REVISION QUESTIONS. 1. To what extent is Keats a poet of sensuousness, and to what extent a poet of sense?

Transcription

1 84 REVISION QUESTIONS 1. To what extent is Keats a poet of sensuousness, and to what extent a poet of sense? 2. 'Endymion contains in embryo many of the themes that are to be developed in the later poems'. Discuss. 3. How does Keats create atmosphere in Isabella and The Eve of St Agnes, and what relationship is there between atmosphere and theme? 4. What are the issues raised in any two of Keats's odes, and how does he attempt to resolve them? 5. Discuss the various female characters in Keats's narrative poems. 6. Analyse the argument and the imagery of any two of Keats's sonnets. 7. What is Keats's attitude towards nature on the evidence of his poems and/or his letters? 8. What is there in Keats's work that might entitle him to be considered a 'modern' poet? 9. Discuss Keats's manipulation of sound to echo the sense of his verse. 10. Discuss Keats's ideas about poetry and the role of the poet as they emerge from his poems and/or his letters. 11. In what ways is Keats a 'Romantic' poet?

2 Discuss the place of suffering in Keats's philosophy. 13. What do the urn and the nightingale symbolise m Keats's odes? 14. What are Keats's expectations of 'human passion', on the evidence of his writings? 15. Discuss the significance of imagination in Keats's poetry and/or his letters.

3 86 FURTHER READING Texts Barnard, John (ed.), John Keats: The Complete Poems (Penguin, second edition 1977). This edition provides informative footnotes and biographical background to the composition of the poems, and a glossary of classical names. Gittings, Robert (ed.), Letters of John Keats: A Selection (Oxford University Press, reprinted 1985). All of Keats's most celebrated letters are collected in this edition. Biographies Bate, Walter Jackson, John Keats [1963] (Oxford University Press, 1967). An exhaustive study, with detailed analysis of the poems. Gittings, Robert, John Keats [1968] (Penguin, reprinted 1985). Particularly good on legal and financial details, and on the atmosphere of Keats's Regency England. Criticism Brooks, Cleanth, 'History without Footnotes: An Account of Keats's Urn', in The Well Wrought Urn [1947] (Methuen, 1968). An influential analysis of 'Ode on a Grecian Urn'. Eliot, T. S., The Use of Poetry and the Use of Criticism (Faber, 1933). Contains a section on Keats's insight into the poetic craft. Fraser, G. S. (ed.), John Keats: The Odes: A Casebook (Macmillan, 1971). A collection of seminal studies on the odes. Mill, John Spencer (ed.), Keats: The Narrative Poems: A Casebook (Macmillan, 1983). Gathers together some vigorous and stimulating articles, many from contrasting points of view. Leavis, F. R., 'Keats', in Revaluation: Tradition and Development in English Poetry (Chatto & Windus, 1936). Has influenced many subsequent critics. Matthews, G. M. (ed.), Keats: The Critical Heritage (Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1971). Contains the most durable of the nineteenthcentury criticism, as well as the vicious early reviews.

4 Ricks, Christopher, Keats and Embarrassment (Oxford University Press, 1974). Finds a way through to some of Keats's concerns by the unlikely entrance of the topic of blushing. Ridley, M. R., Keats's Craftsmanship: A Study in Poetic Development (Clarendon Press, 1933). Examines Keats's painstaking drive to prosodic perfection. Stillinger, Jack, The Hoodwinking of Madeline and other Essays on Keats's Poems (University of Illinois Press, 1971). A collection of thought-provoking articles; a healthy antidote to Wasserman. Wasserman, Earl R., The Finer Tone: Keats's Major Poems (Johns Hopkins Press, 1953). Focuses on aspects of spiritual metamorphosis; persuasively argued, but criticised by Stillinger as too 'metaphysical' an approach. Watts, Cedric, A Preface to Keats (Longman, 1985). A wide-ranging introductory study, with interesting illustrations, some more relevant than others. 87

5 88 Mastering English Literature Richard Gill Mastering English Literature will help readers both to enjoy English Literature and to be successful in '0' levels, 'A' levels and other public exams. It is an introduction to the study of poetry, novels and drama which helps the reader in four ways - by providing ways of approaching literature, by giving examples and practice exercises, by offering hints on how to write about literature, and by the author's own evident enthusiasm for the subject. With extracts from more than 200 texts, this is an enjoyable account of how to get the maximum satisfaction out of reading, whether it be for formal examinations or simply for pleasure. Work Out English Literature ('A' level) S.H. Burton This book familiarises 'A' level English Literature candidates with every kind of test which they are likely to encounter. Suggested answers are worked out step by step and accompanied by full author's commentary. The book helps students to clarify their aims and establish techniques and standards so that they can make appropriate responses to similar questions when the examination pressures are on. It opens up fresh ways of looking at the full range of set texts, authors and critical judgements and motivates students to know more of these matters.