The Themes, Styles, and Techniques of John Keats 

When examining the works of John Keats, one can take notice of the several themes, styles, and techniques he makes use of. These elements include the importance of friendship, the characteristics of human nature, contemplation of life and death, as well as the effects of passing 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 make a connection with the reader and allow for them to truly understand the message he puts forth in his many works.    

One central theme within many of John Keats’ works is the importance of friendship. For example, Keats writes, “My Chest of Books divide among my friends.” (Sharp 1:124), which shows that he wishes for his prized possessions, his books, to be given to his closest friends after he passed away. Keats giving these possessions to his friends is representative of the fact that without the support of his friends during his illness, he wouldn’t have been able to pursue his passion of being a writer. In essence, Keats acknowledges that he owes much to his friends for supporting in his times of need and gives the little that 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 falls on friends. For to an extent virtually unparalleled, the story of his life and work is indeed a story of friendship.” This shows that in both Keats 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 get through the trails that would most definitely face him towards the end of his life. These friends would not only support him, but also be the subject of many of his literary works.    

The theme of friendship is also touched upon in one of Keats’ earlier works, “The Great End of Posey,” in which Keats describes the qualities of someone who would be seen as a good friend. Keats highlights the fact that a good friend is someone who should “soothe, care, and lift the thoughts of man”. It is easily apparent to see why Keats would have described these as good qualities as his closest friends inspired him to write works such as 'Written on the Day that Mr. Leigh Hunt Left Prison.” These qualities would be personified in works such as “To Autumn.”    One final way in which Keats discusses friendship is through his poem “To Autumn.” In this poem, Keats introduces Autumn in its prime, 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 live up to its full potential as a season and do its job. In writing this way, Keats is able to personify the characteristics of a good friend through his caring for Autumn and reflect the characteristics of his friends towards himself as he is growing weaker by the day due to his metastasizing cancer.    

Besides the characteristics of friendship, Keats also makes use of human nature as a theme. As seen in Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale,” the relationship between the narrator and the nightingale’s voice reflects the human relationship with nature in terms of us being its destructors. In this quote from Elizabeth A. Lawrence, “The aesthetic significance of natural phenomena such as birdsong to the human psyche - an idea that is not often appreciated - is emphasized,” shows that through the interaction of the narrator with the nightingale, the narrator's own psyche is affected in such a way that he begins to contemplate the effects of humans upon nature, This also serves as a metaphor for the effect of Keats’ disease on his own body, and how in both circumstances nature and Keats life are deteriorating over time.    

Another area in which we can see Keats make use of human nature is through the sense of tranquility the poem “Ode to a Nightingale” evokes. Lawrence writes, “Keats felt a tranquil and continual joy in her song; and one day he took his chair from the breakfast table to a grass plot under a plum tree, where he sat for two or three hours.” Afterwards, Keats returned from his two hour long stint with scraps of paper in hand littered with his feelings for the Nightingales songs. Again, the poem is a reflection of the way nature evokes a sense of tranquility within humans, and in doing so is just a part of human nature we all experience.    

One last instance in which we can see Keats reference human nature is in a vast majority of his writings. The reader is called upon to remember that Keats was faced with the knowledge of knowing that he would die. When taking a deep look at his poems, it is evident to see Keats’ human nature playing a role in the questions he asks surrounding the uncertainty of how long he has left. Keats asks the question of how the knowledge that we are going to die, relates to the pleasure that we experience in this world through our senses.    

This segways into the next theme, which is probably most referenced from the bunch, the contemplation of life and death. As we know, Keats struggled with illness very early in his life and knew with exact certainty that it would be his illness that abruptly ended his life. This contemplation can be seen in Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale” where he struggles with whether or not to embrace death, or rather live vicariously through the Nightingales song. What the reader notices here is that Keats is at odds with himself and isn’t sure whether or not he should just give up and wait for death to come, or to live his life to the fullest it can be lived until he dies.    Another area in which the theme of contemplating life and death can be seen is in ”When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be.” The title of this poem gives away more than anything else, but the reader truly gets the sense that Keats is afraid to die. As explained by Boldizsár Fejérvári on page 1: “The first four lines of the poem raise the question of death clearly and directly. The speaker (whom, based on Keats’s persona, we may identify as a male character) considers his fear of death and its relation to the lack of time necessary for completing his mission which, as he states in Sleep and Poetry, he has undertaken himself.”    

