| Literary Device |
Line Reference |
Explanation |
| anaphora |
(lines 1,4,8) |
repetition of "when" at the beginning of each quatrain conveys the theme of time |
| diction |
(line 1) |
"be" this word implies not just ceasing to live but ceasing to truly exist, conveying theme of not just life and death but of experiencing true existence |
| diction |
(lines 2,4) |
glean'd, garners, grain: all words which refer to a harvest. Imply he fears death before he is able to bring to harvest all his thoughts. |
| personification |
(line 2) |
personification of the pen: the pen is representing the ability to express all that is in his mind before he dies. The pen becomes an animate object that has the ability to harvest all that is in his mind. Portrays he idea that he fears not being able to put into language all that is in his mind. |
| personification |
(line 3) |
personification of the high piled books: the many books are the things that will hold the character (handwriting, words) of his fully harvested ideas. The books, like the pen becomes an animate object that holds within it all the completed thoughts of his mind. |
| simile |
(line 4) |
"hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain" This simile relates how the book is holing his complete thoughts to how garners (storehouses for gain) hold the fully ripened grain. His full thoughts are the full ripen'd grain and language is his garner. |
| consonance |
(lines 3,4) |
"glean'd," "garners," "grain." The alliteration of the g sound sets these words apart. These words have to do with the fullness of a harvest and of his mind. |
| consonance |
(lines 3,4) |
"rich," "ripen'd," "garners," "grain." The alliteration of the r sound sets these words apart. These words have to do with completeness, the completeness of grain come to harvest being like the completeness of being able to express all his thoughts. |
| diction |
(line 5) |
"behold" The word behold creates a sense of grandness and of something overwhelming. Characteristic of romantic poetry. |
| personification |
(line 5) |
personification of night: He sees night as a face with stars stretching across it. He sees the night with the stars filled with symbols and imagination which he fears he will never live to be able to understand. |
| imagery |
(line 5) |
"night's starr'd face." Invokes the image of a night. The night is filled with darkness, representing mystery, and poets work to understand these mysteries though their minds. In the poem Keats fears that he will not live to be able to interpret the starry night. |
| symbols |
(line 6) |
"huge cloudy symbols of a high romance" These cloudy symbols are symbols of the great mysteries in life which he wants to find out. If his life were to be cut short he would not live to discover or be able to express these mysteries. |
| diction |
(line 6) |
"high romance" Creates a sense of how grand these ideas are. Characteristic of romantic poetry. |
| enjambment |
(line 7,8) |
The ending of line 7 with the word 'trace' creates a sense of action, and his desire to express, bringing emphasis to the idea of writing as his form of presenting ideas. The word trace also implies that the artists task is not to interpret nature but rather to just present it as it is, as if to trace a picture. Then line 8 begins with 'their shadows,' which also draws attention due to the enjambment. The shadows implies that we are not seeing the actual things in this world, just the shadows. |
| diction |
(line 8) |
"magic hand of chance" Presents the theme that poetry is a not something calculated or though but more of an act of divine inspiration. The words imply that the hand, which writes, does not act out of rational thought but out of chance, spontaneous inspiration. The fact that the hand is magic also implies that the act is not rational, the hand is acting though magic, through a feeling, not though logic. This follows the romantic idea of sentiment over reason. |
| diction |
(line 9) |
"And when," The other quatrains have begun with just 'then.' The addition of 'and' creates a sense that the poem is about to climax and shift into a new phase. It also creates a sense of urgency. |
| diction |
(line 9) |
"fair creature of an hour" This once again brings up the theme of time. This is not just a fair creature but one who is subject to time. |
| apostrophe |
(line 10) |
"never look upon thee more." Keats is directly addressing a woman, fearing that he will never have time to experience love with her. (It is thought that the woman he is speaking to is Fanny Brawne) |
| diction |
(line 10) |
"never look upon thee more." Keats uses the word upon to create a sense of grandeur and idealism. It presents the woman not just aa a a person you look at, but upon, like the heavenly sky or the previous quatrain. |
| parison |
(lines 10,11) |
"...never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power" These two phrases are directly parallel, and create a sense of urgency. He uses this right before the poem climaxes in order to draw the reader and and build the growing tension.
|
| enjambment |
(lines 11,12) |
This draw attention to the phrase "faery power," which creates a sense of grandness and passion. This great passion is the theme of the poem because this faery passion is not just for the the woman but for all of life. It also draws attention to "unreflecting love." Earlier, Keats presented the idea that we see only the shadows, but here he believes that love is not a refection but that his faery passion allows him to see the truth. |
| personification |
(line 12) |
Personification of love. The love is actively unreflecting. At this moment the poem has reached its climax and the love must be active to order to create the sense of greatness. Also, the personification of a feeling goes along with the Romantic tendency to elevate the power of emotions. |
| isocolon |
(lines 1-12) |
The first three quatrains are of identical structure creating a rhythm in the poem. However, the third quatrain is not finished creating and abrupt stop in the rhythm. Just like he fears his life coming to a sudden end, the third quatrain suddenly breaks and switched structure. |
| parallelism |
(lines 1, 5, 9, 12) |
The first three quatrains begin with the word when, leading up to the line twelve's "Then." This creates a sense of time moving forward the whole poem and the "then" in line twelve alerts the reader that he is about to reach the conclusion of his ideas. |
| metaphor |
(line 12, 13) |
"shore of the wide world" The shore of the world creates a visual image of vastness. The world does not have an actual shore of course, but the shore is his standpoint of overlooking all his life. |
| enjambment |
(line 13) |
This draws attention to the word "think" creating a sense of contemplation. Shows that Keats is about to reach his final conclusion. |
| capitalization |
(line 14) |
The capitalization of Love and Fame present these two ideas as major themes in the poem. |
| diction |
(line 14) |
"...to nothingness do sink." These words are active creating a feeling of life slipping away. The whole poem had been speaking of ideas of love and greatness, which contrast sharply with these words that speak of the reality of desolation. |
| aphorism |
(line 14) |
"and Think, Till Love and Fame Till Love and Fame to nothingness do sink." This final statement presents the final conclusion that all of these wonders that he hopes to understand and the love he hopes to experience all fade with death. As he sits and thinks, as life fades, so does love and fame.
|
Note: This poem is a Shakespearian sonnet, creating a rhythm though the whole poem through iambic pentameter. The 3 quatrains create divide the poem into the three sections. And the final couplet presents his conclusions about death.