Throughout the history of literature, Keats is arguable the most influential writers of the romantic era. Although, at the time of his life, his poetry was unread and frankly unheard of. Those who did read his writing were appalled and stated that he wouldn’t make it as a writer. This started Keats disbelief in himself, but he continued writing because his dream was to become recognized for his work.
It’s clearly seen that his writing was matured much beyond his time, therefore his recognition did not come until much later after his untimely death. At a very young age, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and he knew he as going to die soon because he started to cough up blood. Although, it would have been an amazing feat if he had survived because he’d be able to create more work, but it was due to his realization that he wasn’t going to live much longer that brought his greatest works.
These works are the pieces Chapman’s Homer, When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be, Ode to a Nightingale, and Ode on a Grecian Urn and the messages from these poems represented that you can travel the world through literature, to take advantage of every moment because you don’t know how long you have to live, accepting or fighting eath, and that beauty is what is true. After reading the Iliad overnight, Keats sat down and wrote Chapman’s Homer, expressing that he can feel and experience the story like he was actually there.
This thought is not unknown in the modern world as many books can create a made up world around us and we can easily get sucked in and for split moments it’s as if we are there. John Keats describes this experience as, ” Much have I traveled in the realms of gold, and many goodly states and kingdoms seen; round many western islands have I been which bards in fealty to Apollo hold. ” (Ln. -4) Although, in the present ay there are stories of this kind, but more relatable, we have worlds of unhuman possibilities and we can experience those through reading. Psychology Today presents this very compelling arguable, “One argument that is made frequently is that literature provides people with an opportunity to experience someone else’s life.
An old Caucasian man can get a sense of what it is like to be a young African American woman by reading a story. It is important to know that literature can do for an individual and his or her imagination. One of John Keats most famous poem is, When I Have Fears That I May Cease to e, because it was written when Keats realized that he did not have much time to live, which gave him the incentive to create the message of accomplishing as much as you can and giving everything you can. When knowing about his inevitable death, Keats sits down can articulate his fears of dying so young.
One of his greatest fears not being able to fully express himself and show or write down everything he thinks, “When I have fears that I may cease to be, before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain. ” (Ln. 1-2) This poem is so powerful because many people can relate to this text. Everyone has fears that they will die before passing away. This is all in our nature of trying to accomplish our very best. Unfortunately, for Keats this fear has become reality and he is truly feeling a true pain, a mental realization that he won’t be able to accomplish what he wants.
He has to accept the fact that he can’t achieve what he wants before he dies. This is the most painful because all hope is gone and hope is the single largest driver in all human actions, either the hope to achieve something, hope to gain pleasure, or hope to avoid pain. The Goldschmeding Foundation explored how eople use hope as an incentive and their conclusions were, “Hope is aware of the tension between reality and the ideal the people envision. This makes it a motivating force for development that distinguishes itself from optimism. John Keats poem forces to think about our life and that we don’t have an absolute time to live.
We have to accomplish what we want every second we have. There is no time to waste because every second is crucial. After seeing a nightingale out of his window John Keats sat down and wrote, Ode to a Nightingale, connecting the nightingale to the message of death and how to go about ccepting it. Keats uses the nightingale as a symbol is immortality voicing that not everything is forever, “Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations tread thee down. ” (Ln. 61 – 62) Making it so we can’t live like be live forever like the bird because we know we will die. Then begs the question of how we think of death. An article from the adventurous writer gives a view on how accepting one’s death can be good for oneself, “I was scared of dying until I was diagnosed with a chronic disease. It forced me to accept and make peace with my own death, which made life more recious. ” Once you make peace with the fact that you are going to die you will make this life more important for you.
I’ve done this several times in my life, specifically a certain cruise with my sister. We got to the ship and after we finished unpacking, I played Angry Birds on my iPod touch while listening to some music. The alarm sounded at 5:30 pm and we got ready for dinner. Since my sister was still really tired, we decided to go to dinner later. I went with my parents to their room on the 7th floor. Dad and I watched T. V while my mom slipped out the door nd started to explore the ship with her parents.
At 7:30 pm | went to go get my sister so we could eat. The last poem from John Keats’s, Ode on a Grecian Urn, and this poem brings the message of beauty and that beauty is portrayed by a certain tiredness. The most powerful words in the poem are the last two lines, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. ” (Ln. 49 – 50) This means that if you only understand beauty as one thing, understand it as the truth. See the beauty as what it is in front of you without anything covering it up.
It is hard to differentiate he difference between attractiveness and beauty, but Vicki Courtney gives the a perfect example in women’s eyes, “Women strongly agree that physical attractiveness is about how one looks, whereas beauty includes much more about who a person is. ” Keats brings this to a Grecian urn and carefully looking over every image on it. He sees how everything caught on the urn is timeless and the feeling will never change. Although, at the time of his life, his poetry was unread and frankly unheard of. Those who did read his writing were appalled and stated that he wouldn’t make it as a writer.
This started Keats disbelief in himself, but he continued writing because his dream was to become recognized for his work. It’s clearly seen that his writing was matured much beyond his time, therefore his recognition did not come until much later after his untimely death. At a very young age, he was diagnosed with tuberculosis and he knew he was going to die soon because he started to cough up blood. Although, it would have been an amazing feat if he had survived because he’d be able to create more work, but it was due to his realization that he wasn’t going to live much longer that brought his greatest works
