On the Grasshopper and cricket by John Keats Quick discussion • Which is your favourite season and why? • Activate your senses: which smells, sounds, colours, and tastes do you associate with this season? John Keats • John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) • He served as an apprentice to a surgeon before registering as a medical student. • He later quit to devote his life to poetry. • English poet of the second generation of Romantic poets. • He wrote “On the grasshopper and cricket” in the summer of 1816 John Keats • He wrote “On the grasshopper and cricket” in the summer of 1816 • Portrays the beauty of nature and its capacity to bring joy – not just in spring and in good weather. • He nursed his brother who was dying of tuberculosis, TB had previously killed his mother and he later also died of the disease himself. The Poetry of earth is never dead: When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead; That is the Grasshopper’s—he takes the lead In summer luxury,—he has never done With his delights; for when tired out with fun He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. The poetry of earth is ceasing never: On a lone winter evening, when the frost Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills The Cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever, And seems to one in drowsiness half lost, The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills. On the grasshopper and cricket By John Keets 2 When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, B 3 And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run B 4 From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead; A 5 That is the Grasshopper’s—he takes the lead A 6 In summer luxury,—he has never done B 7 With his delights; for when tired out with fun B 8 He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. A 9* The poetry of earth is ceasing never: C 10 On a lone winter evening, when the frost D 11 Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills E 12 The Cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever, C 13 And seems to one in drowsiness half lost, D 14 The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills. E Octave Setting: Summer Singer: Grasshopper A Sestet Setting: Winter Singer: Cricket 1* U / U / U / U / U / The Poetry of earth is never dead: Structure: Petrarchan sonnet (Italian sonnet) 14 Lines divided into an octave (8 lines) and a sestet (6 lines). Each part discusses a different “topic”. Rhyme scheme ABBAABBA (Octave) Iambic pentameter: 5 sets of two beats. First unstressed and the second stressed. Tone, tone, voice: Lyrical (musical) / Happy / Jubilant Created by the diction (choice of words) and rhythm (The sound of nature never stops.) Colon: introduces an explanation. The rest the poem is an explanation of this 1 The Poetry of earth is never dead: of statement. Silence is suggested (tired – they have stopped singing) 2 When all the birds are faint with the hot sun, Setting: Summer The first line (strong statement) foregrounds the message of the poem: Nature’s song never stops. Its beauty continues through all seasons. In the octave, Grasshopper represents the sound of summer. 3 (voice = synecdoche – a part that represents the whole) And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run Enjambment (to create flow and read as a story) 4 From hedge to hedge about the new-mown mead; (Freshly cut lawn) (possession) 5 That is the Grasshopper’s—he takes the lead Dash: Parenthesis Personification: the leader 6 In summer luxury,—he has never done 7 Joy, happiness Never finished with / Never stops With his delights; for when tired out with fun 8 He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. Nature can be harsh – hot sun. But nature offers shade (under cooling trees). When one voice (bird) goes quiet, another (grasshopper) begins. Nature’s song (sound, life and beauty) is never dead. Setting: Winter The beauty, the message, the joy, the sound Line 8 repeats the message given in line The poetry of earth is ceasing never: 9 1: (Repetition serves as a way to Repetition of “never dead” to emphasis the message. emphasise a point) Nature’s song never On a lone winter evening, when the frost (Frost is personified) stops. Its beauty continues through all 10 seasons. In the sestet, the Cricket (Beaten out or shaped by hammering (metals)) represents the sound of winter. Has wrought a silence, from the stove there shrills 11 12 Personified – as a singer Forced inside by the cold The Cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever, 13 Sleepy And seems to one in drowsiness half lost, 14 The “one” = the listener (half asleep) The Grasshopper’s among some grassy hills. The speaker links the Cricket’s song to the Grasshopper’s song. One can be mistaken for the other. In the final couplet, the listener “one in drowsiness” hears the Cricket’s song and mistakes it for that of the Grasshopper. It makes him/her think of summer. The seasons’ differences are emphasised by separating them into two different stanzas. They are also represented by different insects. However, although winter and summer are different seasons, they are parts of the same thing - “nature”. Their unity is shown through the repetition of the first line in each stanza and the fact that one song is a metaphor for the other Analysis • No matter the season or weather, nature has a unique way of expressing pleasure and joy. Two tiny insects are used to represent or symbolise two extreme seasons: the Grasshopper (summer) and the cricket (winter). They carry big responsibility: to carry on with nature’s song no matter the weather. Theme & message • The poet says that the music of nature or earth is always alive whether it is hot summer or cold and bleak winter. • The speaker celebrates the continuous beauty of nature. • praises nature and its capacity to bring joy to people. • Just like nature, hope never dies. Conditions may be harsh, but can be overcome. General tone • Lyrical, vibrant, comforting