Read and re-read the poems in class and at home. Read them aloud, to yourself and with others. Gain a respect for the poems. Become familiar with the events in Keats s personal life. Gain a good understanding of the historical period Keats was working in. Have a basic understanding of Keats s contemporaries and those he admired in the past. Gain a basic knowledge of Mythology. Read the timeline, introduction etc in your copy of the selected poems become very familiar with this edition. Become aware of how Keats s poetry develops and matures. Read what critics at the time thought of Keats s poetry. Read Keats s letters and become familiar with his opinions on poetry. Keep detailed, organised notes on every poem we cover in class. Keep a glossary of literary devices and key words. Always read for pleasure! You should always be reading a novel/play and your Keats Selected Poems. 1
Lamia Written in the late summer and early autumn of 1819 Keats appears to have seen this poem as an achievement; he commented that in contrast to the inexperience and simplicity of Isabella, there was no objection of this kind in Lamia. The poem was published in 1820 and was the first poem in the volume (indicating that Keats considered it to be important) The story begins with Hermes searching for a beautiful nymph. He asks Lamia a snake creature to help him find the nymph. She says she will do this, if he changes her back into a woman so that she can be with the mortal she loves, Lycius. Hermes grants her wish and she is transformed into a beautiful woman. Lycius falls in love with the beautiful Lamia, not realising that she is a snake that assumed human form in order to win his admiration. Lamia knows that Apollonius, a wise old man, will recognise her and reveal her secret. So she asks Lycius not to ask him to the wedding. Apollonius talks Lycius into letting him attend and he exposes Lamia at the wedding feast. She disappears and Lycius dies. Lamia as an allegory R.H Fogle commented that Lamia appears to lend itself to allegorical interpretation. Garrett Stewart has remarked that the poem seems to invite allegorical reading In most cases the allegorical readings focus on the ways in which the three main characters in the poem, Lamia, Lycius, and Apollonius may be said to represent something other than themselves. Lamia Fanny Brawne Poetry Poem Illusion/Dream Text Lycius Keats Poet Keats/Poet Dreamer Ego Apollonius Charles Brown Philosopher Reviewers Reason/Reality Public Keats does not seem to be on the side of any particular character and by the end of the poem they all seem equally inadequate. The tone of the poem is by turns Ironic Sarcastic Dramatic Self-conscious 2
Endymion Language Features Neologisms Keats will quite often make up words e.g surgy line 121 and adventuresome line 58 Archaisms Keats will often include words that were no longer in common usage in 19 th century England e.g shent and sith Medical diction Keats s medical background is apparent in most of the longer poems, in his use of words referring to symptoms or bodily functions. Compound epithet an adjectival phrase the use of this is common in the early poetry. e.g ebon-tipped line 147, rain-scented line 100, copse-clad line 120, light-hung line 119. Keats s use of the personal pronoun in the third stanza suggests that he is still wrestling with his role and ambition in relation to poetry. Frequent use of rhetorical questions and exclamations in the second book gives the poetry an imploring and desperate air. This poem is influenced by the conventions of epic poetry, with its use of epithet and sections of a grand and ceremonious style. Keats admired Milton s Paradise Lost, although he does not imitate his verse form (Milton s epic does not rhyme it is written in blank verse ) Keats also rejects the idea of in medias res (another epic convention) a phrase to describe a story that starts in the middle of the narrative at some exciting point. John Wilson Croker criticised Keats s use of language in Endymion in the Quarterly Review. We are told that turtles passion their voices ; that an arbour was nested ; and a lady s locks gordian up ; and to supply the place of nouns thus verbalised by Mr.Keats, with great fecundity, spawns new ones; such as men-slugs and human serpentary ; the honey-feel of bliss ; wives prepare needments and so forth. Croker believed that such usages prevented him from being part of the elite centre of the nation s true culture. Croker is rejecting Keats because he is not conforming to the world of end-stopped couplets and prescriptive grammar. 3
Focus on Language ON FIRST LOOKING INTO CHAPMAN'S HOMER 1 Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold, 2 And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; 3 Round many western islands have I been 4 Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold. 5 Oft of one wide expanse had I been told 6 That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne; 7 Yet did I never breathe its pure serene 8 Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold: 9 Then felt I like some watcher of the skies 10 When a new planet swims into his ken; 11 Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes 12 He star'd at the Pacific--and all his men 13 Look'd at each other with a wild surmise-- 14 Silent, upon a peak in Darien. a. Work out the rhyme scheme of this poem. b. What type of sonnet is this? Is it regular or irregular? c. Where is the turn and how does the subject of the poem reflect this? Use the notes at the back of your text to help you. d. Examine the diction used by Keats in this poem comment on his choice of words in relation to the subject. e. Comment on the images used in the poem wide expanse realms of gold watcher of the skies new planet swims f. How many allusions does Keats make in this poem and what do they add to the overall effect and rhythm of the poem? g. Examine the positioning of punctuation in the poem what does this add to the overall effect and rhythm of the poem? h. How many times does enjambment occur? Why has Keats picked those lines to run on? i. Is this poem typical of Keats s early style? 4
Isabella Written in 1818, published in 1820 Taken from the story of Isabella, a macabre Italian romance, by Boccaccio, that appeared in his work Decamerone Was originally written for a volume by Reynolds and Keats, containing poems inspired by Boccaccio s Decamerone.- this volume was never finished and the poem was published by Keats in one of his own volumes. Keats was dissatisfied with the poem he called it a weak-sided Poem that was too smokeable. The poem has proved to be popular and has been of particular inspiration to visual artists the Pre-Raphaelite brotherhood used the subject various times in their paintings. Charles Lamb called it the finest thing in the volume Critics have recently been reassessing the poems social and political dimensions. Bernard Shaw wrote that stanzas 14 and 15 contain all the Factory Commission Reports that Marx read, and that Keats did not read because they were not yet written in his time. Language This poem represents a transition between Endymion and the later great Odes. The poem is written in ottava rima stanzas these stanzas have 8 lines, rhyming abababcc. Rhyme is rarely forced in this poem, although it does not yet show the self-restraint and clearness of the later works. This poem shows a decline in Hunt s influence on Keats s language. Instead the poem has a vigorous, consonantal verbal texture. The repetition of the lines from stanza 55 in stanza 61 acts like a Greek chorus. The poem has a sensual and tender complexity and strives to recreate a medieval atmosphere. This poem represents the first successful narrative of Keats s career although it does still have its problems. Keats pauses in the narrative at stanza 19 to apologise to Boccaccio for transforming his story shows that he is still struggling with his role as a poet. 5
Ode to Psyche Summary Themes Form Language Historical Context Critics Ode to a Nightingale Ode to a Grecian Urn Ode to Melancholy Ode to Indolence To Autumn 6