The Poetry of Earth (Petrachan Sonnet)
John Keats
1. Substance/Theme/Symbol/Title
Answer: In his sonnet ‘The Poetry of Earth’ John Keats emphatically suggests that the poetry of Earth is continuing forever even with the change of season circle. The grasshopper and cricket are two small creatures of Earth. They are unlike song birds. They are hardly visible. In summer the birds are exhausted with the excessive unbearable heat of the sun. They stop their songs and take shelter in the cool shade of leafy trees. At this moment the grasshopper takes the lead to fill the void of Earth’s music. It runs merrily from hedge to hedge singing its joyous song and enlivens nature with its beautiful musical chirping sound. In the silence of frosty winter, little cricket continues the poetry of earth without break. The song of cricket is as warm as the grasshopper’s music. Thus the two lovely little insects take the lead to make the earth musical. It shows that when one creature stops another rises up with new symphony. (In fact they stand for the eternal flow of the earth’s music.- for symbol)
(So, the title of the poem ‘ The poetry of Earth’ is apt and appealing. – for title).
2. ‘ He takes the lead’ – Who is he? Who takes the lead? When does he take the lead? How does he take the lead?
Answer: Here ‘he’ is the grasshopper.
The grasshopper takes the lead in Keats sonnet ‘The Poetry of Earth’.
In summer the birds are exhausted with the excessive unbearable heat of the sun. They stop their songs and take shelter in the cool shade of leafy trees. So void is created. At this moment the grasshopper takes the lead in the creation of music.
The grasshopper takes the lead by chirruping merrily from hedge to hedge. His song expresses immense joy as he flits about in the air. The sound of the grasshopper fills the air and shows summer luxury. When he is tired, he takes rest beneath a pleasant weed to resume his song with renewed energy. He drinks the golden sunlight out of extreme delight. Thus the grasshopper keeps alive the poetry of Earth in the scorching heat of summer.
3. a) How does Keats shows that the poetry of earth never comes to an end? or
b) Discuss how Keats establishes that the poetry of earth never ends? or
c) Why is the poetry of earth never dead? or
d) ‘The poetry of earth is ceasing never’ – explain? or
e) How does Keats describe the continuity of earth’s music? or
f) Explain the first line of octave and sestet?
Answer: At the beginning of the octave and the sestet, John Keats draws a conclusion that the poetry created by the music of nature always remains alive throughout the cycle of season. The music is ‘never dead’ and never ceasing. The birds, the grasshopper and the cricket take the charge by turns to ensure that the poetry is never dead. The Frost makes the winter evening silent. Nature becomes bleak and desolate. In such a frosty and silent weather, the cricket keeps the music of earth alive. The sweet chirping of grasshopper during hot summer and the sweet shrill note of cricket proof that the charm of nature never dies. They actually establishes the fact that it does not matter weather the season is pleasant or morose, nature continues to spreads its beauty. Thus John Keats shows that the poetry of Earth never comes to an end.
4. a.’He has never done with delight’ – Who is he? Whose delights are spoken here? What are the delights referred to here? Why has he never done with his delight? Or
Answer: Here ‘he’ is grasshopper. The delights of grasshopper are spoken of here.
b. ‘He rests at ease’ – Who is he? Where does he rest? When does he take rest? How does he enliven nature?
Answer: In John Keats’s sonnet ‘ The Poetry of Earth’ he refers to the grasshopper.
c. ‘That is the grasshopper’ – What does that refer?
Answer: In John Keats’s sonnet ‘The Poetry of Earth’ ‘that’ refers to the song of the grasshopper.
d. ‘A voice will run’ – Whose voice is referred to here?
Answer: – The voice of the grasshopper is referred to here.
Answer: In summer the birds are exhausted with the excessive unbearable heat of the sun. They stop their songs and take shelter in the cool shade of leafy trees. At this moment the grasshopper takes the lead to fill the void of earth’s music. But when he gets tired, he rest beneath some pleasant weed.
The grasshopper becomes the poet of summer and takes the lead by chirping merrily from hedge to hedge. Its song expresses immense joy as he flits about in the air. The sound of the grasshopper fills the air and shows the luxury of summer. When he is tired, he takes rest beneath a pleasant weed to resume his song with renewed energy. Thus the grasshopper keeps alive the poetry of earth in the scorching heat of summer. Even in the sultry Summer day, he never stops his chants.
5. ‘from the stove there shrills/ The Cricket song’ – what role does the cricket play? Or
‘When the first/ has wrought a silence’ – describe the picture?
Or
Describe how does the poet present the music of winter through the voice of the cricket?
Answer: In the sestet of his sonnet ‘The Poetry of Earth’ Keats draws a beautiful picture of lone winter using cricket’s song, frost and silence. Winter arrives with its icy touch. Nature looks bleak and desolate. A death like silence prevails all around. Even then, the tireless poet of winter keeps the music of earth alive. Breaking the painful silence of the cheerless winter evening comes the cricket’s shrill notes from (somewhere near) stove. Its song pervades the surroundings. (In such a bitter cold evening) To a person, half-asleep in drowsiness, the cricket’s song seems to be the music of the grasshopper singing joyfully among some grassy hills on a summer day. It means that the song of cricket keeps the music of earth alive.
Short questions:
1. Who creates silence in winter?
Answer: Frost creates silence in winter.
2. In the sestet of the sonnet “The Poetry of Earth” the season of which is portrayed.
3. The poet presents two seasons – summer and winter.
4. When the birds became exhausted in the hot summer days, they take rest in the cool shade of trees.
5. In the poem “The Poetry of Earth” Keats uses music as a symbol of poetry.
6. A grasshopper is seen in the bushes, under the weeds and in the grassy hills in summer.
7. In “The Poetry of Earth” Keats celebrates the immortal music of nature.
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