on sitting down to read king lear Flashcards
title
reference to Shakespeare play about sacrifice, joy and misery. this can be echoed through Keats life?
o golden tongued romance
personification of romantics
medieval romance is a completely different world to shakesperes tragedies like king lear.
Keats is sick of the fantasy go romance and wants the reality and real life of a tragedy.
serene lute
mythological imagery- luring Keats away from what he wants to become
allusion to sirens - lure men away by their voices. this is what Shakespearian tragedies are doing
semantic field of hell
‘damnation, burn, phoenix wings’
impassioned clay
-allusiuon to prometheus creating people
-god created Adam out of clay- linking to the fall go man. biblical allusion.
bittersweet
-oxymoron, first used in Romeo and Juliet.
could represent Keats mind about switching from romance to Shakespearian style
Chief Poet
the3 capitalisation shows the respect that Keats has for Shakespeare. chief signifies that he is the boss and no one can be better than him.
old oak forest
alliteration
metaphor for Keats own mind. he is also comparing himself to king lear who w3ondered through a forest and ended up poisoned, perhaps signalling Keats fate if he was to empass beyond his belonging.
futhermore, the forest enhances the complexity and opaqueness go Shakespeare as his work is that detailed it needs navigating, like you’d navigate a forest. Keats feels like he will not accomplish such skill and talent.- ‘barren dream’
futhrtmoresr oak is an English symbol and represents knowledge and passion.
phoenix wings
freedom.
mythical creature that is consumed by fire and reborn from ashes. he wants his work to bring him b ack to life and allow him to live eternally, like Shakespeares work has allowed him to live forever.
what is poem about
a poem about the negative capability and Keats wanting to experience the harsh realities of the tragedies rather than fairytale like romance.
