1. When I have Fears Ode to a Nightingale Ode on a Grecian Urn
John Keats
When I have Fears
Ode to a Nightingale
Ode on a Grecian Urn

2. Biographical Information
Father died when he was eight.
Mother died when he was fourteen.
Small stature (5 feet tall) – very sickly
Never married
Died at the age of twenty five.

3. When I Have Fears
Page 748

4. Getting Ready to Read
If you knew your time on earth was short, what would you most regret not being able to do or experience?

5. Read the Poem

6. Re-Reading
What images are used to describe the speaker’s potential works?
How are they appropriate to a poem about death?
Who does the author address? What line tell you?
Identify the line where the turn takes place.
Why do you think the speaker’s thoughts on death change his attitude toward love and fame?
What is the speaker’s tone?

7. Ode to a Nightingale
Page 755

8. Getting ready to Read
Describe a dream that you have had that seemed as if it were real when you woke up.
What about the dream made it seem so real?

9. Read the Poem

10. Re-reading How does the speaker feel in the opening lines of the poem?
What effect do these lines have on you?
Lines 11-18: What is the speaker wishing for?
Lines 19-20: Why might the speaker hope for the effect of wine?
Lines 21-24: How does the speaker feel about human life?

11. Re-reading Lines 31-33: How does the tone of the poem change?
Lines 41-45: How do the descriptions of vegetation evoke smells without describing their source?
Lines 51-56: How would you characterize the speaker’s mood?
Lines 61-64: What do you think the bird might symbolize for the speaker?
How would you describe the tone at the end of the poem?
What do you think the speaker realizes by the end of the poem?

12. Ode on a Grecian Urn
Page 761

13. Background
Antique Greek vases are usually black with reddish painting.
Many show gods, goddesses, heroes, and mortals entangled in adventure.
Traditionally used for planting or burial.

14. Read the Poem

15. Re-reading
What do each of the metaphors in the first line tell you about the urn?
Lines 5-10: What is the scene depicted on the urn?
Line 11: “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter;” – How does this idea relate to Romanticism?
Line 20: How does this line sum up a main idea of the poem?

16. Re-reading
Lines 21-27: What is the effect of the repetition of the words happy and forever?
Lines 31-40: What scene is depicted on the urn in these lines?
Lines 44-45: What effect does viewing the urn have on the speaker?