by john keats on the grasshopper & the cricket by john keats

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By John Keats On the Grasshopp er & the Cricket By John Keats

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Page 1: By John Keats On the Grasshopper & the Cricket By John Keats

By John Keats

On the Grasshopper & the Cricket

By John Keats

Page 2: By John Keats On the Grasshopper & the Cricket By John Keats

Joh

n K

eats (1

79

5-1

82

1) – th

e la

st of th

e

En

glish

Rom

an

tic poets. Is co

nsid

ere

d a

s on

e o

f the “B

ig S

ix” of ro

man

tic poets.

Infl

uen

ces o

f Keats' p

oetry:

-Rom

an

ticism: a

cou

nte

r reactio

n a

gain

st th

e A

ge o

f En

ligh

ten

men

t move

men

t aro

un

d th

e 1

8th

Cen

tury (ra

tion

al id

eals

an

d scie

ntifi

c disco

verie

s), it inste

ad

b

elie

ved

in th

e p

ow

er o

f the h

um

an

im

ag

inatio

n a

nd

the w

ay o

f feelin

g.

Word

sworth

, an

oth

er p

rom

inen

t Rom

an

tic p

oet, d

efi

ned

good

poetry a

s “the

spon

tan

eou

s ove

rflow

of p

ow

erfu

l fe

elin

gs”, w

hich

reso

nate

s with

the id

ea o

f R

om

an

ticism b

ein

g a

ble

to co

nve

y ideas

an

d im

ag

es th

rou

gh

imag

inatio

n a

nd

se

nsu

al im

ag

ery. A

lso w

orth

y of n

ote

is th

at R

om

an

ticist litera

ture

an

d p

oetry

usu

ally in

volve

d n

atu

re a

s a p

rom

inen

t th

em

e.

Page 3: By John Keats On the Grasshopper & the Cricket By John Keats

-Keats' sh

ort life

an

d a

lso h

is fam

ily's: du

ring

18

20

, K

eats d

ispla

yed

incre

asin

gly se

riou

s symp

tom

s of

tub

ercu

losis (a

nd

die

d a

t 25

), the d

isease

wh

ich h

ad

kille

d h

is moth

er a

nd

bro

ther a

lso. K

now

ing

he w

as

dyin

g h

e w

rote

to F

an

ny B

raw

ne (h

is girlfrie

nd

wh

om

he

betro

thed

) exp

ressin

g h

is feelin

gs o

ver h

is life: “I h

ave

le

ft no im

morta

l work

beh

ind

me – n

oth

ing

to m

ake m

y frie

nd

s pro

ud

of m

y mem

ory – b

ut I h

ave

lov'd

the

prin

ciple

of b

eau

ty in a

ll thin

gs, a

nd

if I had

had

time I

wou

ld h

ave

mad

e m

yself re

mem

ber'd

”. His la

st req

uest

was to

be b

urie

d u

nd

er a

n u

nn

am

ed

tom

bsto

ne w

hich

co

nta

ined

on

ly the w

ord

s, “Here

lies o

ne w

hose

nam

e

was w

rit in w

ate

r.”

Th

us it is sig

nifi

can

t to co

nsid

er th

is as a

n in

flu

en

ce o

n

his p

oetry. M

an

y of K

eats' g

reate

st work

s were

od

es

(typica

lly a lyrica

l verse

writte

n in

pra

ise o

f, or

ded

icate

d to

som

eon

e o

f som

eth

ing

wh

ich ca

ptu

res th

e

poet's in

tere

st or se

rves a

s insp

iratio

n fo

r the o

de),

there

fore

it is imp

orta

nt to

con

sider K

eats' h

ard

ship

s an

d h

ow

it may re

flect in

his w

riting

; for e

xam

ple

, co

nsid

er K

eats' u

se o

f the w

ord

'fain

t' to d

escrib

e th

e

bird

s.

Page 4: By John Keats On the Grasshopper & the Cricket By John Keats

Ov

erview

-writte

n rela

tively ea

rly in K

eats'

