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To Sleep by John Keats

 

            John Keats was a major part in romantic poetry in the early 1800's. His poems have a certain flow, which makes them easy to read and follow. The poem that I have selected is entitled To Sleep. The title of the poem is perfect for this selection because it creates a kind of dull setting. .
             Keats starts off the poem by saying "O soft embalmer of the still midnight". This creates a gloomy type of mood because an embalmer is a technique used to keep the organs in tack. In line 2 he says " Shutting, with careful fingers and benign" this means that he is being gently and very careful not to harm the body while it is in its "sleep". Lines 3-5 refer to the body explaining that the eyes are closed off to the light of the world and how it is sleeping so peacefully. Lines 6-7 explain the actually mass that would be taking place with a religious figure, such as a priest, who would be giving a mass to the family and friends. In line 8 he calls his coffin a bed and says that all the people are saying their good byes. Lines 9-10 he says people are leaving their misery with him. John Keats goes on by comparing the casket being buried to a mole that is burrowing. He finishes of by saying that when the key locks the casket shut it has "hushed the Casket of my Soul." By saying that his soul has been hushed he means that he has gone to rest for the last time. .
             So in the end Keats creates a mood in which the reader is able to follow and easily understandable. His poems create feelings that I could connect with and he writes about things that people could relate to. He uses personification to get a point across to the readers. .
            


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