Coleridge, De Quincey, and Opium Presentation Info

Cooke, Michael G. “De Quincey, Coleridge, and the Formal Uses of Intoxication.” Yale French Studies 50 (1974) : 26-40. Print.

De Quincey, Thomas. Coleridge and Opium-eating ; and Other Writings. Endinburgh: A. and C. Black, 1885. Print.

Hayter, Alethea. Opium and the Romantic Imagination. Berkeley: University of California, 1968. Print.

Blog post about Xanadu

Coleridge's Pains of Sleep

Fears and Regrets

In John Keats' poem "When I have fears...", he discusses two things that make him stick out in our hearts, and connect on a different level with him; he discusses fear and regret. We all have some fear or fears, and he isn't too afraid to admit that he is afraid: he is afraid of death, of dying at such a young age, and he is afraid of missing opportunities. The opportunities he has already missed make him regret that he never pursued them. How many people can say "I have no regret?", and truly, madly, mean it? There are next to none who can. I personally cannot say that. But what was Keats really trying to tell us, underneath all of this fear and anguish and regret from this poem? Maybe he was telling us exactly what could happen, if you just stop being afraid, and take the leap of faith. Or maybe he's trying to warn us NOT to take that leap, because it could lead to regret and remorse.

Keats, Confessional Literature, Lyric Poetry, Reputation Presentation

John Keats

• Born in London on the 31st of October, 1975
• Educated at John Clarke's school in Einfield, which had both a more liberal outlook and a more modern curriculum compared to schools like Eton and Harrow
• Was interested in History and the Classics as a student, which would greatly influence his poetry
• After studying to become a doctor and receiving his apothecary license, which meant he could practice as a surgeon or a physician, Keats decided he wanted to become a poet

Confessional Literature

• Keats approached the relations among experience, imagination, art, and illusion with penetrating thoughtfulness, with neither sentimentality nor cynicism but with a delight in the ways in which beauty, in its own subtle and often surprising ways, reveals the truth.
• His art’s very form seems to embody and interpret the conflicts of mortality and desire.
• The urgency of this poetry has always appeared greater to his readers for his intense love of beauty and his tragically short life.
• "When I Have Fears" is a very personal confession of an emotion that intruded itself into the fabric of Keats' existence from at least 1816 on, the fear of an early death. In the poem, the existence of this fear annihilates both the poet's fame, which Keats ardently longed for, and the love that is so important in his poetry and in his life.

Lyric Poetry

• Romantic lyric poetry consists of 1^st person accounts of the thoughts and feelings of a specific moment
• Feelings are extreme, but personal
• Dissatisfied with the pressure of most lyric forms toward quick, neat solution, Keat’s new ode form satisfied him because it was sufficiently confining to challenge his conscience as a craftsman.
• In a letter to his brother Keats explained his new ode form: "I have been endeavoring to discover a better Sonnet stanza than we have. The legitimate does not suit the language well, from the pouncing rhymes; the other appears too elegaic [songlike, tuneful], and the couplet at the end of it has seldom a pleasing effect. I do not pretend to have succeeded. It will explain itself.”

Periodical Review

• In an 1817 article, John Wilson Croker attacked John Keats in a review of his work for his association with Leigh Hunt and the so-called "Cockney School" of poetry.
• Keats, for example, was accused of "low diction" for rhyming "thorns/fawns" in "Sleep and Poetry" and other rhymes which suggested a working class speech.
• One of the things that Keats is now most celebrated for is his use of language, particularly the sensuality of it. Most important to the poem is its concentration on imagery and allusion in its evocation of nature. The liveliness of the words he uses only enhance the feelings behind his poem. In “To Autumn” he uses sensual language to describe a scene of a lively autumn, using words that are full of the senses, such as touch, sight, and sound. In the first stanza he uses words such as “load”, “fill”, “ripeness”, “swell”, “plump”, ”sweet”, “budding”, which all aid in Keats description of the beauty in nature at the perfect end of a summer and the beginning of autumn, right before everything begins to rot, and eventually, die. Surprisingly, contemporary reviews considered Keats’ word choice to reflect his low class speech.
• John Gibson Lockhart wrote in Blackwoods Magazine that Keats was a member of “The Cockney School of Poetry” (Lockhart 519), a dismissive term to describe Keats and some of his contemporary poets who did not attend Eton or Oxford or Cambridge and were not from upper class backgrounds. The comment was dismissive in both a political and a literary sense, aimed at working class young writers deemed unworthy of the title of “poet” for their non-formal rhyming.
  The term, Cockney School of Poetry, was both a dismissive take of their aesthetics and an attack on their upbringing. Reviewers thought that there was no room for these poets among the greats of the era, especially considering the political revolutionary tone to many of Keats’s contemporaries.
• Contemporary critics immediately understood, and condemned, his radical associations, the political, reformist agenda and the democratic ideology of the cultural and class background of the authors being introduced as a mechanism of reform.

• Percy Shelley was accused of being similarly offensive politically, but the reviewers excused him for his genius (and, of course, his high birth).