What Fejérvári means by this is that upon its opening, it is clear that the poem is an examination of death. Death brings with it a sense of urgency for Keats to accomplish what he has set out to do, make an impact on the world through his writing. When examining the poem, the reader can come to the logical conclusion that Keats wishes to make an impact on the world through writing. As said by Zillman, “The speaker sees death as an ultimate end, and wishes to make an impact before he ceases to be any longer.”    

Another theme, which ties into death, that Keats makes use of is the effect of passing time. In many of Keats’ works, we see him reference the importance of making the most of one's life while they are living. While we can see how he wants to make an impact through his writing in poems like “When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be,” the message is widely applicable so as it serves as a piece of advice to the reader. In works like “Ode to a Grecian Urn,” Keats discusses that although time may pass, art will remain in the world forever. As Douglas G. Atkins states, “ The love of art doesn’t die, Keats encapsulates the work of art in the urn and translates that into literature.” In essence Keats captures the beauty of the images on the urn and vividly describes them to the reader. In doing so he is able to capture the urn’s beauty as well as accomplish his goal in creating his own art through his writing.    

In the poem “To Autumn, Keats also makes use of the theme of passing time. In this work, Keats shows the passing of time through the change in seasons from autumn to winter and represents himself as the season of autumn. When autumn first arrives, it is beautiful, vibrant and in full bloom. However, autumn must cope with the fact that winter is around the corner and will surely overtake it. So Autumn, like Keats, must enjoy its time until winter, which symbolizes death, overcomes and takes autumn. All in all, the passing of time is shown as a central theme, and through it Keats sends the message that we must make the most of our time while we have it, or else, like autumn, we will be snuffed out by winter unexpectedly.    

In 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 bloom the soft dying day. And touch the stubble-plains with rosy line” we hear the “willful choir” of the small gnats, mourning “. We hear “full grown lambs loud least from hilly bourn”. Similarly we hear as “hedge-crickets sing” and gathering swallows twitter”. And mind you, this is all the images of one master pieces of Keats i.e. to autumn.”    

Here it can be seen that Keats uses imagery to appeal to the reader’s senses. Autumn Is depicted as having the sound of a “willful choir” which shows that the season has a purpose and a great will to make an impact on the scope of the land while it can. Keats provides the reader with imagery such as the sounds of small gnats, lambs, and Crickets allowing the reader to truly visualize his setting and make a connection between the characteristics he presents, and the season of autumn itself.    

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: “To Autumn” ‘the maturing’, the vines that round the thatch eves sun”, “the mossed cottage trees”. lending fully with the load of “Apples”, the swelling “gourd”, ”the hazel shells” becoming “plumps” with a sweet kernel “the later flowers” assuring the bees that “warm days will never cease “because “summer has over brimmed their clammy cells” such beautiful and live images are found in the very first stanza. In the 2nd stanza the poet takes a leap forward and personified the autumn through different images in person doing different things.    

Sometimes we see the autumn, “sitting careless on granary floor” with hair soft lifted by the winnowing wind “. At other times we see her” on a half-reaped” furrow sound “asleep” because she is “drowsed” with the fume of poppies” and her sicks is sparing,” the next swath and its entwined flowers”. Sometimes we see her in the shape of “gleaner” keeping steady her “laden head across a brook”. And a very – alluring picture ends the stanza when we see autumn standing “by a ayder – press, with patient book” watching “the last oozings hours by hours”. 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 relatable since she experiences many of the same human emotions as we do. Autumn can be lackadaisical and careless, but she can also be caught up in something, like a book, showing that although she can be bored, Autumn can still find enjoyment in literature. Keats seems to write about autumn as if she were a representation of himself. Keats suffered, although he could be tired and bored, was able to find solace in his reading and writing of poetry. Autumn is almost identical to Keats in this regard as she is consumed by reading, but grows tired as the days pass on and winter is on the brink of arrival. In ending his analysis, Khan also states that, “The second stanza reveals the germ of personification which is amplified in the beautiful pictures and convey to us the ripeness of autumn. In the second stanza we find different pictures of the season harvester, the reaper, the gleaner and the aider marks. All personify autumn.” Here we see how autumn is personified throughout the work. The qualities autumn possesses are determined by how far along the season has progressed. In the beginning she can be thought of as a harvester, while towards the end, as she grows weak and dreary, the entrance of a reaper is shown to personify the death of autumn and in turn the eventual death of Keats.    

