“WHEN I HAVE FEARS THAT I MAY CEASE TO BE” Poem by John Keats Explication by Jonas Bagwell and Eva Hong

THE MAN BEHIND THE FEAR John Keats was born October 31, 1795 in London, England. He lived an understandably short life due to a bout with tuberculosis which was to end his life in He was 26 years old. A melancholy man, his poems often revolved around the aspect of a short life and unfulfilled dreams, a subject he was no doubt come to terms with in his final years. He also wrote many letters that were later compiled and released due to their deeply personal nature, biographical reliability and quality of writing. With a short time on earth as well as a subpar education, it’s amazing to think that John Keats accomplished what he did. He wrote poems and sonnets awash with vivid imagery, great sensuous appeal and ties to classic legend.

WHEN I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, Before high pilgrave’d books, in charact'ry, Hold like rich garners the full-ripen'd grain; When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face, Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, And feel that I may never live to trace Their 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 have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love;—then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and think, Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

LITERAL SENSE  Sometimes I wonder about my death and feel scared. Is there enough time to accomplish what I want? Will my accomplishments amount to anything substantial?  It takes an entire lifetime to comprehend the beauty of things, the natural and the superficial. I now realize this too late into my life. There isn’t enough time to take in all the beauty the night sky has to offer, even with chance and divinity in my favor.  Oh, Fanny, my beautiful love! When I look at you, I feel remorse. The thought of someday no longer getting to relish in your radiance, and that I will no longer be there to return your love, sickens me.  The though of losing something is as good a reason as any to not have at all. I’m truly alone, until death, when all my earthly fixations will no longer matter.

LITERAL SENSE- LINE BY LINE WHEN I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, Before high pilgraved books, in charact'ry, Hold like rich garners the full-ripen'd grain; When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face, Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, And feel that I may never live to trace Their 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 have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love;—then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and think, Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink. When I think about my death Before my goals are achieved Before I amount to anything Anything of worth or value, When I see the worlds natural beauty Infinite, symbolic and pure And fear that I can never fully appreciate Or begin to comprehend it, even with luck. When, my love, these fears entail Never seeing your beauty again Never feeling your magic again And Never getting to return your love I feel alone and I keep thinking of my death Until it finally comes, and all of this no longer matters

DICTION  This poem uses a blend of abstract, colloquial and vivid language. The author paints a rich picture of his dreams and death with strong imagery and diction, as to give an almost artful and beautiful tinge to this bitter poem.

ABSTRACT, COLLOQUIAL AND VIVID WHEN I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, Before high pilgraved books, in charact'ry, Hold like rich garners the full-ripen'd grain; When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face, Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, And feel that I may never live to trace Their 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 have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love;—then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and think, Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

SYNTAX MANIPULATION  In may older sonnets and poems, syntax (word order) is edited and changed to establish a better lyrical flow, syllable count, or mental rhythm.  Syntax is also warped to put a new spin on ideas, such as mentioning the subject after the less important ideas, to give a feeling of belittlement or loss of self.

DECIPHERING SYNTAX WHEN I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, Before high pilgraved books, in charact'ry, Hold like rich garners the full-ripen'd grain; When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face, Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, And feel that I may never live to trace Their 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 have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love;—then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and think, Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.

TONE  John Keats really establishes that he isn’t happy, and that he doesn’t care if you’re happy either. He presents his poem in a regretful and spitefully wishful tone, washing waves of lament over beautiful imagery and genuine poetic talent. The atmosphere is very personal and brooding, and the punctuation in the poem is very important in the overall tone. When read aloud and correctly, the impact of the poem is much bolder than when read in your mind.

MOOD  Since the tone (voice of the reader) is highly pessimistic, the mood is reflective of that. No sunshine or happy thoughts should cross the readers mind as they read the poem.

