Keats: When I have fears that I may cease to be Flashcards

1
Q

Title

When I have fears that I may cease to be

A

When I have fears that I may cease to be
- IP highlights important points

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2
Q

Form

A

Shakespearean sonnet
ABAB CDCD EFEF GG

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3
Q

1st quatrain

When I have fears that I may cease to be
Before my pen has gleaned my teeming brain,
Before high-pilèd books, in charactery,
Hold like rich garners the full ripened grain;

A
  • “before…before”- Repetition emphasises theme of time.
  • ;” marks the end of the quatrain, start of new ideas.
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4
Q

2nd quatrain

When I behold, upon the night’s starred face,
Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance,
And think that I may never live to trace
Their shadows with the magic hand of chance;

A
  • “scarred face”- Keats’ trope- sky. (link to “on first looking…”)
  • “magic hand of chance”- quatrain ends with death, emph. how it is beyond his control.
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5
Q

3rd quatrain

And when I feel, fair creature of an hour,
That I shall never look upon thee more,
Never have relish in the faery power
Of unreflecting love—then on the shore

A
  • “fair creature”- FB
  • “never…never”- goes against the IP, emphasises his point. (spondee)
  • “love!-then”- volta, 2 stressed syllables. volta not in classical place, caused by his high emotion.
  • Rhyming couplet + internal rhyme- internal thought & conclusion.
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6
Q

Written

A

January 1818. Published posthumously.

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