Joseph Madera
Before I dived into Keats selected poems and letters I decided to do some research on his background to get a feel for his character and get a sense of what emotions or thoughts he tried to evoke in his writing. As a child he lost his father at the age of 8 and then 6 years later his mother also passed away due to tubercolosis. Unfortunately Keats also succumbed to the same disease at just the age of 25. It is safe to say that he definitely endured much pain and anguish throughout his short lived life and his writings exemplified that pain.
In his letter to his brothers George and Thomas he talks about various subjects. In the beginning of the letter one of the first things that stood out to me was when he briefly brings up the subject of Christmas. He tells his brothers that in todays “Champion”; which Ibelieve refers to a newspaper, they will find “very proper lamentation on the obsoletion of Christmas Gambols and pastimes”. I immediately thought, could he be referring to his own past experiences around christmas time? Why would he talk about Christmas in this manner? Keep in mind that this letter was written a few days before Christmas and a few years after the death of his mother. Christmas as you may know is a time of celebration and unity usually spent with your family. I think this is him lamenting his parents deaths and not being able to experience a traditional Christmas with his parents. Another thing that stood out to me in the letter was his critique of the picture “Death on the Pale Horse”. Its a picture portraying humans being slaughtered at the hands of a horsemen. I think the picture in a way represents Keats own exposure to death and the pain that he feels as result of his parents death. The picture symbolizes death and grief both of which have an emotional attachment to Keats.
His poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” is a great example of Keats poetic prowess. It begins with a a lonely knight who is “loitering” in a land where the “sedge has wither’d from the lake, And no birds sing”. So right off the bat Keats paints a picture of a lone knight trespassing on a barren, lifeless land. As he progresses the knight meets a beautiful lady in the meads. He describes her as “Full Beautiful- a faery’s child, Her hair was long, her foot was light, And her eyes were wild”. In the 7th stanza the knight says “And sure in language strange she said I love thee true” How does the knight know she said that if it was told in a strange language? It is at this point where I begin to question whether this whole encounter is real or just an illusion. A beautiful lady and a lone night having a romantic encounter on a desolate land seems too good to be true. Finally in the 9th stanza it is revealed that the knight was indeed dreaming the whole time. The beautiful woman was just an illusion that he created to divert him from the grim reality. When he awoke on the “cold hill’s side” he saw “death-pale warriors” who cried ” La Belle Dame Sans Merci Hath Thee in thrall” which translates to the beautiful lady without mercy has you as an unfree servant.
I Think its important to also note that Keats was an admirer of Shakespeare’s work. In his letter to his two brothers he refers to Shakespeare as a man who possessed an enormous amount of achievement. Shakespeare is well renown for his brilliant tragedies such as Macbeth and Romeo and Juliet. Keats poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” as well as Shakepseares works draw parallels between the perception of reality and a true dark reality.
– Joseph Madera
Death On the Pale Horse
I truly enjoyed reading your response. When reading some of the poems and stuff I was a little confused but your research helped to bring some of it to light. I especially thought Bright Star was interesting which I saw you did not go into. I thought this poem was an interesting choice as it was very different then La Belle Dame Sans Merci. While both poems looked deep into his thoughts of a woman and his seeming desire for love, Bright Star had a darker tone to it. While La Belle Dame Sans Merci painted a picture of a dim reality, Bright Star made me feel as though Keats was reminiscing on a specific moment in time. After reading your research I am wondering if this woman he speaks of is his mother. I was hesitant to think such as thing as he refers to her as his ” fair love” and speaks of her “ripening breast” but for some reason I feel as though its about his mother. I see a young boy laying on his mother chest, listening to her breathing as she sleeps. His mother, who passed when he was younger, could be seen to him as in a “sweet unrest” wishing he could hear her “tender-taken breath”. This could be completely off course but as I read this poem this is what I saw and then reading your research I saw a picture in my mind even more. In another sense this poem could also be describing a broken relationship. Keats could be describing a specific time in the relationship when he laid with his girlfriend and listened to her breath. When Keats describes death he may not be speaking of death as in a person but in the ending point to a relationship. Keats could be stating that he wishes he could hear her tender breath because they do not see each other anymore. The possibilities are endless but for some reason the mother figure really stuck out to me. All in all, great job!
I think you captured a lot of of the themes and emotions that Keats was feeling when he wrote the poems and letters. I also did a little research on his background and I found that he was in love with a woman. There were some problems in his relationship, which I think reflects a lot in his writing when he talks about love. I agree with you on the letter. I think he uses his words to express his opinions based on his past experiences. Furthermore, when I was reading the letter I realized that he had a different way of thinking than the norm. He describes his definition of excellent art as “capable of making all disagreeables evaporate, from their being in close relationship with Beauty and Truth.” I feel like he is a person who thinks “outside of the box”.
I also agree with your interpretation of the poem. I think it is important to note that the poem “La Belle Dame Sans Merci” begins and ends with the same phrases “The sedge has wither’d from the lake,/And no birds sing.” This completed the image that he was in a dream and awaken from his dream. Maybe this is conveying that he sees love as temporary and never eternal. The best part of love is short-lived as well. I think he is trying to describe how he has been trapped in love with someone merciless (La Belle dame sans mercy means “The beautiful lady without mercy”). The other poem “Bright Star” also refers to love as non-eternal.
Without doing some research on the background of John Keats, it will be impossible to grasp what the author is trying say in the letters and the poems. I liked how you start from by providing a background information of the author before going about explain the emotions and thought processes behind the author’s words. It was a decent interpretation of the poem and the letter. I just want to add that the second letter “To J.H Reynolds on February 19,1818″, it was as though John Keats is giving life advising to J.H Reynolds. In a way, John Keats may sees himself as the bee or the giver with J.H as the flower or the taker. In addition, n the letter, ” a old man and a chold would talk together and the old man be led on his path, and the child left thinking”, the old man in this case would be referred to as John Keats for it is close to the end of his life span. All in all, It is a letter to tell Reynolds to treasure life.