As most have mentioned, I read Keat’s “When I Have
Fears” as a poem about poet and his fear of death, or mortality. Most of Keat’s
work was about death. He was obsessed with it. Compared to most of Keat’s work,
this poem paints a more vivid picture of death.
The opening lines: “When I have fears that I may cease to be
/ Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain, / Before high-piled book, in
charactery / Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain,” is quite specific.
It’s about the poet’s fear of dying before feeling a sense of accomplishment—
dying before reaching his full creative potential. This idea could be related
to any artist, or anyone— anyone who is displeased with their current state
I definitely agree that Keats was obsessed with death. But I feel like this poem emphasized an even stronger obsession with himself. After my first read-through, I assumed it was just a poem about the fear of death and the sorrow he felt when he contemplated losing his girlfriend, the "fair creature of an hour!" However, after subsequent read-throughs, it seemed closer to the mark that he wasn't all that bummed about losing his lady love. In fact, he only mentions this "fair creature" in three (and a half) lines. The eight lines before that are spent whining about not living long enough to become a fully actualized writer and realize his full potential.
ReplyDeleteThis is why I think that it's possible that the "fair creature of an hour" isn't referring to a woman, but to himself. After all, this poem was written around the time that Keats discovered the ulcers in his throat (indicating tuberculosis). So it would be safe to assume that he very well could be the "fair creature of the hour" since his days are numbered and he knows it.
Why else would Keats, in the final two lines of "When I Have Fears," be standing "alone" and not with the woman he's going to miss so dearly? And the fact that he lumps "love and fame" together in the last line really drives the narcissistic point home. The two seem to be synonymous in this poem.
I definitely agree that Keats is obsessed with death but I couldn't quite decide his tone. I agree that he seems to lament that he will die before he accomplishes anything but I couldn't tell if he meant it in a gloomy fatalistic way or in a more sentimental passionate way. He discusses "the night's starr'd face" and fears that he will never trace the outlines of the clouds of the daytime. He could mean this in an obvious "what if I never see tomorrow?" kind of way or he could be talking about the inspiration he draws from the sky. As if to say the world is so beautiful and poetic, how could he NOT want to write down his thoughts before high piled books in charact'ry?
ReplyDelete