Keats also makes use of alliteration in many of his works. The repetition of words with-s-sounds in“To Autumn,” is an excellent example of how keats makes use of this technique. The repetition of words like 'cease,' 'summer' and 'cells,' 'seen,' 'sometimes,' 'seeks,' 'sitting,' 'soft,' 'sound,' and 'swath,” all serve to establish a somewhat sleepy demeanor to the poem and adds to the theme of passing time and the eventual end of the season. Alliteration can also be seen in Keat’s “Ode to a Nightingale,” where words such as “self-same song” and “faery lands forlorn,” are used. The whole point of Keats using this alliteration is to create a certain rhythm and mood “a memorable expression of his melancholy mood” as Smith would put it. 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 tone which “is romantic. His choice of words shows his love of nature, love of beauty, imagination, love of past and weary sadness. Keats’s attitude is quite optimistic and positive.” (Khan 3:135). This tone is used to convey Keats thinking when it comes to making the most of what time he has left in his life. “To Autumn,” serves as an examination of Keats’ conscience and personality. The lighthearted tone he takes 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 with. Keats is able to cancel out the thought of death, and focus on the fact that his work will inspire a new generation of writers, as well as allow him to make his mark on the literary world as a whole.    

In the poem “When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be,” Keats’ tone is visibly darker than in “To Autumn. By taking on this dark tone, Keats is able to effectively convey his worry for the certainty of his death. The reader is able to sense the tone of urgency in the vocabulary Keats uses such as when he constantly reuses the word before. Before serves as an introduction to what Keats hopes to accomplish, but doesn’t know if he will get to do so before death takes him. In using this language the reader is truly able to understand Keats’ train of thought as well as what he is feeling at the time of writing the poem.  

In his writing, Keats will sometimes take the reader on an imaginative journey. This journey is usually represented as one of joy, and serves as a way for Keats to escape reality. In Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale,” we see him being taken on a figurative journey through the beauty of the world. Through his ride on the Nightingale, Keats is able to take his mind off of his illness, and put in on enjoyment, and through that enjoyment, producing a new work. As stated directly by Tagore on pages 72-73, “Keats creates an image of the body that may be understood in terms of an intense and dramatic subjectivity, one that is perpetually drawing in or soaking up the external environment.” Through this information the reader can see that Keats purpose is twofold, he has created an illusion which amplifies his natural surroundings in order to escape the inevitability this death, but to also make use of imagery to take the reader on this journey along with him.    

The works of John Keats are filled with themes, techniques, and styles which all allow for the reader to become completely enveloped in his writing. Keats is able to build meaning surrounding his themes with the use of excellent vocabulary. Through his vivid descriptions, the reader is able to visualize the story as a whole, and feel themselves present within it. Keats’ use of literary devices such as personification and alliteration truly capture both his feelings and his character as a writer. All in all, Keats is truly a master of description and language. In the end, he accomplished what he had always set out to do, leave his mark on the world through his writing.    

Works Cited 

1. Atkins, G. Douglas. 'A grander scheme of salvation than the chryst ain religion”: John Keats, a New Religion of Love, and the Hoodwinking of “The Eve of St. Agnes.' Literary Paths to Religious Understanding. Palgrave Macmillan, New York, 2009. 43-57. 
2. Goslee, Nancy M. 'Phidian Lore: Sculpture and Personification in Keats's Odes.' Studies in Romanticism (1982): 73-85. 
3. Boldizsár Fejérvári. When I have fears that I may cease to be. Virginia Tech, 1816.
4. Khan, Abdul Bari, and Tallat Jabeen. 'Stylistics analysis of the poem ‘To Autumn By John Keats.' International Journal of Academic Research and Reflection 3.1 (2015): 127-137. 
5. Lawrence, E. A. “Melodious Truth Keats, a Nightingale, and the Human/Nature Boundary.” Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, vol. 6, no. 2, Jan. 1999, pp. 21–30., doi:10.1093/isle/6.2.21. 
6. Pollin, Burton R. “Keats, Charlotte Smith, And The Nightingale.” Notes and Queries, vol. 13, no. 5, Jan. 1966, pp. 180–181., doi:10.1093/nq/13-5-180. 
7. Tagore, Proma. “Keats in an Age of Consumption: The ‘Ode to a Nightingale.’” Keats-Shelley Journal, vol. 49, 2000, pp. 67–84. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/30213047. 
8. Wentersdorf, Karl P. 'The Sub-Text of Keats's' Ode to a Nightingale'.' Keats-Shelley Journal 33 (1984): 70-84. 
9. Zillman, Lawrence John. John Keats and the sonnet tradition: a critical and comparative study. Lymanhouse, 1939.