John Keats

1. A thing of beauty
John Keats
MUSHIKA RAJU
PGT ENGLISH

2. John Keats (1795-1821)
• He was an English Romantic poet.
• He passed away at the age of 25 with tuberculosis.
• He was trained to be a surgeon but devoted himself to the poetry.
• His secret, power to sway and delight the readers lies primarily in
his gift for perceiving (గ్రహించడిం ) the world and living his moods
and aspirations in terms of language.
• Some of his most acclaimed works are “Ode to a Nightingale”,
“Sleep and Poetry”, and the famous sonnet “On First Looking into
Chapman's Homer”.

3. Endymion
• The poem begins with the line "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever".
• The poem is divided into four books, each approximately 1,000 lines long.
• Keats based the poem on the Greek myth of Endymion, the shepherd beloved of
the moon goddess Selene. The poem elaborates on the original story and renames
Selene "Cynthia" (an alternative name for Artemis).
• Book I gives Endymion's account of his dreams and experiences.
• In Book II, Endymion ventures into the underworld in search of his love.
• Book III reveals Endymion's enduring love, and he begs the Moon not to torment
him any longer as he journeys through a watery void on the sea floor.
• Book IV, Endymion falls in love with a beautiful Indian maiden. Both ride
winged black steeds to Mount Olympus where Cynthia awaits, only for
Endymion to forsake the goddess for his new, mortal, love. Endymion and the
Indian girl return to earth, the latter saying she cannot be his love. He is
miserable, 'til quite suddenly he comes upon the Indian maiden again and she
reveals that she is in fact Cynthia. She then tells him of how she tried to forget
him, to move on, but that in the end, "'There is not one,/ No, no, not one/ But
thee.'"

4. A Study of Poem
Structural Study
• Poet and speaker
• Who is the narrator /speaker?
• Participant or non-participant narrator
• Voice of the speaker
• What kind of narration? (1st, 2nd, or 3rd)
• Tone of the speaker
• Mode of the speaker
• Place and time of the poem (social
setting)
• Subjective or objective poem
• To whom is it addressing?
• Rhyme scheme
• Rhythm (Meter)
• Figures of speech (techniques of
language)
Thematic study
• Subject matter :
• What are the things of beauty?
• What is for the “Beauty of Nature” ?
• How does it help human beings?
• What kind of attitude will it give ?

5. “A Thing of Beauty”
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever: /ˈev.ər/
Its loveliness increases; it will never /ˈnev.ər/
Pass into nothingness; but still will keep /kiːp/
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep /sliːp/
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. /ˈbriː.ðɪŋ/
Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing /riːðiŋ/
A flowery band to bind us to the earth, /ɜːθ/
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth /dɜːθ/
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days, /deɪs/
Of all the unhealthy and o'er-darkened ways /weɪs/
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all, /ɔːl/
Some shape of beauty moves away the p /pɔːl/

6. From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon, /muːn/
Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon /buːn/
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils /ˈdæf.ə.dɪls/
With the green world they live in; and clear rills /rils/
That for themselves a cooling covert make /meɪk/
'Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake, /breɪk/
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms: /bluːms/
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms /duːms/
We have imagined for the mighty dead; /ded/
All lovely tales that we have heard or read: /red/
An endless fountain of immortal drink, /drɪŋk/
Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink. /brɪŋk/

7. The Heroic Couplet
• It is an Iambic Pentameter, consists of two lines with ten
syllables and rhymes together. It is also called
Decasyllabic (Ten syllable) Couplet.
• Because of ten-syllable iambic verse, the usual form for
Epic verse in English, and celebrating heroic exploits, it
is called “heroic”.
• Chaucer derived it from older French verse and he used
it in his works: The Legend of Good Women and
The Canterbury Tales.
• There is a pause at the end of the first line, indicated by a
comma, signifying partial completion of the sense.

8. Iambic Pentameter
• It is a type of metric line and the most common meter in English
poetry and verse drama. with five metrical feet, each consisting of
one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable.
• As lines in iambic pentameter usually contain ten syllables, it is
considered a form of decasyllabic verse.
A thing of beauty is a joy for ever
/ə/ /θɪŋ/ /əv/ /ˈbjuː.ti/ /ɪz/ /ə/ /dʒɔɪ/ fɔːr/ /ˈev.ər/
Its loveliness increases; it will never
/ɪts/ /ˈlʌv.li.nəs/ /ɪnˈkriːses/ /ɪt/ /wɪl/ /ˈnev.ər/

9. The summary of "A Thing of Beauty"
• “A Thing of Beauty” is taken from the poem, Endymion: A Poetic Romance written by
John Keats. The poet says that a beautiful thing is a source of endless joy. It has eternal
beauty which never fades away. A beautiful thing is like a shady shelter which gives us a
sleep full of sweet dreams, good health and relaxation.
• Our attachments to the Earthly things are like a flowery wreath. They are traps which bind
us to the materialistic things and keep us away from eternal happiness. The Earth is full of
hatred, greed and negativity. According to the poet, the gloom and sadness caused by this
negativity fades away with the positive vibes of the beautiful things that surround us.
• The poet lists out some of the beautiful things that surround us. As the saying goes -
"Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. He says that the numerous creations of God like
the Sun which gives us energy, the moon's beauty, the trees which give us shade are the
natural beauties around us. The various animals like the sheep that surround us make our
world lively. The pretty flowers like daffodils make the world green and lively. The
flowing streams of water cool and refresh us in the hot summer season. The forests which
are full of the pretty musk rose flowers are a beautiful sight to the eye. All these are the
things of beauty. Also, the stories of the brave soldiers who laid their lives to protect their
people are beautiful and inspiring. These beautiful things are like a fountain of
immortality bestowed upon us by God. They inspire us to live on and maintain our faith in
goodness.