Friday, January 25, 2008
"When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be," by John Keats
"When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be," is an emotional poem. It was written on John Keats's deathbed. He talks about his fears of having things he never got a chance to do, and things he will never be able to experience again. He also fears dying before he has had a chance to accomplish everything he wanted to accomplish. He has so many thoughts that he will never get a chance to put down on paper before he dies; "...Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, Before high piled books, in charactry, hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain..." I believe that he is also lamenting over the love that he will never be able to feel; all of the romances that he was never able to experience. " I think that "fair creature of an hour," refers to how fleeting life and love are. "On the shore of the wide world I stand alone," means that he is on the border between life and death. He stays there and thinks with his mind that is still full of energy and life, while his body slowly dies. This poem has a fairly basic rhythm with every other line rhyming with each other.
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1 comment:
I agree. I also wrote about this poem because I liked his reasons to fear death. Seems like the reasons we ALL fear death. I liked your interpretation of a fair creature of an hour. I think you hit it right on the head, and I didn't think about that. I think this poem is about leaving behind a legacy sort of like Dane Cook would say. It seems like we'll never have enough time to do everything we want to...
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