DEATH IN THE WORKS OF JOHN KEATS Willie Siders Eng 1102 Professor Owens
Jul 08, 2015
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