At first glance “Sonnet:
When I have fears” can be read as someone that has become aware and fearful of their
own mortality. John Keats was a little death obsessed too I think, so it would
make sense for him to have such an awareness and fear of death. Both his parents were dead
by the time he was fourteen years old, and his brother died from tuberculosis
(like their mom)a few years after “Sonnet:
When I have fears” was written after all. However, after re-reading “Sonnet: When I have fears”, I felt like
the fear of death was both an issue and an illusion of what Keats was really reflecting
upon. Keats does share that he is afraid of death more or less because he does
not want to die unsuccessful or unloved. Let’s face it, who really does want to
die without love or some sort of fame in their life? Death has a tendency to create a sense of anxiety in one. At the same time though, I also
felt like Keats made death out to be more of a double agent that frees one from that anxiety. Death makes everything else mentioned meaningless. Both success and
love are twisted into something that ultimately means nothing in the end, so
why worry or fear? Death appears to be the problematic cure according to Keats, and not something to completely fear.
I agree that keats was somewhat obsessed with death, but I think he feared the idea of not having fame as a writer more. As you said, who wouldn't be obsessed with death when your parents both died when you were young. I think he wrote the poem more towards his critics and his fear that perhaps they have gotten the better of him. He does not want to die and be forgotten, he wants to be remember for his writing but most importantly, good writing. He doesnt want the critics to win, yet they somewhat are. They are messing with him mentally,"When I have fears that I may cease to be, Before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain, Before high-piled books, in charactery,". His thoughts are escaping him as he writes, he somewhat losing the fight.
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