Bright Star

Question 1

Form

Answer 1

Shakespearean Sonnet 8/6 Volta – Iambic Pentameter. Regular rhyme scheme sense of connection.

Question 2

‘Watching with eternal lids apart’

Answer 2

Personification of the star always watching.

Question 3

Volta

Answer 3

No’ marks the Volta and Keats turns to warmer images of himself pillowed on his love’s breast.

Question 4

Summary

Answer 4

The poem starts with the wish of the speaker to be like the ‘stedfast’ star which does not change. His desire to be still and unmovable contrasts with the ever fluctuating life of humans. The speaker immediately shows his wit in wishing to be like the star stating that he loves the patience of the star but not the loneliness it possesses. He wants to be unaffected by the natural change that occur in the earth, meanwhile he loves to watch the changing process of snowcapped mountains, the moving water and other happenings. He cleverly puts the reason of his impossible desires to remain same forever; he wants to lay on the lap of his beloved. On that very time, he denies to be changed. He carves to see changes of the nature laying on the lap of his beloved. He wants to cherish the moment forever. He also wishes to die if his wish for the eternal love does not fulfil.

Question 5

Octave

Answer 5

Octave centres around image of bright star.

Question 6

Permanence

Answer 6

Moves to seek immutability within the human condition, to find an enclosing perfection rooted in the world of constant change. Keats is grappling with the paradox of the desire for permanence and a world of timelessness and eternity (the star) while living in a world of time and flux. The paradox is resolved by the end of the poem: joy and fulfilment are to be found here, now; he needs no more.

Question 7

Love Forever

Answer 7

The cause of death is love, he wants to love forever like the stars but because he is human it dies. The glory of love is not constant.

Question 8

Steadfastness

Answer 8

Once the poet eliminates the non-human qualities of the star, he is left with just the quality of steadfastness. He can now define steadfastness in terms of human life on earth, in the world of love and movement.

Question 9

Religious Imagery

Answer 9

Even the religious imagery is associated with coldness and aloneness; moreover, the star is cut off from the beauties of nature on earth. and is positioned as a passive observer of life.