Preview

When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be, By John Keats

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
762 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be, By John Keats
To the Depth of Thoughts
( A discussion of three things to accomplish before passing including from When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be by John Keats) A morbid, yet necessary thought. What is one to accomplish before their natural life ends. Everyone has intentions, though, intentions evidently don’t always turn into reality if one does not have a plan. In When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be, by John Keats, in this sonnet, the speaker, John Keats, despairs over the lost opportunities for creativity and love that his life’s brevity may yield. John Keats was born in 1795 and passed away in 1821. Unlike his contemporaries Byron and Shelley, John Keats was not an aristocrat. John Keats was born to working-class Londoners. When Keats
…show more content…
Expressed in the following, “Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,” (Keats 885 line 6). The prior quote discloses that Keats fears that he will never truly be able to experience at length the unconditional love of a woman, whom he loves. Most can relate to Keats, as I do, that we all want to experience at length true love. To find our other -half to say the least, a “soul mate”. Whom we can cherish and love till death do us part. With come a soul mate, is marriage. Someday after meeting a good man and knowing him for years, I intend after marriage to raise a family with this man. I would prefer to have three or four children with the man I …show more content…
Indicated in the following, “Of the wide world I stand alone, and think” (Keats 885 line 13). The prior quote hints that Keats will miss the world he lives in, nature, also the various places he understood that he wouldn’t have the time to visit. The majority of humanity, as do I, intend to visit various places in the world before passing away. I personally would like to travel to Italy and indulge in the culture, for the full experience. Also, I would like to travel and spend some time in Greece, Egypt, and

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Evenings, weekends or overnight (Diagnostic Medical). Although hospitals continue to be the leading employer for diagnostic medical sonographers, work is expected to increase in physicians’ offices, and in medical and diagnostic laboratories (Diagnostic Medical).…

    • 1291 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    As people near the time of their deaths, they begin to reflect upon the history and events of their own lives. Both John Keats’ “When I have Fears” and Henry Longfellow’s “Mezzo Cammin” reflect upon the speakers’ fears and thoughts of death. However, the conclusions between these two poems end quite differently. Although both reflect upon Death’s grasp, Keats’ displays an appreciation and subtle satisfaction with the wonders of life, while Longfellow morbidly mourns his past inactions and fears what events the future may bring.…

    • 775 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Ap Prompt

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages

    In the two poems below, Keats and Longfellow reflect on similar concerns. Read the poems carefully. Then write an essay in which you compare and contrast the two poems, analyzing the poetic techniques each writer uses to explore his particular situation.…

    • 384 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Panacea Quotes

    • 121 Words
    • 1 Page

    Falling onto the vast field of grass, John says “I almost wish we were butterflies and liv'd but three summer days - three such days with you and I could fill with more delight than fifty common years could ever contain.” John compares the delight of three beautifuls days with her exceeds what one can fill in fifty common years. The way she affects Keats makes this quote so beautiful. Brawne seemed equal to a panacea for Keats before and after he found out his illness. Agreeing dearly with this quote, that when in love it seems time does not even factor in with them. The short, yet precious amount of time spent with her transcends the many spent without her.…

    • 121 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    The poem "Peril of Hope," by Robert Frost is about having hope. The poem speaks about no matter how things are one minute they can always change. Hope, however, is constantly there and will always be there to help get through the tough times until things get better.…

    • 427 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Similarly, both authors use symbols to depict the different meanings between the two poems. Keats uses symbols to show how he has been missing out on life and how he regrets not being in love, whereas Longfellow uses symbols to show his fear for his approaching death. The regret that Keats feels is reiterated throughout the poem. During the night he looks up and sees, “Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance” (6), which shows that he wants someone to love, but feels that love is too far out of reach. Also, Keats reveals that, “unreflecting love” (12) is something that he has qualms over and that no one has ever loved him back. Keats uses the clouds and a blank mirror to show that achieving love is such an astronomical task, but yet he still wishes he would have tried harder at accomplishing this duty. Likeweise, Longfellow also uses symbols in his poem, but to show his trepidation of upcoming death. To display his dismal years of life, Longfellow explains that he is “half-way up the hill, I see the Past / Lying beneath me with its sounds and sights / A city in the twilight dim and vast” (11). Longfellow uses the “hill” to represent his years of life and he uses the dim and vast city to signify his past.…

    • 469 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Death is inevitable. With the impending ending comes a phase of self reflection and the questioning of past actions, or lack thereof. In both poems, “When I Have Fears” and “Mezzo Cammin,” the speakers recount the passage of their time, puzzled at how they had let opportunity slip away from their grasp. Yet it is in their outlooks on how to death with this revelation that differ. Keats offers a mournful and despondent outlook on the rest of his days, fearing that he has already carved out a meaningless existence, and ready to give up; whereas Keats presents an individual who has lost a lot due to his circumstances, but still perseveres and keeps his ground, choosing to believe in a brighter future in the coming of a new season.…

    • 589 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    Does Ron Howard tend to ‘sugar coat’ the characters and stories in his films, sticking with a ‘white bread’ theme which makes the film out of touch with reality.…