 Reputation

• While largely criticized, with Lockhart going as far as to call Keats’s poetry “imperturbable driveling idiocy” (Lockhart 519)  Keats’s ability and talent was widely acknowledged and admired by several influential contemporaries such as Shelley and Hunt. They praised him for his quick thinking and his style; both beautiful and lively in it’s sensualities. When Keats died, Shelley proclaimed that his death had occurred because of bad reviews in the Quarterly Review. Shelley wrote about Keats’ death, referring to him as “the loveliest and the last, The bloom, whose petals nipped before they blew
Died on the promise of the fruit.” Keats’s sensual language, fanciful ideas, and simple rhyme scheme were some of the biggest reasons for his poor reception, but they are now a few of the most important reasons why he is such a beloved and such a widely read poet of today. He lived his life afraid of death and the finality of it, assuming the end of his life would also mean the end of his works circulation. In the years after his death and up until now, his genius has been widely proclaimed.

"I have left no immortal work behind me - nothing to make my friends proud of my memory - but I have lov'd the principle of beauty in all things, and if I had had time I would have made myself remembered." 

--Keats in a letter to Fanny Brawne before his death

Lockhart, John Gibson. “The Cockney School of Poetry No. IV” Blackwood’s Magazine August 1818

Evil before good

In Keats Epistle to John H. Reynolds he attempts to cheer up his friend by mocking the views of society in how they treat people according to social classes. He refers to great philosophers, poets, and artists as “Making the best of ways towards Soho”(Epistle to John :line 12),meaning that even the greatest of people go through social alienation and are miserable at first in order to achieve great admiration. “Things cannot to the will be settled, but they tease us out of thought; Or is it that imagination brought beyond its proper bound, yet still confin’d lost in a sort of purgatory blind” (E to J 76-80) & “In happiness, to see beyond our bourn it forces us in summer skies to mourn” (E to J 83-84) both of this confirm Keats view of how first you must go through unhappiness in order to be happy. This can be compared to Elizabeth Hamilton’s, Translation of the letters of a Hindoo Rajah and her outside view into the Hindu religion. According to the Hindu religion people are born into their social classes and can never be reversed or altered but none of them hate or envy one another. They are conformed and content to their class because” They believe that the human soul must be purified by suffering, and that it is not till after having undergone this expiatory discipline through a series of different bodies, that it becomes worthy of admission to eternal happiness.”(Letters of Hinddo Rajah). By Keats choosing to end the poem to his friend with a quote from the twelfth night he left the decision to John Reynolds to think about how his illness is the worst part and soon happiness will come “ thou art made, if thou desir’st to be so”.  

Love and Death and This Living Hand

"This Living Hand" presents rather as a conundrum; it's listed as a fragment by the Broadview text, which also notes that there is no context for it. It could be so many different things its difficult to see how this fits into the confessional context that its headed under. The only way I'm able to shoehorn it in there is as perhaps being part of a love poem. The central theme of giving one's life to bring this once living hand back to life is easily identifiable and is a bit of a signpost there. It's a little too short to be a proper sonnet, and the form doesn't follow traditional sonnet formula; at the same time there is a bit of a sonnet-esque tone to the writing.

Opium the key to the subconsciousness

In the confessions of opium eater on of the interesting aspects of the story which it crosses is the boundary between reality and fantasy. The main character in the story explores what is created for him in his subconscious from his desires to the fears he has. One thing to note is that drugs of any sort that enters the body affect the brain and sometimes changes the whole functionality of the brain. With this in mind, the drugs seem to unlock a further truth inside himself in which he didn't realize without the drug. Therefore, his desire to seek the higher truth makes him want it more and eventually becomes the addiction. The opium in the story could be represented as a key to the subconscious mind the main character ignored. Often times the story goes in to the perceptive of what most drug uses in our time face, not the law, but themselves. 

Keats' Obsession

"When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be" by Keats is a poem of missed opportunity.  Fame, love, and life are all beyond his reach and power to control.  He believes death will prevent all of his desires from coming true.  His fear of the lack of fame, "before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain" is a lifelong struggle for him.  This is something that is actually quite justified since he was not received well critically during his lifetime.  His fear of the lack of love is due to the female subject of the poem.  He saw a woman one day at an amusement park, never spoke to her, and yet idealized her for years afterward.  His lack of action and subsequent obsession with her helps his idea of love being another thing he did not accomplish...even though he became engaged to Fanny Brawne later.  Life is the final element he can not control.  He sees death approaching.  His family history pretty much guarantees his early death.  He knows he cannot fight it.  Love and fame are both gone with his life. "Till live and fame to nothingness do sink."

Kuble Khan is Hotel California

While I was reading "Kubla Khan" the song, "Hotel California," by The Eagles came to mind.  There is something reminiscent about the melancholy acceptance of the dangerous desire of Kubla Khan that feels similar to Hotel California.  Coleridge's vision of the garden is very similar to the etherial feeling of the hotel.  Both are places the writer desires in a very frantic way, but both know it is not healthy for them.  The realization of the personal destruction of the writer from these two places is both lifesaving and helpful to the reader, but the feeling of longing to return is always in the air.  When I hear Hotel California I always wonder why a person would leave such a lovely place, but then the actual meaning of the words kick in and I can understand both his desire to be there and his reluctance to leave.  The garden of Kubla Khan is a wonderfully, enticingly, mesmerizing place that draws you in and dares you to leave, just like the hotel.

