When I have fears - John Keats

1. When I have fears - John Keats What are you afraid of? List your top three fears/phobias Why do you have these fears? Are they common to all humans - inherent? Do they result from an experience? Will they change over time?

2. Context of the poem. • Keats knew death and was well aware of the fragility of life. • Father died when Keats was 9 years old • Mother died of TB when he was 14 • He trained as a surgical assistant • He nursed his brother Tom through the later stages of Tuberculosis until Tom’s death. • He wrote; ‘When I Have Fears’ in Jan 1818 and Tom died in Dec 1818 • He wrote: ‘When I Have Fears’ at least a year before meeting Fanny Brawne. (the Brawne’s moved into part of Wentworth Place in April 1819) • He was conscious of mortality – evident in his poems Bright Star and Ode to Autumn

3. Themes Task: Break into table groups and look at each quatrain. What themes are evident? • Lament for lost opportunities • Unfulfilled maturity as a writer • Experience the magic of love • Experience life and the wonders of the world

4. Form/Structure • Shakespearean (or Elizabethan) sonnet • 3 Quatrains and a final rhyming couplet • Each quatrain progresses the themes in the poem with the exception of the couplet – that drastically changes the mood to one of despair Why did Keats use the Shakespearean sonnet form here rather than the Petrarchan? Read the analysis: http://www.studentpulse.com/articles/316/analysis-of-john-keatss-when-i-have-fears-death-the-freedom-of-limitations

5. A closer look at the first quatrain When I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, Before high-piled books, in charactery, Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain; Vocabulary: teeming – overflowing, glean’d - extract something/take something out/harvested charactery – printing/handwriting, garners – granary (where corn in stored) • What euphemism does Keats use in the first line? • Explain the metaphor that Keats uses in connection with his writing. • How does the use of this metaphor help to express his thoughts about his writing and his fear in this quatrain?

6. Language/imagery: Quatrain One When I have fears that I may cease to be     Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, Before high-piled books, in charactery,    Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain; Key language features of the first Quatrain 1: - He’s afraid he’s going to die before his work has matured • Use of simile for the books compared to the garners (granary) of the brain - grain/brain • Assonance: the rich vowel sounds in glean’d and teeming express the wealth of the brain • Repetition: Before conveys a sense of unfulfillment

7. A closer look at the second quatrain When I behold, upon the night's starr'd 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; Vocabulary: high romance – the sublime • Explain how Keats uses personification to show the power of the sublime, the natural phenomenon around him and the imagination • What are the ‘cloudy symbols’ and the ‘shadows’? • Explain the parallel between ‘the magic hand of chance’ and the poet as a writer.

8. Language/Imagery: Quatrain Two When I behold, upon the night's starr'd 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; • Develops the theme in the first quatrain, but begins to realise the loss of emotional fulfilment and life experiences. The Romantic ‘sublime’ • Personification: night – romantic notion of the magic of the natural world – heavens are pure and love transcends the earth/heavens barrier • Metaphor extends the personification by reinforcing the notion of poetic inspiration derived from the natural world • Assonance of round and rich ‘o’ sounds at the start of the quatrain contrast with the harsh ‘a’ sounds of the ‘magic hand of chance’

9. A closer look at the third quatrain And when I feel, fair creature of an hour! That I shall never look upon thee more, Never have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love!--then on the shore • What is Keats trying to emphasis when he refers to his love as ‘fair creature of an hour!’? • What is the effective of the repetition of the negative lexis ‘never’? • This quatrain is interrupted by the caesura (--) What is the effect of this interruption and how does it emphasis Keats’ fears?

10. Language/Imagery: Quatrain Three And when I feel, fair creature of an hour!     That I shall never look upon thee more, Never have relish in the faery power    Of unreflecting love!--then on the shore • Develops the themes of love especially mortal love and introduces the theme of futility. • Change in this quatrain – directaddress and an sense of urgency is expressed – an hour • ! Adds to the sense of urgency/desperation • Alliteration of the soft ‘f’ sound alludes to the beauty and brevity of love • Lexis turns negative – repetition of never. Progressive of the ‘may never’, ‘shall never’, ‘Never’ increases tension, desperation • Unreflecting – ideal of romantic love, one sided, spontaneous love • Caesura – breaks the thought process and leads into the final rhyming couplet – change in mood from me, me, me to ….

11. A closer look at the rhyming couplet --then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and think Till love and fame to nothingness do sink. • Sum up the mood in these closing lines. Identify the words which create this feeling. • What is Keats’ final realization about fame and love? • How does he use the metaphor to emphasize this point?

12. Language/Imagery: Rhyming couplet --then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and thinkTill love and fame to nothingness do sink. • Inversion of the mood of the poem, but also a logical realisation by the poet of his own insignificance in the face of eternity. Overturns the rest of the sonnet. • Discourse marker: Then indicates the shift in tone – Keats’ reality check • Metaphor of the shore: unobstructed view of the horizon, ‘I can see clearly now’ • Shore and Alone: the image of a lone person juxtaposed with the vastness and power of the ocean • Alliteration: Wide World the ‘w’ sound emphasises the image of the vastness of space and time • Monosyllabic words: think, love, fame, sink in contrast to previous flowery romantic polysyllabic words – this reflects Keats reality check • Paradoxical ending – he resolves his fear by asserting the unimportance of love and fame. Death makes it meaningless. Death is to be feared but in some ways it resolves the fears because it ends the fears!

13. Plenary Direct address: Why has Keats used this? First Person: How has this impacted the message relayed in the poem? How important are you? How much do you value yourself? What thoughts does Keats want to leave the reader? What image do you have of the poet? Does he progress from arrogance to humility?