    • 1193 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Better Essays

    The only certainty in life is death. It’s the only absolute we have within existence, yet the thought of dying strikes fear in the hearts of many. The thought of leaving family and friends behind, never making a mark on the world, or the disappearance of an individual’s unique qualities petrifies many people. For others, the uncertainty of the afterlife or the thought that there is nothing after our temporal existence is incredibly frightening. Walt Whitman is an example of the former, terrified of being forgotten, while Emily Dickinson is an example of the latter, unsure of existence after death. In Song of Myself, Whitman reveals his attitude towards the process of death and proves his fear of dying, which is uniquely American. Emily Dickinson’s fixation with death stems from her uncertainty of the afterlife. Close examination of concise language, diction, and tone, lead to a clear view of the…

    • 1176 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    John Keats was born in 1795 in Moorfields, London. In Keats poem, “Bright Star! Would I Were Stedfast as Thou Art,” the speakers talks to a star in the sky. He is talking to a star because he likes the way the star doesn't move in the sky and stays still forever. But the speakers really explains how he wants to be with his girlfriend for eternity. But if he’s eternity can’t be with her then he would rather die. In line nine this conveys the thesis, “No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable” (9). The theme expresses the speaker's desire to have the same qualities as a star and to be stedfast as a star would be for eternity.…

    • 208 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Better Essays

    Between the 17th and 19th centuries, the world paid witness to an intellectual and philosophical revolution that forever changed the perception of life itself. The Great Awakening caused people to become more in tune with their spiritual self, and the Great Enlightenment caused people to question, to think, and to pursue the unknown. This new wave of thinking, helped writers of the Romantic and Transcendent era, such as William Cullen Bryant, and Emily Dickinson, express their feelings of life.” Thanatopsis”, by William Cullen Bryant, and “Because I could Not Stop for Death”, by Emily Dickinson, both exemplify the indisputable facts, that death is an inevitable, natural part of life, and there is no reason to be afraid of death. Even though the two poems both share the same underlying themes, they are presented in different ways.…

    • 1305 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Abby Barzee Mr. Ryan Snelgrove English 12 14 December 2014 Poetry Lives Everyone dies, in fact, we’ve been dying since we were born. With this being said, we can relate to the poet Dylan Thomas when he writes: Do not go gentle into that good night, Old age should burn and rave at close of day; Rage, rage against the dying of the light.…

    • 1218 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Have you ever hypothetically pondered the details of your own fatality? Everyone covets a bit of certainty that not many realities allow, but mortality -while a glum concept- is a definite fate we will all ultimately encounter in our respective lifetimes. “Nothing is more predictable than death. Each of us will die without any need to take adventuresome risks.” (Kelly, 1986). This is likely the reason prolific poets Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost have created quite similar themed poems using dissimilar imaginative slants in which they optimistically convey the topic of human transience. Death is a disheartening, tragic matter that not very many individuals readily wish to discuss. Because ephemerality is, however, an extremely ordinary notion to countless expressive artists, it is vital to notice the literary elements these renowned authors applied which set such works apart from less potent pieces. The symbolism, tone, assonance, rhythm, and other literary techniques behind the elegies “Nothing Gold Can Stay” (Frost, 1969) and “Because I could not stop for Death” (Dickinson, 1893) fervently beg for further exploration. No matter which approach authors apply to such deviations, one truth remains; the amount of life contained in the works by Frost and Dickinson is somewhat ironic to say the least.…

    • 2100 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    The ancient Romans made a substantial impact on the modern world, and some of the most important changes include advancements in government and engineering. Ancient Rome had many other remarkable legacies. The world uses many of the inventions and ideas of ancient Rome’s significant legacies, like the fact that their ideas on government impacted most of the laws and system of government in America, innovations to architecture like arches, and to engineering like our sewage systems.…

    • 556 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A wise, yet unknown author once penned: “Do not regret growing older. It is a privilege denied to many.” For it is often in the nature of children to dream of the years to come—treating time as an eternal commodity— and to embrace the feelings of maturity and the freedoms that accompany aging with open arms and ambitious hearts; yet, it is in this same humanistic perspective that adults yearn for quite the opposite, and find themselves pensive amidst an array of experiences; of memories; of raw emotions. William Butler Yeats’ poem, “An Irish Airman Foresees His Death”, is a work that serves as the antecedent to the band Keane’s song, “A Bad Dream”. Both exuding emotions quite visceral in nature, Keane’s interpretation is one that procures the gut-wrenching feelings of anguish, disappointment, and regret from its audience; an air of reminiscence wafts throughout each chorus and verse. Yeats, rather, portrays the life of a man whose will to live is greater than his fear of dying, and so finds the thrill of combat in the skies able to sustain his insatiable thirst for life itself. Equating life as death, Yeats’ raises the philosophical question of the meaning of existence, while Keane’s interpretation— serving as a melodic “final chapter” to the story of the Irish Airman—quashes the nihilistic argument, and emphasizes just how precious youth is as the scars of battle never fully fade.…

    • 1100 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays

Related Topics