A THING OF BEAUTY- JOHN KEATS

GRADE XII

Introduction-
The poem 'A Thing of Beauty' written by John Keats is about the poet’s views on
beauty and its importance in life. Before moving further, I would like to tell that
John Keats belonged to the Romantic Period, the theme of which was “Return to
Nature“.
The poem has is based on the theme of Romantic Poetry. The Romantic Poets
believed that the materialistic world (which was emerging fast during those days
due to the Industrial Revolution) has given birth to greed, corruption, lust and craze
for material things.
The Romantic Poets thus escaped to the rustic life in order to get closer to nature,
which according to them is the ultimate source of peace, happiness and joy.
Stanza 1 consists of five lines. Stanza 2 consists of eight lines. Stanza 3 consists of
seven lines and Stanza 4 consists of five lines.
Stanza 1
The poem begins with the famous line A thing of beauty is a joy forever meaning
that a beautiful thing always gives joy to humans. It will never Pass into
nothingness i.e. its beauty will never die, instead its loveliness increases.
The poet then compares the thing of beauty to a number of other things to describe
how important it is for us. According to him, it is a bower quiet for us i.e. it is like
the peaceful shade of plants for us.
It is a sleep full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing. By comparing
the thing of beauty by all these things he wants to prove that it has a significant
role to play in the life of human beings.

Stanza 2
In the next stanza, the poet says that as the thing of beauty is fundamentally
important to us, every morning, we collect the flower-like charm of the beautiful
things and make a band of it that gives us joy.
There are unhappy moments in our life. We lack nature in the inhumane
materialistic life. We have to face unhealthy ways, griefs and even failures.
But in spite of all these gloomy things, a thing of beauty takes away all these
troubles and gives us joy and peace.
Stanza 3
In the third stanza, the poet gives examples of things of beauty that give us joy and
happiness. Examples include the Sun, the Moon, trees old, and young [that grow
up and give peaceful shade to our spirit (innocent sheep)], daffodils (that make the
earth green), pure and cool streams.There are summers in which the fair musk-rose
blooms that shine (sparkle) the season.

Stanza 4
Finally, the poet refers to the beauty of the grandeur (magnificent and impressive
memory) of the mighty dead i.e. the martyrs who sacrificed their lives for the good
cause. There is the joy of the lovely tales that we have heard or read which we hear
about them.
Thus nature is the endless fountain of immortal drink which it pours unto us from
the heaven’s brink. The line means that nature gives us immortal joy that comes
from heaven and hence it is the ultimate source of happiness.
POETIC DEVICES
Metaphor:
‘bower quiet’-refers to a quiet shady part in the garden
‘sweet dreams’-happy dreams
‘wreathing a flowery band’-connecting to nature
`pall’-a covering like a shroud
‘endless fountain of immortal drink’- refers to the deeds of great men and women
that have made them a source of inspiration for people of all times

Alliteration:
`noble natures’
‘cooling covert’
‘band to bind’
Imagery:
‘flowery bands’
‘shady boon’
‘clear rills’
‘daffodils in green world’
‘grandeur of dooms’
‘cooling covert’
‘endless fountain of eternal drink’
Symbol:
‘simple sheep’ — refers to mankind as Christ is considered the shepherd who
leads human souls out of the dark world of sins and temptations
Transferred epithet:
‘gloomy days’ • ‘unhealthy and o’er darkened ways’

Oxymoron
‘mighty dead’