John Keats only lived for 26 years and faced harsh criticism to his poetry during his time but is now considered by some as one of the great Romantic poets of the 19th century. He was born in Moorfields, England in 1795. By the time he was fourteen, both his parents had passed away leaving him with guardians that apprenticed him to an apothecary surgeon. Keats soon left the apprenticeship to focus on his poetry. .
In one of Keats" most famous poems, "When I Have Fears that I May Cease to be- Keats explains to the reader his fears of dying before he is able to share with everyone all that he knows. He knows his time is drawing near and takes on a negative outlook on life. He attempts to put into words the feelings and emotions when dealing with death. Everyone has a need to be remembered and that universal appeal is clear in this poem. Keats talks about love and other emotions and of how he will never be able to experience all that he wishes for. .
John Keats gets his message across to the audience through his use of metaphorical and symbolic language and structure. Keats initially emphasizes his purpose by his structure usage. This sonnet has three quatrains and ends with a couplet. The quatrains follow a rhyme scheme of A-B-A-B and the final couplet follows an A-A pattern. .
The reoccurring emotion throughout this sonnet is one of fear. In the first quatrain, Keats tells the reader of his confusion and fear of death. The first line itself tells the reader of Keats" fear that death will reach him before he fulfills all of his life's goals. In the second quatrain, he compares his mind to a storehouse filled with grain. Thoughts overflow and he fears that he will not be able to write about all the poetic ideas in his head. "Huge cloudy symbols of a high romance." The narrator then begins to grieve over the fact that he will never be able to look to the starry sky, which he looks to for inspiration.
