- Evaluate The Poetry of Earth as a sonnet.
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Which season is described in the sestet of the poem ‘The poetry of Earth’? How is it described?
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How is the Petrarchan Sonnet structure appropriate for the theme of ‘Poetry of Earth’ ?
Ans: John Keats’ lyrical nature poem ‘The Poetry of Earth’ is a sonnet. The poem has fourteen lines and it can be divided into one octet and one sestet, following the Petrarchan sonnet form. It has an ABBA rhyme scheme and it is written in iambic pentameter.
The main theme of the sonnet is nature and its eternal delight and its persistent presence. The octave begins in summer and the poet makes a strong statement that “The poetry of earth is never dead”. Even during the scorching sun of summer, the grasshopper takes the lead to continue ‘the poetry of the earth’ and rests only when he is ‘tired out with fun’.
In the sestet part, the poet beautifully sketches the picture of a winter evening. In winter, silence engulfs the entire land. Everything looks frozen, dull and lifeless. Then a shrill voice of the cricket is heard breaking the silence of the winter. Thus, the music of the earth continues throughout the year.
The theme of the poem, the rhyme scheme, the presentation of the theme in the octave and the furthering of the theme in the sestet make The Poetry of Earth a sonnet par excellence.
2.Justify the title of the poem ‘The Poetry of Earth ‘?(HS 2016, 2018)
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Explain the line — “The poetry of earth is ceasing never”.
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How does Keats represent the cycle of seasons in his poem?
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How does the poet show the continuity of nature’s music through seasons?
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What is referred to as the “Poetry of Earth”? Why does it never cease? (HS 2017)
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“The poetry of earth is ceasing never……” — What does the poet mean by ‘poetry of earth’? Explain the quoted line with reference to the text.
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Justify the poet’s assertion— ‘The poetry of earth is never dead.’
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Why does Keats feel that the poetry of earth is never dead?(HS 2015)
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How does Keats show that the poetry of earth never ceases?( HS 2019)
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Identify the voices of the Poetry of Earth. How does Keats establish its continuity through its voices?(HS 2020)
Ans: John Keats begins the poem with a strong statement that the music or poetry of earth is never dead. Here ‘the poetry of the earth’ refers to the never-ending music in nature produced by different creatures, big or small. To justify his statement, the poet presents before us two contrasting seasons of the year namely summer and winter. In summer when the birds are faint by the scorching heat of the sun and hide in the shade of the cooling trees, the Grasshopper takes the lead to continue the music of earth. He takes rest only after having his too much delights. Then comes the winter. In winter, silence engulfs the entire land. Everything looks frozen, dull and lifeless. But the music of the earth is not dead. A shrill voice of the cricket is heard breaking the silence of the winter. Thus, the music of the earth continues throughout the year. So, it is appropriate to state that the main theme of the poem is the music of nature and it is never ending in all seasons. Hence, the title of the poem/ the above mentioned statement is perfect and appropriate.
3. “… he has never done / With his delights” Who is ‘he’ referred to? How does he delight? What does he finally do? What is the theme of the poem The Poetry of Earth.
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Describe the roles of the grasshopper and cricket in continuing Nature’s music through seasons?
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How are the two seasons depicted in the poem the Poetry of Earth?
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What picture of the two seasons does Keats draw in ‘The Poetry of Earth’ ?
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How are the two seasons related?
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”…..he takes the lead” _ who takes the lead and when? How does he take the lead ?
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When and how does the grasshopper take lead?
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“…….he takes the lead / In summer luxury, – he has never done / With his delights;”– Who is ‘he’? Explain the phrase ‘he takes the lead’. When does ‘he’ take the lead?
Ans: In John Keats’ poem ‘The Poetry of Earth’, the Grasshopper is referred to as ‘he’. When all the birds are faint by the scorching heat of the sun and take rest beneath some cooling trees, the grasshopper takes the lead to continue nature’s music. He takes delight moving from hedge to hedge around the newly mown mead. Finally he takes rest at ease beneath some pleasant weed when he is tired with fun and delights.
Nature and its music is the major theme in this sonnet. The first line begins with a declaration that the poetry of earth is never dead. In summer when the birds are faint by the scorching heat of the sun and hide in the shade of the cooling trees, the Grasshopper takes the lead to continue the music of earth. He takes rest only after having his too much delights. Then comes the winter. In winter, silence engulfs the entire land. Everything looks frozen, dull and lifeless. But the music of the earth is not dead. A shrill voice of the cricket is heard breaking the silence of the winter. Thus, the music of the earth continues throughout the year.
Keats uses the grasshopper and the cricket as the symbols of summer and winter, respectively. They keep the music of the nature throughout the year. The two seasons are connected by the music of the grasshopper and the cricket.
- Write a short note on the use of imagery used in the poem ‘ The Poetry of Earth’?
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Discuss the poem ‘The Poeitry of Earth’ as a nature poem.
Ans: Nature is the major theme of the poem “The Poetry of Earth”. The poem begins with the poet’s assertion that the poetry of earth is never dead. In the following lines the poet tries to justify his strong statement. In the course of fourteen lines, the poet aludes to birds, the sun, trees, hedges, meadows, frost and grassy hills. All these are popular motifs of a nature poem. On a hot summer day the grasshopper takes the lead and keeps the music of nature alive with his merry voice. On the other hand, the silence of the winter is broken by the shrill note of the cricket. In this way, Keats merges the music of summer and the music of winter and make us realize that the music of nature is never- ending. All these make ‘The Poetry of Earth ” a nature poem par excellence.
5. “And seems to one in drowsiness half lost / The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.” — Who is ‘one’? What vision is referred to here? Why does the ‘one’ have such a vision?
Ans: In John Keats’ poem The Poetry of Earth ‘one’ is a person half- lost in drowsiness in winter.
Here the vision of a grasshopper in chilling winter is referred.
The poetry of earth is never dead even in chilling cold of winter. In winter, silence engulfs the whole atmosphere. However, this silence is broken through the song of the cricket whose music gets only louder with time.The poet states that the person who is half-lost in drowsiness would think that it is the grasshopper that is singing in some grassy hills. The cricket’s song sounds similar to that of a grasshopper from some grassy hills during the summer. Hence, people experiencing winter might be reminded of the warmth of the summer.
নিচে কিছু Extra Model Questions দেওয়া হল। এগুলোর উত্তর অনেকটা আগের মতোই হবে। তোমরা পরীক্ষার জন্য summary আর Title থেকে যে প্রশ্নগুলো হয়, সেগুলো ভালো করে পড়বে। তাহলেই এই কবিতা থেকে যে কোনো প্রশ্নের উত্তর লিখতে পারবে।
Write a summary of the poem ‘The Poetry of Earth’.
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Evaluate the contrasting ideas in the poem “The Poetry of Earth”.
How does Keats portray the music of summer in his poem?
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How does the grasshopper celebrate the season of summer?
How does Keats portray the music of winter in his poem?
Describe the picture of winter as presented in the poem “Poetry of Earth”. How is warmth instilled in the cold atmosphere of winter?
How does the cricket continue the song of the grasshopper in winter?
How is the music of summer continued in the depths of winter?
How does winter transform nature? How does the poetry of earth continue even in winter ?
