘When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be’, ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, ‘This Living Hand, Now Warm and Capable’, ‘Ode To a Nightingale’, and ‘Bright Star, Would I Were Steadfast as Thou Art’.
5.0 SUMMARY
In this unit, you have learnt: . the poet‟s impression in ‘When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be’; . themes in ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’; . the poet‟s perspective in ‘Ode to a Nightingale’; . the poet‟s creative focus in ‘This Living Hand, Now Warm and Capable’; . how the poet celebrates nature in ‘Bright Star, Would I were Steadfast as Thou Art’
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