DEATH IN THE WORKS

OF JOHN KEATS

Willie Siders

Eng 1102

Professor Owens

Born in London England

Romantic Poet

Published 54 poem

5 year career

JOHN KEATS Oct 31 1775 – Feb 23 1821

Lost his father in a

riding accident.

Lost mother and brother

to tuberculosis

Diagnosed with

tuberculosis

KEATS CONTINUED

“My heart aches, and a

drowsy numbness pains

My sense, as though of

hemlock I had drunk.”

Speaks of pain

Hemlock is a poison

“Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains

One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:”

Lethe - the river of forgetfulness, was one of the five rivers of the Greek

Underworld

In Classical Greek, the word Lethe literally means

oblivion, forgetfulness, or concealment

“That I might drink, and

leave this world unseen”

Die in peace

Leave without any

trouble

“The weariness, the

fever, and fret”

Death could be an

escape from the

problems of life

“I have been half in love

with easeful death”

Looking forward to

death

Welcoming the idea of

death

Keats played with the idea of death being welcomed.

Death being a means to an end of suffering

Mentions the Lethe river

Names some poisons

• Wolfs-bane

• Nightshade

• Yew berries

Uses symbols

• Beetle

• Death Moth

• Owl

“Beauty that must die”

Beauty will fade

Youth will end

All things come to an end

Death is something to accept

There is no escaping it

“When I have fears that I may

cease to be before my pen has

glean’d my teeming brain”

Fears death

For different reasons

Wants to finish his writing

This is on his tombstone

Keats feared dying before

attaining success and love

Felt that he would not be

remembered

I.

“Can death be sleep, when

life is but a dream, And

scenes of bliss pass as a

phantom by? The transient

pleasures as a vision seem,

And yet we think the greatest

pain's to die.”

Death is like sleep

Life is a dream

Happy moments short lived

and like ghosts that come and

go

II.

“How strange it is that man

on earth should roam, And

lead a life of woe, but not

forsake His rugged path; nor

dare he view alone His future

doom which is but to awake”

Strange for man to live a life of

distress

Life is hard

“Future doom” is Death

Death will end suffering

Fascinated with death

• In writing

• Fear

• Acceptance

• His own

Dealt with death

• Father

• Mother

• Brother

• Tuberculosis

Feared Dying early

• Not achieving fame

• Not obtaining love

Accepted death

Death was an escape

• Pain

• Suffering

• Illness

End