caree

r (30 D

ece

mb

er 18

16 - a

ged

2

1)-T

he p

oem

was w

ritten a

s a

resp

onse

to a sort o

f comp

etition

betw

ee

n him

self an

d his g

reat frie

nd,

Leig

h Hu

nt, a

s to wh

o co

uld

write

the

b

est verse

, in a sho

rt time

, on a

specified

top

ic. Ke

ats w

on

on

this

occa

sion, altho

ug

h he g

ene

rously

avo

we

d th

at h

e pre

ferre

d th

e othe

r p

oet’s a

ttem

pt. (O

ne m

ay th

erefore

draw

the

link to sp

onta

neity a

nd

intuition

in poe

try.)-It is in

the P

etrarch

an or Italian

form

of th

e sonn

et with a

n octa

ve a

nd a

sestet, with

out a rh

yming

cou

plet a

t the

end

.-It p

arallels A

eso

p's fa

ble

“The

Ant

and

the G

rassh

opp

er” in

which the

g

rasshop

per lig

ht-h

ea

rted

ly plays

durin

g th

e summ

er,

wh

ile th

e an

t toils. W

hen

winte

r com

es, the

gra

sshop

pe

r, unlike

the

a

nt is ill pre

pare

d fo

r its seve

rity. On

e m

ay a

lso co

nsid

er that the

g

rasshop

per d

oes n

ot a

chieve

a

nything w

ith its sho

rt life (1

2 m

on

ths) linkin

g to Ke

ats' perso

nal

opin

ion

of his life.

Page 5: By John Keats On the Grasshopper & the Cricket By John Keats

Them

atic Links

Descriptions of nature: T

he Voice

, T

ime

, Am

ends, Full M

oon and Little F

rieda, Lam

ent, The F

lower-

Fed B

uffaloes, Report to

Wordsw

orth, F

irst Love, S

onnet 29. (1,2,4,5,8,9,10,14)

Tim

e: The V

oice, T

ime

, Dover

Beach

, So, W

e’ll Go N

o More A

-R

oving, S

onnet 29. (1,2,3,12,14)

The M

etaphysical: Tim

e, D

over B

each, A

mends, F

ull Moon and

Little Frieda. (2,3,4,5)

Sonnets: R

eport to Wordsw

orth, S

onnet 43, S

onnet 29.(9,13,14)

Page 6: By John Keats On the Grasshopper & the Cricket By John Keats

Th

e p

oem

clearly e

mp

hasise

s the cyclica

l natu

re o

f natu

re. T

he

“poetry o

f earth

” is a m

eta

ph

or fo

r wh

at K

eats in

terp

rets a

s the

pu

re n

atu

re o

f the e

arth

; this lin

ks w

ith K

eats' b

elie

f in

Rom

an

ticism: th

e a

bility to

con

vey im

ag

ery a

nd

feelin

g via

the

sen

ses a

nd

imag

inatio

n, so

meth

ing

wh

ich w

ill neve

r die

, just a

s n

atu

re w

ill neve

r die

an

d is a

cycle.

Th

e p

oin

t is then

con

tinu

ed

in th

e tra

nsitio

n fro

m th

e o

ctave

to th

e

seste

t . Alth

ou

gh

“the p

oetry o

f earth

is ceasin

g n

eve

r”, it is imp

lied

to

be d

imin

ishin

g via

this tra

nsitio

n to

the se

stet, e

mp

hasise

d

esp

ecia

lly thro

ug

h th

e u

se o

f ech

oes: “T

he p

oetry o

f earth

is ce

asin

g n

eve

r:” is delib

era

tely w

ord

ed

such

to rh

yme w

ith “e

ver”

thre

e lin

es la

ter a

nd

also

is a re

flectio

n o

f the a

fore

men

tion

ed

“n

eve

r don

e” th

ree lin

es b

efo

reh

an

d; th

e crick

et th

en

m

eta

ph

orica

lly rep

rese

nts th

e e

cho o

f sum

mer b

y ech

oin

g “T

he

gra

sshop

per's” so

ng

(“Th

e crick

et's so

ng

/...seem

s to o

ne in

d

row

siness h

alf lo

st,/ Th

e g

rassh

op

per's a

mon

g so

me g

rassy h

ills”). In

this ce

rtain

imag

ery o

f wearin

ess a

nd

tired

ness (h

ow

eve

r not

nece

ssarily b

itter) a

s show

n b

y “dro

wsin

ess h

alf lo

st” “On

a lo

ne

win

ter e

ven

ing

”, the e

cho o

f sum

mer is e

mp

hasise

d e

ven

more

esp

ecia

lly with

the p

revio

us su

mm

er im

ag

ery b

ein

g o

f “luxu

ry”, “d

elig

hts”, “p

leasa

nt[n

ess]” a

nd

“fun

” (wh

ich re

flects th

e h

um

an

sym

bolisa

tion

of su

mm

er h

en

ce b

ein

g sym

bolise

d b

y the

gra

sshop

per) a

nd

the d

escrip

tion

of th

e “crick

et's so

ng

(“in w

arm

th

incre

asin

g e

ver”). T

his a

lso re

itera

tes th

e co

ntra

st of: th

e cycle

of

sum

mer a

nd

win

ter a

nd

the cycle

betw

een

day a

nd

nig

ht w

hich

re

son

ate

s with

the co

ntra

st of th

e g

rassh

op

per b

ein

g d

iurn

al a

nd

th

e crick

et a

noctu

rnal cre

atu

re. T

he im

plica

tion

of th

e e

cho

imag

ery e

xpre

sses th

e n

eve

r-en

din

g cycle

of n

atu

re; its p

ersiste

nce

re

min

ds th

e re

ad

er o

f this, b

ring

ing

the re

ad

er h

op

e, o

ptim

ism a

nd

eve

n n

osta

lgia

of b

ette

r times. T

hen

there

is also

the p

ara

llelin

g o

f A

eso

p's fa

ble

: its con

trast o

f “fun

” sum

mer tim

es w

ith th

e h

ard

er

win

ter tim

es w

ith th

at o

f the g

rassh

op

per a

nd

the crick

et a

nd

u

ltimate

ly there

fore

the re

spect n

eed

ed

for th

is cycle o

f natu

re,

som

eth

ing

the g

rassh

op

per to

ok fo

r gra

nte

d a

nd

did

lead

to its

un

timely d

eath

.

Page 7: By John Keats On the Grasshopper & the Cricket By John Keats

Th

e fi

rst octa

ve is e

stab

lished

with

the sig

nifi

can

t line: “T

he p

oetry

of e

arth

is neve

r dead

:”. Th

e u

se o

f the co

lon

furth

er d

eve

lop

s the

meta

ph

or o

f the fi

rst line a

nd

its em

ph

asis o

f the “p

oetry o

f earth

”'s cyclical n

atu

re th

rou

gh

the id

ea th

at th

e co

lon

is in fa

ct u

sed

to sig

nify th

e sta

rt of a

list an

d d

oes n

ot e

nd

the se

nte

nce

at

all, ra

ther, it co

ntin

ues it o

n. It is a

lso sig

nifi

can

t that it rh

ymes

with

the a

llitera

tive p

hra

se “n

ew

-mow

n m

ead

” to lin

k th

e a

ctual

imag

ery o

f natu

re w

ith th

e id

ea o

f cyclical n

atu

re m

eta

ph

orize

d in

th

e o

pen

ing

line. N

ot o

nly d

oes th

e e

cho o

f sum

mer o

ccur in

the

seste

t bu

t there

is also

com

ple

men

tary im

ag

ery o

f win

ter in

su

mm

er in

the o

ctave

: the b

irds “h

ide in

coolin

g tre

es”, h

ow

eve

r th

is is to a

mu

ch le

sser e

xten

t. In fa

ct, this is th

e o

nly in

stan

ce o

f w

inte

r imag

ery m

en

tion

ed

in th

is octa

ve; th

e im

plica

tion

of su

ch

bein

g th

at it is co

rrela

tive to

the p

red

om

inate

rela

tion

ship

of th

e

sum

mer im

ag

ery e

choed

in w

inte

r, a re

min

der o

f this e

tern

al cycle

an

d b

eau

ty of n

atu

re.

Th

ere

are

exp

licit allu

sion

s an

d p

ara

llels to

Aeso

p's fa

ble

dotte

d

thro

ug

hou

t this p

oem

. Th

e g

rassh

op

per's tim

e o

n th

e e

arth

with

th

e a

nt (in

the fa

ble

) is para

llele

d to

the g

rassh

op

per's so

ng

with

th

e crick

et's (in

the p

oem

), how

eve

r the crick

et's so

ng

brin

gs

mem

orie

s of th

e g

rassh

op

per a

nd

thu

s acts a

s more

so a

rem

ind

er

of th

e g

rassh

op

per a

nd

its symb

olism

of su

mm

er, a

nd

more

ove

r, its em

bod

imen

t of m

an

kin

d th

us in

stilling

this se

nse

that m

an

kin

d

shou

ld th

ere

fore

be a

ware

of th

is symb

olism

an

d re

spect n

atu

re

un

like its re

pre

sen

tative

gra

sshop

per. T

he g

rassh

op

per “ta

kes th

e

lead

/ in su

mm

er lu

xury”, in

deed

con

firm

s the p

ara

llel o

f Aeso

p's

rep

rese

nta

tion

of m

an

kin

d via

the g

rassh

op

per. T

hese

para

llels

imp

ly the n

atu

re o

f man

kin

d e

mb

od

ied

by th

e g

rassh

op

per to

be

som

ew

hat cyclica

l in th

at th

ere

are

good

times co

ntra

sted

with

the

hard

er tim

es, h

ow

eve

r in a

dim

inish

ing

qu

ality. T

his is sh

ow

n via

th

e co

ntra

st of th

e stro

ng

er su

mm

er im

ag

ery in

the o

ctave

with

the

win

ter im

ag

ery o

f the se

stet so

meth

ing

em

ph

asise

d e

ven

more

as

Keats' se

ts the w

inte

r con

text im

med

iate

ly with

in th

e fi

rst line “O

n

a lo

ne w

inte

r eve

nin

g” to

make w

ay fo

r this p

red

om

inate

them

e. A

s su

ch th

e n

atu

re o

f man

kin

d, b

y bein

g e

mb

od

ied

by th

e

gra

sshop

per, w

ho is im

plie

d to

die

an

un

timely d

eath

in b

oth

p

oem

s (the g

rassh

op

per d

oes n

ot live

thro

ug

hou

t the w

hole

cycle),

sug

gests th

at th

ere

is a n

ece

ssity for m

an

kin

d to

have

an

aw

are

ness a

nd

resp

ect (a

pp

recia

tion

) for th

is cyclical n

atu

re le

st it sh

ou

ld fo

llow

the sa

me p

ath

as th

e g

rassh

op

per.

Page 8: By John Keats On the Grasshopper & the Cricket By John Keats

Use

of la

ng

uag

e co

nt.:

It is qu

ite in

tere

sting

to co

nsid

er th

e la

ng

uag

e u

sed

to co

nve

y th

e th

em

e o

f natu

re a

s a cycle

thro

ug

hou

t the p

oem

. Th

e th

em

e

havin

g im

med

iate

ly been

esta

blish

ed

in th

e o

pen

ing

line o

f the

octa

ve, is th

en

con

tinu

ed

qu

ite e

xcessive

ly thro

ug

h th

is imag

ery

of su

mm

er: “F

rom

hed

ge to

hed

ge” re

petitive

ly em

ph

asise

s not

on

ly the se

nsu

al im

ag

ery o

f natu

re fo

r the re

ad

er b

ut a

lso

con

note

s the th

em

e o

f cyclical n

atu

re; “h

e ta

kes th

e le

ad

” an

d

the rh

ymin

g o

f “run

” with

“hot su

n” lin

ks cyclica

l imag

ery w

ith

natu

re im

ag

ery a

nd

are

both

use

s of cyclica

l imag

ery in

m

ove

men

t. “In su

mm

er lu

xury – h

e h

as n

eve

r don

e”, th

e ch

oice

of w

ord

s “neve

r don

e” e

mp

hasise

s the e

tern

aln

ess o

f cycles a

nd

th

e m

eta

ph

or o

f “the p

oetry o

f earth

”. “He re

sts at e

ase

ben

eath

so

me p

l(ea)sa

nt w

eed

.” - Th

e co

nclu

din

g lin

e o

f the o

ctave

, an

oth

er lin

k o

f natu

re, “w

eed

” (in th

is sen

se it's m

ost lik

ely a

n

eu

tral p

lan

t), with

“lead

” befo

reh

an

d to

link n

atu

re a

nd

cyclical

imag

ery, a

nd

also

em

ph

asise

s the ca

refre

en

ess o

f the

gra

sshop

per b

y his “[re

st] at e

ase

”.

Th

e e

stab

lishm

en

t of th

e se

stet a

fter th

e in

itial o

pen

ing

line is

qu

ite sig

nifi

can

t esp

ecia

lly in te

rms o

f how

the sp

eed

the w

inte

r im

ag

ery is b

rou

gh

t ab

ou

t. Th

e se

tting

is imm

ed

iate

ly esta

blish

ed

: “On

a lo

ne w

inte

r eve

nin

g,” fo

llow

ed

by th

e

inte

restin

g u

se o

f lan

gu

ag

e to

describ

e “th

e fro

st” wh

ich “H

as

wro

ug

ht a

silen

ce,”. T

he w

ord

“wro

ug

ht” im

plie

s that th

e “fro

st” h

as a

ctually fo

rcefu

lly en

tere

d b

ein

g d

escrib

ed

such

by fo

rcing

a

“silen

ce” w

ith its e

ntry; in

this th

e w

inte

r imag

ery is th

us

con

firm

ed

as b

ein

g sym

bolic o

f harsh

er tim

es th

ere

fore

re

info

rcing

the lin

k th

at th

e im

ag

ery o

f win

ter is u

sed

to

en

han

ce th

e im

ag

ery o

f sum

mer fu

rther. T

hro

ug

h th

ese

thin

gs,

an

d th

e la

st line's re

new

al o

f the cycle

by its re

min

der o

f the

“gra

sshop

per's [so

ng

] am

on

g so

me g

rassy h

ills” reem

ph

asise

th

e su

mm

er im

ag

ery a

nd

also

para

llel id

ea th

at m

an

kin

d m

ust

be a

ware

of, re

spect a

nd

ap

pre

ciate

the e

tern

al cycle

of n

atu

re.

Page 9: By John Keats On the Grasshopper & the Cricket By John Keats

Fin

By

Jam

es

Sta

nn

ard

an

d

Dan

iel G

e