John Keats’ When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be

John Keats’ When I Have Fears That I May

Cease to Be

By: Jack Mitchell

Biography• Born October 31, 1795 in Finsbury Pavement, outside of

London• Oldest of four surviving children (a brother of his dies in

infancy)• Father dies in horse accident when he is 8• Mother dies of tuberculosis when he is 14• Pursues career in medicine, gives up in 1814

to pursue writing (Downing)• Became friends with other writers,

notably Percy Shelley

“When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be”

• Written in 1818, three years before Keats’ death

• Published posthumously in 1848

“When I Have Fears…”

• Sonnet (English) • Formal, lyric poem• 3 quatrains, 1 couplet• Iambic pentameter

When I have fears that I may cease to beBefore my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,Before high piled books, in charac’try,Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;When I behold, upon the starred night’s face,Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,And think that I may never live to traceTheir 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 relish in thy fairy powerOf unreflecting love – then on the shoreOf the wide world I stand alone, and thinkTill love and fame to nothingness do sink

ABABCDCDEFEFGG

Q 1

Q 2

Q 3

Couplet


• Uses anaphora in each quatrain by beginning with “When,” “When,” “And when” to introduce a new series of thought that is focused in same direction


Q 1

Q 2

Q 3

Couplet


• Uses end-stopped lines more than enjambment

• Creates a pause at the end of almost every line in order to consolidate thoughts

When I have fears that I may cease to beBefore my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,Before high piled books, in charac’try,Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;When I behold, upon the starred night’s face,Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,And think that I may never live to traceTheir 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 relish in thy fairy powerOf unreflecting love – then on the shoreOf the wide world I stand alone, and thinkTill love and fame to nothingness do sink.


• Uses a similie in line 4• Compares knowledge to crops• Aspects of nature



• Uses imagery of nature• One of the main aspects of Romantic period

When I have fears that I may cease to beBefore my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,Before high piled books, in charac’try,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 traceTheir 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 relish in thy fairy powerOf unreflecting love – then on the shoreOf the wide world I stand alone, and thinkTill love and fame to nothingness do sink


• Uses a caesura to signify the volta• At this point the direction of the poem

changes and takes new direction• The question, “What does Keats do when he

gets scared of death?” raised from the first line, is answered here


Caesura Volta


ExplicationWhen I get scared about dyingBefore I can write down all of my thoughtsBefore I can write books filled with languageThat contain my matured knowledge


Explication

When I look at the night skyAnd all the clouds and starsAnd think that I will not live to see allOf the things one might see in the sky


Explication

And when I think, beautiful womanThat I will never see you againNever take joy in your womanly powerOf undying love


Explication

Then I will be alone in this world and thinkUntil romanticism dies

What does it mean?

• At this point in his life, Keats is almost sure he will die young

• He has been surrounded by death and has recently lived with and cared for his younger brother, Tom, while he was dying of tuberculosis; the disease John also died from

What does it mean?

• Despite all this, Keats still uses Romanticism in his writing

• However, in “When I Have Fears” he denounces romantic ideas in the last line: “Til love and fame to nothingness do sink”

• Looking back on his life, he realizes that romantic ideas have done nothing for him and he will die anyway

Works Cited

• Downing, Renee. "John Keats." http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/6 6. N.p., n.d. Web. 27 April 2011. http://www.poets.org/poet.php/prmPID/ 66

• Keats, John. "When I Have Fears That I May Cease to be." http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173

753. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 April 2011. <http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173753>.

Documents

John Keats’ When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be