“On the grasshopper

and the cricket ”

- John Keats

JOHN KEATS

English poet John Keats (1795 – 1821 ), belongs to the second generation of Romantic poets. His poetry is characterized by elaborate word choice notable in his Great Odes which remain among the finest poems in English literature

John Keats

The poetry of each is never dead;When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,And hide in cooling trees, a voice will run From hedge to hedge about the new mown mead;That is the grasshopper’s – he takes the lead In summer luxury, he has never doneWith his delights; for when tired out with fun

POEM ON THE GRASSHOPPER

AND THE CRICKET

He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weedThe poetry of earth is ceasing never;On a long winter evening, when the frost Has wrought a silence, for the store there shrills.The cricket’s song, in warmth increasing ever, And seems to one in drowsiness half lost, The grasshopper’s among some grassy hills.

SUMMARY

Summer, The Season Of Warmth

Summer, the season of warmth and energy, is closely followed by winter, the season of dullness and inertia. In both the seasons there are two little almost invisible singers who keep the scene alive with their melodious singing. In summer, the grasshopper runs from hedge to hedge and leads the ‘Summer’s luxury’. His songs create a cool feeling when everything is hot and everyone seeks a cool shady place to rest in. In winter there are no singing birds nor is there any busy activity going on.

A man is sitting drowsily beside a hearth or stove and dreams of the bygone summer days of his life. Then the cricket seeks refuge near the stove and from there emerges his shrill music. This creates warmth in a climate which is generally dull and cool. The man, in his drowsiness and sleepiness, mistakes the cricket’s song for the grasshopper’s which definitely has a soothing effect on his soul.

Rhyming works

Sun - rundead - leadmead - weednever - evershrills - hillsfrost - lost done - fun

1. What is the sound that dominates the summer season?

The sound of the grasshopper dominates the summer scene.

2. What in your view, is the poetry of earth ?

the poetry of earth encompasses all the sounds, sight and the warmth of the living beings

3. Summer is a pleasant experience in this poem. Pick out the words used by the poet to indicate this?

‘Summer luxury’, ‘his delights’, tired out with fun, ‘rests at ease’, ‘beneath some pleasant weed.’

4. Why is winter lone?Winter to an English poet like

Keats, is the season of languour, laziness and lethargy. Animals hibernate and men feel sleepy during winter. Metaphorically, winter stands for old age, when man turns to be weak, gloomy and lonely

Presented by

TINCY RAJ. TEnglish Optional CSI College of

Education Parassala