The Poetry of Earth
John Keats
Text
The poetry of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run
From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead;
That is the Grasshopper' — he takes the lead
In summer luxury, — he has never done
With his delights; for when tired out with fun
He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed.
The poetry of earth is ceasing never:
On a lone winter evening, when the frost
He wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills
The Cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever,
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost,
The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.
★★ Important Descriptive types Questions with Answers:
Question: Substance of the poem “The Poetry of the Earth.”
Ans : In this John Keats describes that the natural music of the earth never ceases to play through the cycle of seasons. He uses the Petrarchan form of the sonnet to depict the songs of the Grasshopper and the Cricket as the natural music of two different seasons namely summer and winter.
In the octave the poet draws a picture of the summer season. In summer, the unbearable heat makes all birds tired and take rest in the cool shades of the trees. Just then when the poetry of earth seems to come to a standstill, the Grasshopper takes the charge and continues the music of Nature by the lead in ‘summer luxury’. He jumps from hedge to hedge about the new-mown meadow. The chirping of the Grasshopper expresses immense joy and reflects the inherent beauty of nature. The joy of Grasshopper know no bounds. Nothing can dampen his spirit and he sings his song incessantly until he gets tired. He becomes the poet of summer who, when tired rests beneath ‘some pleasant weed’.
The sestet describes a pen-picture of a gloomy and desolate winter evening. On a lonely winter evening, when the frost has put everyone and everything to silent mode, one can still hear the song of Cricket coming from the stove. The Cricket’s song breaks the silence of the wintry frost and brings warmth to the earth. In the last two lines, The Cricket’s song evokes memories of the Grasshopper’s voice to the one who is half-asleep. This it takes the reader to the beginning of the poem again and in this way through the cycle of seasons the poetry of earth continues.
Question : What does Keats mean by ‘the poetry of earth’? Why does he say that this poetry never ceases ?
Ans: ‘The poetry of earth’ means the music of Nature. Nature communicates with us through various natural sounds. So, the poet through his poem reiterates his firm belief that Nature sings her song of glory through the voices of birds and beasts and thus it keeps the earth’s music alive.
In the poem, ‘The Poetry of Earth’, John Keats clearly describes that Nature is brimming with music. Although with flow of time the season changes but the song of earth never ceases, it continues for ever through the voices of the birds and beasts. The birds, the Grasshopper, and the Cricket take the charge by turns to ensure that the poetry of earth is never dead. At the end the chirping of the Grasshopper and the Cricket merge into one and become the immortal poetry of earth. The poet thus conveys that, through the seasons come and go but the poetry of earth never comes to an end.
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