1. Explain by listing out
the fears that Keats refers to in his poem.
Keats had so many fears before his death and they are clearly expressed here in this poem that was written few years before his death. The first fear of Keats is about his poetic achievements. He longs to produce ‘high-piled books’ of poetry but he is afraid that death may be a hindrance on his way. His second fear is that death may prevent him from seeing his ladylove for ever. The third fear of Keats is about the impermanency of his fame and love. According to him, it is nothingness that overrules everything and swallows everything at the end. Thus his fears are connected with his longings and lack of chances for the fulfillments.
2. Explain nihilism
expressed at the end of Keats’ poem.
Nihilism refers to the rejection of all religious and moral principles and is centered on the belief that life is meaningless and all values are false. It is an extreme form of pessimism. The concluding lines of Keats’ poem too express the same idea. The first part of the poem reveals his disappointment in love and his unfulfilled desires of poetic achievements. But at the end, he says that he will stand alone on the shore of wide world and think like this only till all love and fame disappear by sinking into nothingness. He means that we think of love and fame to be more valuable than anything but we have them only to lose it to be swallowed by nothingness.
3. Justify “When I have
Fears” as an autobiographical poem.
John Keats, an aspiring Romantic poet died of tuberculosis at the young age of 25. This poem was written just few years before his death and reveals all the depressions and fear he had. At the age of 8, he lost his father and at the age of 14, he lost his mother. His brother Tom Keats also died three years before his death. In the third stanza, he refers to his fear of not meeting again his ladylove – “fair creature of an hour”. In real life, after his brother’s death, he moved to his friend Charles Brown’s house where he met and fell deeply in love with Fanny Brawne. On doctor’s advice, when he left for Rome, he permanently left her without any chance of meeting her again. Thus the poem is a typical autobiographical one.
4. How does Keats’ poem
excel in form and images?
John Keats has written his poem “When I Have Fears” in the form of Shakespearean sonnet in 14 lines. It is beautifully written with the rhyme scheme –abab cdcd efef gg and three quatrains followed by the rhyming couplet. The poem is also very rich in images such as ‘teeming brain’, ‘high -piled books’ and ‘rich garners.’ He compares his poetic ideas to fully ripened grain, and his books carrying those ideas to granaries. He also personifies night to have a starry face, and beholds the high romance of huge clouds in the sky. The time he spent with his lady love is only for a short duration in his life and therefore he aptly calls his sweetheart as a ‘fair creature of an hour.’
5. Why is Keats’ poem
described as a poem of life and death?
“When
I have fears” written by Keats reveals his deep longings for life and at the
same time expresses his fears about the early arrival of death which is an
obstacle on his way. Keats had already produced great poetry such as Ode on
a Grecian Urn, Ode to a Nightingale, Endymion and The Eve
of St. Agnes but his ambitious spirit still longed to accomplish
‘high-piled books’. Thus the first half
of the poem reveals how much he values life. But the end of the poem reveals
his realization of truth that all our achievements are of no avail because
death makes everything into nothing. Thus throughout the poem, longing for life
and fears of death are vividly expressed by the poet.
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