The Poetry Of Earth (Questions Answer)

1. ''When all birds are faint ..." --- Why are all birds faint? What do the birds do? Who plays the role of the birds and how?

Ans. This is the voice of the Grasshopper in
Keats's sonnet, 'The Poetry of Earth'
The voice will run from hedge to hedge in the
freshly-mown grass in the meadow
The Grasshopper is luxuriating in the gaiety
and abundance of summer. In summer, song-birds
are exhausted by the intolerable heat. They take
shelter in the cool shade of the leafy trees and
stop singing. So a void is created in Nature. This
void is filled up by the Grasshopper. The Grass-
hopper, undisturbed by the scorching heat of
summer, expresses immense joy as he flits about
in the air. When the birds keep silent, the music of
the earth does not come to an end. The chirping
he small insect becomes the song of summer.
Thus, the Grasshopper becomes the poet of
summer

2."...from the stove there shrills/The Crickets song".--- What rol dose the Cricket play here?

Ans. In the sestet of the sonnet, The Poetry of

Earth', the Cricket is the poet of winter. Keats

uses the Cricket to associate winter. Winter

comes with its icy touch. The frost makes the win-

ter evening silent. Nature is now bleak and deso-

late. In such a frosty and silent weather, the

Cricket, the tireless bard of winter, keeps the

music of earth alive. In the background of lifeless

winter, the gay chirping of the Cricket infuses new

energy and induces new hope. To a person half

asleep in drowsiness, the Cricket's song seems to

be the music of the Grasshopper singing joyfully

among some grassy hills on a summer day. It

makes the poet believe that the poetry of earth

never comes to an end.

3.He rests at ease..." --- Who is 'he' here? Where does he rest? How does he enliven Nature?

Ans. Here 'he' is the Grasshopper in the poem,

The Poetry of Earth' written by John Keats.

In absence of the song-birds, the Grasshopper

fills up the void in Nature by his song. But when-

ever he feels tired, he takes rest beneath some

pleasant weed only to resume his song with

renewed energy.

When all song-birds stop singing, the Grass-

hopper enlivens Nature by chirping merrily. He

moves from hedge to hedge in the meadow sing-

ing the delightful song of summer luxury. Thus

when the whole countryside seems to be tired and

exhausted, the Grasshopper brings joy

4. