wHEN I HAVE FEARS THAT I MAY CEASE TO BEBY JOHN KEATS
When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain, Before high-pilèd books, in charactery, 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 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 faery power Of unreflecting love—then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and think Till love and fame to nothingness do sink. "When I Have Fears that I May Cease To Be" Style Analysis
In “When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be” by John Keats, speaker wants to write volumes of poetry, be famous and have a passionate love but he fears that his life won’t be long enough to have such things in his life. John Keats usage of structure and imagery make the poem reveal the theme fear of mortality and failure. Keats usage of structure, which resembles Shakespearean sonnets strengthen the revealing of the theme of fear. The structure of this poem resembles Shakespearen sonnets which tend to be about deep feelings like fear and desires. In shakespearean sonnets rhyme scheme should be abab, cdcd, efef, gg, written in iambic pentameter, has 14 lines and a rhyming couplet which is two rhyming lines one after another in the end. In this poem rhyming couplet is gg. In Shakespearean sonnets usually there are a turning point that the whole theme and tone changes. In "When I have fears that I may cease to be," the turning point is in halfway through line 12, “then on the shore/Of the wide world I stand alone, and think/Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.” until the 12. line speaker speaks about desires, fame, writing and love but then John Keats approach the “wide world” in a larger way and understands that there are greater problems compare to his fears. Shakespearean sonnets tend to be about deep feelings, like love, fear, desire and because Keats is writing about fear of not reaching his desires, using Shakespeare’s structure makes the poem more melodramatic and reveal the theme of fear better. Keats usage of imagery helped him to reveal the theme fear better. In 5-8 lines, “When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face,/Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,/And think that I may never live to trace/Their shadows, with the magic hand of chance;” Keats imagine love as something written in night sky. It’s an image both delightful but far to reach and that makes love huge and terrifying it is something that mortals like the speaker can’t reach. In the 12.,13. and 14. lines, “Of unreflecting love—then on the shore/Of the wide world I stand alone, and think/Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.”the image of the speaker who is standing alone on its shore and thinks there is nothing greater than love and fame is helped the readers understand how much he feared that his life won’t be long enough to have love and fame in his life. "When I have fears That I may Cease To Be" is reflecting John Keats' inner mind, his fears and the solutions he finds to beat his fears.His usage of structure and imagery make his poem reveal the theme fear of failure and mortality. |