To sleep Flashcards
context of the poem
Keats became increasingly ill throughout 1819, by the beginning of 1820 the evidence of tuberculosis was clear.Keats and Fanny Brawne became secretly engaged in October 1819. Despite Keats discovery he was suffering from turbucluosis. Fnany refused to leave him. His condition limited their opportunities to meet but their correspondence revealed passionate devotion.
Effect of context on the poem?
Keats mental health suffered greatly. Towards the end of his life, with mortality pressing upon him, he was best by insecurities, jealousy and depression-he poem’s sensuous vision of drowsiness carries an undercurrent of anxiety: sometimes, the poem suggests, sleep is the only available escape from one’s troubles
- Keats’ poetry was not appreciated at the time he was writing and he often received negative reviews on his works. It could’ve assumed that Keats wanted to escape this negativity and under appreciation, especially considering one of Keats’ greatest fear was to be forgotten
Embalmer
one who perceives and prepares bodies for burial or cremation
Embowered
surround or shelter especially with trees or climbing plants
Benign
gentle and kind
when was the poem written?
1819
what type of poem is it?
Apostrophe-being addressed, automatically personifying sleep. This creates a dialogue
Significance of the title?
- apostrophe addressed to a personified sleep
- sleep is considered restorative and necessary but also a peaceful escapism. sleep is needed both physically and emotionally.
- the middle of the night appears a time of reflective and lonely isolation
what is the form of the poem?
variation of the shakespearean sonnet-there is no rhyming couplet. Alternating rhyme scheme.- sonnet form used to invoke a celebrstory love or respect for sleep,it subverts the Shakespeare’s form by being irresolute and open to ambiguity, long vowel sounds used throughout slow the poem down and create a sort of lullaby effect
Use of anaphora
Repetition of “O” as an in-vocation, creating an alliterative effect
summary of the poem
a speaker fervently prays to the personified figure of Sleep itself, begging for Sleep to bestow blissful unconsciousness on them—and quickly, before all the speaker’s daytime worries can swoop in and spoil their rest
“our gloomed-pleased eyes”
Keatsian Paradox, “gloom pleased eyes” establishes a dichotomy between day and night, implying that people people to be “embowered from the light and pleased by “gloom” rather than remain in the state of everyday life.
O soft embalmer of the still midnight”
directly addressed sleep as if yurning or asking for it
- the phrase “soft embalmer” presents sleep as a gentle and soothing force. it is the soft provides of forgetfulness for the troubled human spirit.
- “embalmer” also begins the deathly imagery, as this is used to preserve a corpse from decay. this suggests that sleep is similar to death.
- “midnight” is also a period of transience and is a liminal boundary between night and day, perhaps echoing the nature of sleep as a liminal state between life and death. “midnight” also presents images of darkness perhaps suggesting the struggles and realities found in the day
“forgetfulness divine”
- referencing the state of dream and subconscious mind oblivious to the everyday suffering of human life and society.
- Keats’ use of a colon here places emphasis on “divine” which suggests that sleep is a pure pleasure and of great value and beauty
what sounds can you find in the poem and what is there effect?
The whole poem is full of soft sounds (e.g. ‘f’ and ‘m’ in the opening quatrain), long vowels (‘gloom-pleased’, ‘embowered’, ‘soothest’ etc.) and sibilants (‘still’, ‘shutting’, ‘enshaded’). very soothing, contrasting the O sounds and plosive alliteration, this is the opposite veto the calming effect of sleep, paradox between the conscious and subconscious.
what is the effect of sleep being personified?
the idea of forming a relationship with sleep-relationships are different, they are formed for different reasons, they are transactional. Symbolises death-eats is forming a relationship with his eventual death
“its strength for darkness, burrowing like a mole”
the medial cesura creates a tension about how we read this line, is iy the “curious conscience” that is burrowing like a mole or is it darkest. If it is the darkness, this creates this idea of esacpeness, wants to use darkness as a way to burrow away from his daily life and feel safe. If it is his conscience, this is him trying to hide away from his internal conscious that wants to die, as this is a sin. This can be seen as a form of protection in this way
Andre Motion says that the poem ‘hankers after a calm nowhere”
I agree with this to a certain extent, however I don’t think there is nowhere, I think within himself he can find calmness and acceptance or this could be within sleep or even death.
“or wait the ‘Amen’, ere they poppy throws around my bed it’s lulling charities”
- reference to religion through “Amen” as if waiting for sleep to affirm his longing to escape
- the reference to “poppy” indicates a sense of intoxication and escapism. the medically trained Keats knows that opiates are used to induce sleep
- “lulling charities” creates a soothing tone and continues the lexical field of hushing sounds surrounding the poem
- “charities” suggests how sleep voluntarily provides this state of comfort and escapism
“Then save me, or the passed day will shine upon my pillow, breeding many woes, -“
- “save me” creates a sense of desperation and longing to escape his current situation. this commanding tone implies an extreme world weariness in the realities of life
- the lexical field of religion throughout the poem is again implied here when “save me” suggests a plea for a sort of redemption. the continued god-like comparison elevates sleep to a sort of higher power that is relied upon and ever present
- “breeding my many woes” suggests that the problems in life are innumerable and cannot be overcome. only sleep can provide a relief from these.
- “shine” the use of light imagery creates continued juxtapositions and dichotomies to demonstrate the hardships and exposures of the day, compared to the comfort and escapism found in the night through sleep
“turn the key deftly in the oiled wards, and seal the hushed Casket of my soul”
- the tone of the poem shifts from focusing on the comfort of sleep to the desperation for it, with the imperatives “turn” and “seal” reflecting this.
- “Casket” and “soul” connotes images of death, suggesting that Keats imagines death provides a similar relief from his conscience and worries that plague him as they would be locked away in the permanence of death. perhaps at this point death becomes more desirable as he would be relieved from the burden of waiting for sleep to provide relief from the day
- the images of death reinforce sleep as a liminal boundary between life and death
- the reference to death gives a sense of some finality and resolution, but the ambiguity of sleep and death and the final image on the “soul” which in itself represents a boundary state between life and death,
makes this final image not so resolute