RHETORICAL SITUATION John Keats  Who is speaking? John Keats. John Keats  To who is he speaking to? John Keats. He’ll die some day  What’s the reason? He’ll die some day. He’s scared  Why is he doing this? He’s scared. This sonnet, like others, was written as a thought process between the author and himself. He’s reminding himself of all the reasons he’s scared, and sporadically switches from subject to subject – pens, books, grain, the night sky and his love. The disjointed thought process that usually comes with a personal narrative also gives credence to the use of syntax, emotional punctuation and more abstract thoughts. A.K.A “Well, It makes sense to me.”

WHAT ABOUT US? There are really no outward references or acknowledgements to the audience until the last few lines. These lines can be considered as directed to the audience because they’re more confessionary and forward. The last line is the most soberly stated allusion to death in the entire poem, giving a sense of mental grounding while it also references his fame, which is due to an audience. None of the lines are specifically designed to speak to or directly connect with the audience, but the last few lines is where he seems to speak to someone other than himself.

DOES THE POEM USE FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE? A) Simile - In line 4, "hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain.” This simile relates how the book is holing his complete thoughts to how garners (storehouses for gain) hold the fully ripened grain. He wants the value of his work to reflect the value and bounty of a garner of grain.

METAPHORS B) Metaphor - In line 12 and 13, "shore of the wide world." The shore of the world creates a visual image of vastness. The world does not have an actual shore of course, but the shore is his standpoint of overlooking all his life.

PERSONIFICATION C) Personification - In line 2, “Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain.” It expresses the idea that his pen is really the lead in his creative process, giving a sense of distance between author and subject. - In line 3, “Before high piled books, in charact'ry.” It expresses the books as an animate object that holds all the thoughts of his mind. - In line 5, “When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face.” It expresses night as a face with stars stretching across it.

KENNING D) Kenning - In line 9, “fair creature of an hour.” It is description of his wife. “Fair creature” expresses beauty and “of an hour” means temporary due to his impending death.

WHAT KIND OF IMAGERY DOES THE POEM USE? A) - In line 4, “Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain.” words such as "glean'd," "garners," "full ripen'd grain“ gives the imagery of harvest. - In line 5, “night’s starred face.” Readers can visualize the images of a beautiful sky, a sheet of darkness speckled with points of life.

IMAGERY CONTINUED B) - In line 8, “Their shadows with the magic hand of chance.” The shadows are faint expressions of his dreams that he may be able to achieve. - In line 3, “Before high-piled books.” It expresses the extent of his literary aspirations visually. -In line 12 and 13, “Then on the shore of the wide world I stand alone.” I can visualize a man standing alone on the outskirts of the world.

SYMBOLISM c) Symbolism - In line 1, “I may cease to be” symbolizes death. - In line 3, “Before high-piled books in charact’ry.” This is symbolic of his hopes and dreams. - In line 6, “Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance.” These cloudy symbols are symbols of the great mysteries in life which he wants to find out.

HOW DOES SOUND CONTRIBUTE TO THE EFFECT OF THE POEM? A) The rhyme scheme in this poem is a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g with ten syllables in each line. B) The repetition of r sounds in "charactery," "rich," "garners,"ripen'd," and "grain.” The repetition of "when" at the beginning of each quatrain and “of” in line 12 &13.

SOUND CONTINUED C) Alliteration in line 3 and 4, "glean'd," "garners," "grain." D) Assonance in line 2 "glean'd" and "teeming" to draw attention to the line which expresses the speaker's fear. Also, in line 3 “high,”piled”, and “night”. E) There is no onomatopoeia in this poem.

HOW IS THE POEM STRUCTURED? A) “When I have fears that I may cease to be” is in the form of a Sonnet. B) The 14 lines are divided into 3 quatrains (4-line stanzas) and a final couplet by different groups of rhyming words. C) The rhyme scheme in this poem is a b a b, c d c d, e f e f, g g with ten syllables in each line.

WHEN I have fears that I may cease to be Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, Before high pilgrave’d books, in charact'ry, Hold like rich garners the full-ripen'd grain; When I behold, upon the night's starr'd face, Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance, And feel that I may never live to trace Their 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 have relish in the faery power Of unreflecting love;—then on the shore Of the wide world I stand alone, and think, Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink.