When+I+Have+Fears

Answers to text book questions applicable. By Elizabeth Stanton

1) In the 1st quatrain the speaker is afraid that he will not write and create work to the amount and quality he had hoped for, to express his thoughts and get everything down. In the 2nd quatrain he is afraid he will never see the great wonders of the universe and feel love and romance. In the 3rd quatrain he is worried he won't have enough time to appreciate his love and the power felt while in love. His thoughts progress in terms of least mportant to most important, even though all are highly valued by him, love triumphs over all his other values.

2) The variation in rhyme scheme is purposeful in that he breaks with the normal 3 quatrains and a summary of that is generally more positive and his last 2 lines are a continuation of thought, as the obvious consequence of the last quatrain. The long vowel words are used to express his sorrow, almost like a moan, because he knows he will soon die and he is very upset over this.

Note: While many poets write of other people's feelings as they are about to die, Keats writes honestly of his own death, as he died of tb at a very young age of 26.

By Anisha Virk Title: When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be Author: John Keats Distinguishable poetic devices/style: Shakespearean, but Keats usually wrote in abc abd cde ded Historical Period: 19th century Characterless/Relationships: Keats wrote this in first person, autobiographal Setting/Plot: Foreshadowing/Predicting his own death Quotable-Memorizable “OTS”/ Analysis: “ When I have fears that I may cease to beBefore my pen has glean'd my teeming brain,Before high-piled books, in charactery,Hold like rich garners the full ripen'd grain;” Not able to fulfill his full potential, he is fearful that he will not have enough time to put all of this thoughts onto paper.