Good job Dr. Walker you're such a really special person, “creature of an hour” reminds me a Pindar verse, in the VIII Pythic, where he writes «σκιᾶς ὄναρ ἄνθρωπος» «man is the shadow of a dream». This thing is connected to the fact that humans are ephemeral creatures “of an hour”, the etymology of ephemeral comes from ἐφήμερος (efèmeros) that in Ancient Greek means “which lasts a day”. That's our nature, what we are "creature of an hour", "shadow of a dream". I hope you'll appreciate this analogy between Keats and Pindar, a big digital hug from Italy Doc. God bless you.
Thanks for sharing! Insightful. I’m not an expert on reading and analyzing poetry but I find the structure interesting. In the beginning there is a repetition of “before” and at the end there is a repetition of “Of” but it is inverted. It is as if Before and Of are mirroring “weights” that are heavy due to the weight of repetition and are literally “sinking” into the poem itself. Perhaps it is intentional because there are the double stressed word combinations: “high-piled” and “wide-world” at the end.
Nice! I hadn't noticed that: the the anaphoras and the two spondees you mention give the poem a nice symmetry. Thanks for pointing that out! Also, considering what you mentioned about the sinking, I noticed there is a falling off of the regular meter with the word "nothingness" in the last line. The "thingness" (a pyrric foot with two unstressed syllables) throws off the expected rhythm of iambs. The word itself seems to momentarily fade away before the closing iamb in "do sink" snaps the sonnet shut. Hah! So cool. Thanks for sharing!
Ah, yes! I am. It's unfair of me to leave them out so far! I have some poems of Mary Wroth, Mary Sidney Herbert, and Lady Anne Finch that I'd like to cover, but I'm moving away from "close reading" videos and trying to focus on longer material. I'm currently working on a series of videos on contemporary poets, so I'll have a bit of Jorie Graham, Mary Oliver, Susan Howe, Rita Dove, and Tracy K. Smith. Are there any female poets that you'd recommend I cover? Thanks for your kind comment.
@@closereadingpoetry Thank you so much. That's terrific. I've about a year of your sonnets and other poems to go through, so no hurry. I'm old :), but new to poetry so I don't know any of the poets you've mentioned, male or female, other than Keats and Shakespeare..and no one gets through life without a little Emily Dickinson, so that's about it for my repertoire. Looking forward to your work, old and new. Regards
I love some of these shorter videos of you breaking down little poems. This poem has some remarkable similarities to the Ode on Melancholy.
Good job Dr. Walker you're such a really special person, “creature of an hour” reminds me a Pindar verse, in the VIII Pythic, where he writes «σκιᾶς ὄναρ ἄνθρωπος» «man is the shadow of a dream». This thing is connected to the fact that humans are ephemeral creatures “of an hour”, the etymology of ephemeral comes from ἐφήμερος (efèmeros) that in Ancient Greek means “which lasts a day”. That's our nature, what we are "creature of an hour", "shadow of a dream". I hope you'll appreciate this analogy between Keats and Pindar, a big digital hug from Italy Doc. God bless you.
You have a nice way of explaining. Thank you for sharing your insights.
Thanks for sharing! Insightful. I’m not an expert on reading and analyzing poetry but I find the structure interesting. In the beginning there is a repetition of “before” and at the end there is a repetition of “Of” but it is inverted. It is as if Before and Of are mirroring “weights” that are heavy due to the weight of repetition and are literally “sinking” into the poem itself. Perhaps it is intentional because there are the double stressed word combinations: “high-piled” and “wide-world” at the end.
Nice! I hadn't noticed that: the the anaphoras and the two spondees you mention give the poem a nice symmetry. Thanks for pointing that out! Also, considering what you mentioned about the sinking, I noticed there is a falling off of the regular meter with the word "nothingness" in the last line. The "thingness" (a pyrric foot with two unstressed syllables) throws off the expected rhythm of iambs. The word itself seems to momentarily fade away before the closing iamb in "do sink" snaps the sonnet shut. Hah! So cool. Thanks for sharing!
Hello. Thank you for sharing your expertise. I might be a little too late but could you inform me about the date of the letter to Reynolds?
My book has the poem composed in January 1818, referred to as ‘my last Sonnet’ in the January 31 letter to Reynolds.
Thank you for this lovely analysis of a great poem. I do love that phrase..."the magic hand of chance". Are you planning to cover any female poets?
Ah, yes! I am. It's unfair of me to leave them out so far! I have some poems of Mary Wroth, Mary Sidney Herbert, and Lady Anne Finch that I'd like to cover, but I'm moving away from "close reading" videos and trying to focus on longer material. I'm currently working on a series of videos on contemporary poets, so I'll have a bit of Jorie Graham, Mary Oliver, Susan Howe, Rita Dove, and Tracy K. Smith. Are there any female poets that you'd recommend I cover? Thanks for your kind comment.
@@closereadingpoetry Thank you so much. That's terrific. I've about a year of your sonnets and other poems to go through, so no hurry. I'm old :), but new to poetry so I don't know any of the poets you've mentioned, male or female, other than Keats and Shakespeare..and no one gets through life without a little Emily Dickinson, so that's about it for my repertoire. Looking forward to your work, old and new. Regards