Love as Subject to Time; Keats "When I Have Fears"

I think that one of the most interesting things about Keats' poem 'When I Have Fears...' is that fact that not only does it deal with large ideas of love, accomplishment, and time... It also seems to embrace the idea that there may not be anything wrong with not accomplishing all. The concern with time is supported throughout, especially with the repeated use of the word "when"- but it is his emphasis on love as subject to time that strikes me as interesting. Love is referred to in brief terms- his love is the "fair creature of the hour", and in fact- this stanza is more compressed than the others, suggesting that it (like love) is short-lived. It seems that by the end of the poem Keats has accepted the fact that in death, one is essentially alone ("I stand alone", in contrast to "the wide world"). This solitude places him in a position of reflection regarding his own emotions, and leads him to reach a point of acceptance. This crossing over, if it can be called that, seems to be represented in the imagery of the shore. As a place where two separate worlds collide (the sea and the land) the shore acts as a bridge between Keats initial desire for love and fame, to an acceptance of their unimportance upon time of death; an end to his endless fear of not having done enough or been enough.

Dreams and Reality: Separate but Equal?

I know this is a bit retrospective, but this didn't really occur to me until class. Dreams are something that, in our Post-Modern world, are again seen as an important literary subject of study. The difference, however, between the Romantic view on dreams and the Post-Modern view is the separation between dreams and reality. The Romantics try to establish a very clear difference between the two, keeping them as two different worlds which, while they coincide, are still separate. The Post-Modern period is often identified, by contrast, with the advent of Magical Realism, which weaves reality and dreams together to a point where they are often inseparable. The question then is which view makes the most sense or appeals the most to you? They both have credibility, as dreams clearly operate separately from reality, but equally, dreams and reality hold equal sway in many cases, and both are merely different shades of perspective. So which opinion on dreams do you all prefer?

Keats & Time

In “Confessions of An Opium Eater” the autobiographical aspect of the piece brings a specific perspective to the work. In the same way Keats’ “When I Have Fears” is a very personal confession of the poet’s worries. I have always loved this poem and I think it is because it’s so easy to relate to. As a young adult the thought that I may die before I accomplish something is scary. Keats seems to be a little obsessed with this idea, though. Or he is at least more than a little focused on time. In Ode on a Grecian Urn he freezes time with his flowery words and expressions to draw the reader’s attention to the idea that time is fleeting. The two lovers can at least be comforted by the thought that they will be frozen in time; the woman will never grow old. The “fair creature” in “When I Have Fears” is a momentary character in Keats’ life. The phrases “of an hour”, “never look upon thee more”, and “Never have relish in the fairy power” all give the idea of a moment that can be lost. 

Keats and "When I Have Fears..."

It seems to me that in “When I Have Fears That I May Cease To Be”, Keats is not afraid of death, but what he may miss by dying. I am sure by being trained as a medical doctor, Keats was well acquainted with death. Seeing people go before their time can cause a person to reflect on his or her own life. Keats seems to be reflecting on what he has, and does not have. He is nervous to die without experiencing everything he wants to experience. I think this is important because it is a common theme for many people. Nobody wants to die before their time and before they get to truly live. I think Keats is expressing a common fear for people in a way they can relate to.

What Does This Living Hand Represent?

I think in the poem "This Living Hand," Keats uses this image of a hand to symbolize life and death. The "warm and capable hand" invokes a happy and calm emotion contrasting with the "cold" and "icy silence" which give the image of death. Keats also uses the word "if" suggesting that the hand is still alive and capable of loving since in the line, "so haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights" could possibly suggest that even those that have died are still with those living. In the final line, "hold it towards you" suggests by taking the hand, you are not embracing life or death but acknowledging it.

Percy Coleridge?

Throughout Kubla Khan, I thought that it was interesting that there is no indication that Khan even knows of the chasm or of the fountain. In lines 17-24 we read a very vivid and violent description of a fountain bursting from the caverns vaulting huge fragments and ‘dancing rocks’ into the air—volcanic-like. However, among this tumult, in lines 29-30 Khan only hears from afar, “Ancestral voices prophesying war!”

I think that it is important to consider the fact that Khan decreed the dome to be built; in other words, he exercised his stately powers to build a pleasure dome to embody the grandeur of his state and absolute rule. Also, that this is complicated by the fact that the very foundation of this dome is situated upon a cavern where a sacred river, Alph—an allusion to Greek mythology—runs through.

I read the dome as being an embodiment of man’s creation, specifically of the state and other political institutions, with its very creation representing the praxis of man’s attempt to control, or domesticate, nature. The fountain bursting violently from afar represents nature’s response and rebellion as it echoes of impending doom—perhaps reminding Khan that his empiric footprint is as ephemeral and forgettable as Ozymandias.