John Keats Fear That He Might Cease to Be Essay -- John Keats, poetry

During his last years, Keats ponders about what it would mean to die. He translates this into fears of what he hasnt yet accomplished and would like to take in judgment of conviction to do. This aspect of time is emphasised with the use of the word when at the start of the first lead quatrains which is also employ in Shakespearean Sonnets. The heading, When I have fears that I may cease to be demonstrates Keats belief, or rather, lack of belief in the idea of an afterlife. In the first quatrain of the poem Keats describes his fertile imagination, yearning to have gleand my teeming brain before it is too late, the moving picture of abundance is instilled with the words high- piled and rich. The paradox of a field of grain is used to depict Keats brain being harvested of the knowledge into poems of his own creation. In this stanza, Keats reveals his need for fame through his works and his fears of being unable to fulfil this in his time. In the second stanza Keats demonstrates hi s use of nature in poetry. He describes the nights starrd face which could refer to Keats contemplating the beauty...