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"Bright Star" and "When I
Have Fears"
by John Keats
Leanna Silvestrone, Jennie Segal, Katie
Luczai and Mark Bowers
John Keats (1795-1821)
● His poems were not very
well received in life, but
gained more praise and
popularity after his death
● Was one of the most
beloved English poets by the
end of the 19th century
● Characterized by his
sensual imagery
● Used themes of life and
death, dreams vs. reality,
immersion/ escape from
passion, joy vs. melancholy,
transient passion vs.
enduring art, ideal vs. real,
and separation vs.
"Bright Star, Would i were Steadfast
as Thou Art"
Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art—
Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night,
And watching, with eternal lids apart,
Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite,
The moving waters at their priestlike task
Of pure ablution round earth's human shores,
Or gazing on the new soft-fallen masque
Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—
No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable,
Pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast,
To feel for ever its soft swell and fall,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,
Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death
Essential Questions
How does Keats use the theme of life and death in this poem?
Is Keats trying to convey a sense of joy through this, or is it more
one of melancholy?
How does Keats' use of sensual imagery reflect a romantic
style?
How does this poem reflect Keats' views on love?
What poetic devices are used by Keats in the poem?
What emotions are Keats trying to make his readers feel?
How does Keats use the theme of life and
death in this poem?
● Keats addresses the eternal life of nature, it will always
survive and thrive in endless cycles of motion. Unlike
people who live for moments and then die, nature will
always patiently live through the ups and downs in its
cycles.
● This also reflects the nature of humans lives. Each life
has it's good times and bad times, living in cycles just as
with nature.
● Keats exhibits this connection with the appreciation and
love for nature and admiring its peaceful interactions
with humans ("Of pure ablution round earth's human shores").
Is Keats trying to convey a sense of joy through
this, or is it more one of melancholy?
● Keats is trying to establish a sense of peaceful joy of
nature in this poem.
● "Not in lone splendor hung aloft the night"
○ Keats here is saying that in nature you are never
alone as well as that the splendor of nature is not
only from one thing but many, a joint friendship
among nature to provide the divine beauty that lives.
● It is melancholy in the sense that to appreciate this
beauty in nature gives you life, it fulfills happiness and
peace in your life and when you neglect it, it is as if you
are dead (as in not living fully).
"Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath,
And so live ever—or else swoon to death"
How does Keats' use of sensual imagery reflect
a romantic style?
●
Keats use of nature as a human create this emotional bond
with nature and its restless cycles such as with humans.
○ As in, nature in its own way is alive and is in constant
motion. Keats personifies nature, relating it to a female.
● By emphasizing different parts of nature, he makes it seem
exotic, a place to escape to.
○ "Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—"
● He also uses escapism and the individual in that he shows
how you can escape from yourself and the reality of being
human (with death) by engulfing oneself in the eternal beauty
of nature. One can temporarily forget worries and enjoy life's
beauty.
"To feel for ever its soft swell and fall,
Awake for ever in a sweet unrest,"
●
"Bright Star, Would I were Steadfast as Thou Art"
Background: Keats wrote this poem to his beloved Fanny Bawne as a
declaration of his love (according to en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bright_Star_would_I_were_steadfast_as_thou_art)
It is a Shakespearean Sonnet, in iambic pentameter
The Shakespearean Sonnet contains three quatrains and a couplet
The rhyme scheme is A-B-A-B C-D-C-D E-F-E-F G-G
This poem, like "When I have Fears," addresses the theme of mortality, taking
a romantic view on life's meaning. The final lines say, "Awake for ever in a
sweet unrest/ still, still to hear her tender-taken breath/ And so live ever- or
else swoon to death"
Star seems to be a symbol for his eternal love, as he wishes that he could
remain forever in the unchanging state of love, without ever facing death
"When I have Fears That I May
Cease to Be"
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
Essential Questions
What allows us to call this a Romantic poem?
(Remember the themes / ideas of Romanticism:
Escapism, the Exotic, the Individual, Emotion / Expression, Spirit - In - Nature,
the Irrational, the Supernatural, Subjectivity)
How does the emphasis on death and one's own morality
contribute to the tone of the poem, and what kinds of
emotions might Keats have been trying to stir up in his
readers?
"When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be"
Again, Keats addresses death, love, and creativity. He worries about running out of
time to accomplish all that he wants and fears that he might die young
This is also a sonnet
He romanticizes nature, and reflects on the fact that he is only allotted a short life to
appreciate it through his work
He did have a history of poor health, which most likely influenced this emphasis on
the brevity of life
Music connection
Der Doppelgänger by Franz Schubert
Performed by Jan Martiník
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15UPmZeTTlU
Pay attention to both the words displayed, and
the facial expressions of Mr. Martník
Following the video:
○ What similarities can you see between this
song's performance and Keats' poems?
Final Questions
Which poem conveys a better sense of love?
How does Keats represent romantic poets?
Which poem do you prefer, and why?
Which poem do you see connecting to Keats
themes more?