The next poem I selected is by John Keats. I wanted it to follow WB Yeats’ poem because it uses the same format of the previous poem by WB Yeats. If you remember it, he uses the entire first stanza to relay his vision of the magical beauty of nature to then tell of his two characters and how they respond to it and to one another. I hope you enjoy. The poem is called “To Emma,†and it’s by John Keats.
O come, dearest Emma! the rose is full blown,
And the riches of Flora are lavishly strown;
The air is all softness, and crystal the streams,
And the west is resplendently cloathed in beams.
We will hasten, my fair, to the opening glades,
The quaintly carv’d seats, and the freshening shades;
Where the fairies are chaunting their evening hymns,
And in the last sun-beam the sylph lightly swims.
And when thou art weary, I’ll find thee a bed,
Of mosses, and flowers, to pillow thy head;
There, beauteous Emma, I’ll sit at thy feet,
While my story of love I enraptur’d repeat.
So fondly I’ll breathe, and so softly I’ll sigh,
Thou wilt think that some amorous zephyr is nigh;
Ah! no–as I breathe it, I press thy fair knee,
And then, thou wilt know that the sigh comes from me.
Then why, lovely girl, should we lose all these blisses?
That mortal’s a fool who such happiness misses;
So smile acquiescence, and give me thy hand,
With love-looking eyes, and with voice sweetly bland.
John Keats
John Keats is a master of imagery. Right away in the first stanza, we’re drawn into a beautiful world of description. Where others might say something like, “to the left there lay a beautiful sunset,†Keats writes, “And the west is resplendently clothed in beams.†But he doesn’t stop after the first stanza. We see this mesmerizing imagery all throughout the poem.
But what I probably love the most about this poem is that, despite the fact that it’s clearly a love poem, Keats tells us very little about Emma. The entire poem is focused around his love for her, how amazing she is in his eyes, how he would love nothing more than to run away with her into the beauty of nature, all the while telling his “story of love I enraptur’d repeat.â€
It’s an odd combination. On the one hand, we see his amazing description of the beauty of nature, and on the other hand, we have little or no description of who Emma is. It’s an intriguing duality that’s not easily picked up on.
