When examining the works of John Keats, one can notice the different themes, styles and techniques he uses. These elements include the importance of friendship, the characteristics of human nature, the contemplation of life and death, and the effects of the passage of time. Keats also uses several stylistic techniques such as sensual imagery, alliteration, and personification. Through these themes, styles, and techniques, Keats is truly able to connect with the reader and allow them to truly understand the message he conveys in his many works. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay One of the central themes of many of John Keats's works is the importance of friendship. For example, Keats writes: “My chest of books is shared among my friends. » (Sharp 1:124), which shows that he wants his most precious possessions, his books, to be given to his closest friends after his death. Keats giving these possessions to his friends is representative of the fact that without the support of his friends during his illness, he would not have been able to pursue his passion as a writer. Essentially, Keats recognizes that he owes a lot to his friends for their support in his difficult times and gives what little he has to show his appreciation. As Sharp also states on page 124: “No one familiar with Keats's poetry, letters, or life should be surprised that the emphasis is on friends. For to a virtually unprecedented extent, the story of his life and work is indeed a story of friendship. This shows that in both of Keats's works and in his own life, friendship was of immense value to Keats. Due to his impending death and debilitating illness, it was important for Keats to surround himself with close friends so that he could travel the paths that would most certainly await him towards the end of his life. These friends would not only support him, but would also be the subject of many of his literary works. The theme of friendship is also addressed in one of Keats's earlier works, "The Great End of Posey", in which Keats describes the qualities of someone who would be considered a good friend. Keats emphasizes that a good friend is one who should “soothe, heal, and uplift the thoughts of man.” It is easy to see why Keats would have described these as good qualities, since his closest friends inspired him to write works such as "Written on the Day Mr. Leigh Hunt Left Prison." These qualities would be personified in works such as “To Autumn”. One final way Keats talks about friendship is through his poem “To Autumn.” In this poem, Keats presents autumn at its peak, flourishing, but also keeping in mind that winter will come and with it autumn will end/die. Keats, however, consoles autumn so that, while it lasts, it can reach its full potential as a season and do its job. By writing in this way, Keats is able to personify the characteristics of a good friend in caring for Autumn and reflect the characteristics of his friends towards himself as he grows weaker day by day due to his cancer metastasized. Besides the characteristics of friendship, Keats also uses human nature as a theme. As seen in Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale", the relationship between the narrator and the nightingale's voice reflects the human relationship with nature in that we are its destroyers. In this quote from Elizabeth A. Lawrence, "the aesthetic importance of natural phenomena such as birdsong to the human psyche - an idea not often appreciated -is emphasized,” shows that through the narrator's interaction with the nightingale, the narrator's own psyche is affected in such a way that he begins to contemplate the effects of humans on nature. This also serves as a metaphor for the effect of Keats's illness on his own body, and how in both cases Keats's circumstances, nature, and life deteriorate over time. Another area in which we can see Keats using human nature is the feeling of tranquility evoked by the poem “Ode to a Nightingale”. Lawrence writes: “Keats felt a quiet, continuous joy in his song; and one day he left the breakfast table and went to a lawn under a plum tree, where he sat for two or three hours. Afterwards, Keats returned from his two-hour stay with slips of paper in his hand littered with his feelings for the songs of the Nightingales. Again, the poem reflects how nature evokes a sense of tranquility in humans and in doing so, it is simply part of the human nature that we all experience. A final example in which Keats refers to human nature is found in the vast majority of his writings. The reader is called to remember that Keats was faced with the knowledge that he was going to die. Examining his poems in depth, it is evident that Keats's human nature plays a role in the questions he asks regarding the uncertainty of how much time he has left. Keats asks the question of what is the connection between the knowledge that we are going to die and the pleasure we experience in this world through our senses. This moves on to the next theme, which is probably the most referenced of the group, the contemplation of life and death. As we know, Keats battled illness very early in his life and knew for certain that it would be his illness that would end his life. This contemplation can be seen in Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale", where he ponders whether or not he should embrace death, or rather live vicariously through the song of the Nightingales. What the reader notices here is that Keats is at odds with himself and doesn't know whether he should just give up and wait for death, or live his life to the fullest until he dies. Another area in which the theme of contemplation of life and death can be seen is that of "When I am afraid of ceasing to be". The title of this poem says more than anything else, but the reader really gets the feeling that Keats is afraid of dying. As Boldizsár Fejérvári explains on page 1: “The first four lines of the poem clearly and directly raise the question of death. The speaker (who, from Keats's character, we can identify as a male character) considers his fear of death and its relationship to the lack of time needed to complete the mission he has undertaken himself, as he states in Sleep and Poetry. .” What Fejérvári means by this is that at the beginning it is clear that the poem is an examination of death. Death leads Keats to accomplish what he set out to do: to impact the world through his writing. By examining the poem, the reader can come to the logical conclusion that Keats wishes to impact the world through writing. As Zillman says: “The speaker views death as an ultimate end and wishes to make an impact before he ceases to exist. » Another theme linked to death and exploited by Keats is the effect of time passing. In many of Keats's works, we see him refer to the importance of making the most of one's life while he lives. Although we can see how much impact he wishes to make through his writings in poems like “When I Fear That I May Cease to Be,” the message is largelyapplicable because it serves as advice to the reader. In works like “Ode to a Grecian Urn,” Keats explains that even if time passes, art will remain in the world forever. As Douglas G. Atkins states: “The love of art does not die, Keats encapsulates the work of art in the urn and translates it into literature. » Essentially, Keats captures the beauty of the images on the urn and describes them vividly to the reader. In doing so, he is able to capture the beauty of the urn and achieve his goal in creating his own art through his writings. In the poem “To Autumn, Keats also uses the theme of time passing. In this work, Keats shows the passage of time through the change of seasons from autumn to winter and depicts himself as the season of autumn. When fall arrives, it is beautiful, vibrant and in full bloom. However, autumn has to face the fact that winter is approaching and will surely catch up with it. So autumn, like Keats, must enjoy its time until winter, which symbolizes death, triumphs and takes autumn. Overall, the passage of time is presented as a central theme, and through it Keats sends the message that we must make the most of our time while we have it, otherwise, like autumn, we will be unexpectedly suffocated by winter. . By using certain literary styles, Keats is able to convey his emotions more clearly through his writing. One such example would be his use of sensual imagery in the poem “To Autumn”. As Khan states on page 134: “In the 3rd stanza we hear the songs and music of autumn. We hear the “barred clouds blooming the sweet dying day.” And touch the stubble plains with a rosy streak,” we hear the “voluntary chorus” of the little gnats, in mourning.” We hear “mature lambs make the quietest noise on the hills.” Likewise, we hear “the hedgerow crickets sing” and the gathered swallows chirp.” And mind you, these are all images from a Keats masterpiece, that is, autumn. Here we can see that Keats uses imagery to appeal to the reader's senses. Autumn is depicted as having the sound of a "willing choir", showing that the season has a purpose and a great desire to impact the expanse of the land while it can. Keats provides the reader with images such as the sounds of small gnats, lambs, and crickets, allowing the reader to truly visualize their surroundings and make a connection between the features they present and the fall season itself- even. Besides sensual imagery, Keats is also able to make excellent use of personification. Again, in the poem “To Autumn,” the reader is able to visualize the characteristics of autumn as it is personified throughout the work. As Khan points out on page 134: “Until autumn”, “ripening”, the vines surrounding the thatch keep watch in the sun”, “the moss-covered cottage trees”. fully lending themselves to the loading of "apples", the "squash" swollen, "the hazel shells" becoming "plump" with a sweet core "the late flowers" assuring the bees that "the hot days will never end" because "the “summer is over” were overflowing from their sweaty cells,” such beautiful and vivid images are found in the very first stanza. In the 2nd stanza, the poet takes a leap and personifies autumn through different images in person doing different things. Sometimes we see autumn, “sitting carefree on the attic floor” with soft hair lifted by the winnowing wind.” Other times, we see her "on a half-mown furrow", "asleep" because she is "dozed" by the smoke of the poppies" and hersick people spare “the next windrow and its intertwined flowers”. She is sometimes seen in the form of a “gleaner” holding his “laden head above a stream”. And a very seductive image ends the stanza when we see Autumn standing “near an ayder – press, with a patient book” watching “the last seeps hour by hour”. This excerpt shows how Keats is able to give the reader a sense of who Autumn is as a person and therefore develop a personal connection with her. Autumn is approachable since she experiences many of the same human emotions that we do. Autumn can be nonchalant and carefree, but she can also be drawn into something, like a book, showing that although she may be bored, Autumn can still find pleasure in literature. Keats seems to write about autumn as if it were a representation of himself. Keats suffered, although he could be tired and bored, but he was able to find solace in his reading and writing poetry. Autumn is almost identical to Keats in this regard as she is consumed by reading, but grows tired as the days pass and winter is about to arrive. In concluding his analysis, Khan also states that "the second stanza reveals the germ of personification which is amplified in the beautiful images and conveys to us the maturity of autumn. In the second stanza we find different images of the reaper, the reaper, the gleaner and the marks of help. All of them personify autumn. Here we see how autumn is personified throughout the work. The qualities that autumn possesses are determined by the progress of the season. At first she can be seen as a reaper, while towards the end, as she becomes weak and gloomy, the entrance of a reaper personifies the death of autumn and, in turn, eventual death by Keats. Keats also uses alliteration in many of his works. The repetition of words with s-sounds in “To Autumn” is a great example of how Keats uses this technique. The repetition of words like "cease", "been" and "cells", "seen", "sometimes", "seek", "sit", "soft", "sound" and "swath", all serve to establish a somewhat sleepy air to the poem and adds to the theme of time passing and the eventual end of the season. Alliteration can also be seen in Keat's "Ode to a Nightingale", where words such as "same song" and "forsaken fairy lands" are used. Keats's point in using this alliteration is to create a certain rhythm and mood "a memorable expression of his melancholy mood", as Smith would say. When writing, Keats uses the techniques of tone and rhythm to capture his audience's attention and develop his themes. For example, in “To Autumn,” Keats establishes a “romantic” tone. His choice of words shows his love of nature, his love of beauty, his imagination, his love of the past and his weary sadness. Keats's attitude is rather optimistic and positive. (Khan 3:135). This tone is used to express Keats's thinking when it comes to making the most of the time he has left in his life. “To Autumn” serves as an examination of Keats’s conscience and personality. The light tone he adopts in this work shows that Keats is looking forward to what he can accomplish through his writing and the lasting legacy it will leave him. Keats is able to cancel the thought of death and focus on the fact that his work will inspire a new generation of writers and allow him to leave his mark on the literary world as a whole. In the poem "When I fear that I may cease to be", Keats's tone is noticeably darker than in "To Autumn." In adopting this dark tone, Keats, 1939.