When I Have Fears That I May Forget To Post

Hello Lit Class,

I hope that you are enjoying this beautiful Thursday evening. It appears that I am on for the blog tonight, and since I am uncertain whether all who presented are supposed to blog on their poems, or if the responsibility lies solely on my shoulders, I figured I would have to make a post either way. So, here we go.

Today we heard from 2.25 presentations - Ode to the West Wind, When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be, and Ode to a Nightingale (0.25)

Again, since I am uncertain as to what I am to post, I have decided to summarize the poem that Emmett and I presented, unless I am instructed otherwise.

When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be is a short sonnet with a very long title. Written by John Keats in 1818, the poem reflects upon his fears of a premature death. Ironically, the poem became reality a few years after its writing when Keats died from tuberculosis at the age of 25.

In his poem, Keats worries that he will die before he has the chance to even begin to glean the treasure trove of concepts that is his brain. He fully realizes his own mortality, and the short years he has to find love and journey into fame. If Keats dies young, he mourns that the ideas in his teeming mind will not be writ, the full splendor of nature will not be traced by his pen, and the face of his love will never again be gazed upon by his eyes.

Yet as Keats stands alone at the edge of the world, making sense of his sorrows, he realizes that all of his earthly ambitions are futile. Although in this life he is concerned over fame and love, such matters will measure trivial once his body is cold in the grave.

Homework:


- All who have not presented, be ready to go tomorrow
- For Friday, read the bio on Matthew Arnold (Page 647)