by john keats on the grasshopper & the cricket by john keats
TRANSCRIPT
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.
-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.
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.
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)
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
.
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.
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.
Fin
By
Jam
es
Sta
nn
ard
an
d
Dan
iel G
e