John Keats (1975-1821), belongs to second generation of Romantic poets. His poetry is characterized by elaborate word choice and sensuous imagery. This is most notable in his Great Odes which remain among finest poems in English Literature.
The poetry of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;
That is the Grasshopper's -- he takes the lead
In summer luxury, -- he has never done
With his delights; for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.
The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
On a lone winter evening, when the frost
Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills
The Cricket's song, in warmth increasing ever,
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost,
The Grasshopper's among some grassy hills.
On the basis of your understanding of the text, tick the correct answer.
The Grasshopper takes the lead/In summer luxury. He has never done with his delights, What luxury and delights are being referred to here?
How does the poet create the atmosphere of winter in the last 7 lines?
How does the poet contrast the lives of the Cricket and the Grasshopper?
The poet notices beauty in nature. It is in both sounds made by creatures and the sights that one sees.
What are the sights and sound images related to nature that you find in the poem?
| Visual/sight images | Aural/sound images |
|---|---|
Personification is a figure of speech in which a thing-an idea or an animal-is given human attributes. Pick two examples of personification from the poem and explain them.