Analysis of John Keats' "On the Sonnet"

(For actual poem see page 799 in Norton): In tail end Keats On the Sonnet, he urges fellow poets to non allow their poetical genius, their M purpose die, because it is confined to the parameters of then- incumbent Petrarchan and Shakespe arean measure springs. While he follows neither form, (thus requiring further analysis to check into the logic of his poem), his use of symbolism makes his message more than than clear. He starts the poem with an allusion to Andromeda, who, according to Hellenic myth, was chained to a jolt so that she would be devoured by a sea fiend (Norton 799). He uses this image to hold the fate of poetry, if it follows the unsatisfactory form of either Petrarchan or Shakespearean praises. This image is portrayed in the first three lines, If by dull rhymes our English essential be chained, /And like Andromeda, the praise sweet /Fettered, in suffer of pain and loveliness, which stern be translated as If our poetry must be confined by the current praise forms, and feeling the fate of Andromeda, despite our minute at ecstasytion...[then...]. The second article of the thought introduced in lines one with three, the implied then, is found in lines quaternary done nine. Keats writes, Let us find, if we must be constrained, /Sandals more inter distort and comp permite /To check out the bare foot of metrical composition: /Let us stare the lyre, and confer the stress /Of every accord, and see what whitethorn be gained /By ear industrious, and attention meet. According to the footnote provided in Norton, Poesy refers to a need voiced in a letter, in which Keats wrote out this poem and then discussed his impatience with the traditional Petrarchan and Shakespearean sonnet forms: I have been endeavoring to discover a ameliorate sonnet stanza than we have. The word lyre apprize mean harp, and quarter in addition be a symbol for lyric poetry, and fit in arsehole mean a string of a melodious instrument, su ch as a harp, but set up besides refer to ! poetry, according to the Oxford English Dictionary. With this in mind, lines four by nine can be interpreted to mean, [if we must be chained like this], then lets find intricately weave sandals, (symbolic of new, undiscovered sonnet forms; Keats need), to follow throughl my need: lets glance the harp (symbolic of lyric poetry), and listen to every chord (continuing the simile of the harp, chords are symbolic of lines within lyric poetry), and lets see what we can accomplish through careful listening and attention. Finally, in the intermingle in five lines of the sonnet, Keats directly addresses his fellow poets as misers, which has a mental image meaning. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, misers substance poets, but it also means miserable people. This intentional word joke expresses Keats view that poets are currently miserable, because of the inadequacy of the current sonnet forms. In lines ten through fourteen, he writes, Misers of sound and syllable, no less /Than Midas of his coinage, let us be /Jealous of defunct leaves in the bay-wreath visor; /So, if we may not let the mull be free, /She volition be bound with garlands of her own. Midas was a mogul who had the power to modus operandi everything that he touched into gold.

According to Norton, jealous meant suspiciously watchful. Also, in reference to the bay-wreath crown, according to the sixth footnote, The bay tree was ineffable to Apollo, god of poetry, and bay wreaths came to symbolize rightful(a) poetic achievement. The recoil of the bay tree is sometimes considered an omen of finis. Keats continued the thought, im plying that when the leaves of the bay-wreath crown, ! which represents legitimate poetic achievement, begin to die, they are a warning of decease to that very piece of poetry. Finally Muse refers to a poets inspiration, which may be killed once it is bound by the dying leaves (garland) of the bay-wreath crown, which is fulfil by not using ones Muse to its salutaryest creative potential. These lines can thus be translated as Fellow miserable/ queen regnant poets, lets be suspiciously watchful of omens of death to our poetry; if we do not let our inspiration run free, it will die too. John Keats, manifestly disillusioned by the available forms through which to write poetry, expresses his dissatisfaction in his sonnet, On the Sonnet. Because he uses an ambiguous, unidentifiable sonnet form, instead of the Shakespearean or the Petrarchan sonnet forms, the integrity of his argument is not undermined. In this way, not only does he express his hatred for the current sonnet forms, but refuses to use them as he communicates this de feat in his own sonnet. If you want to get a full essay, launch it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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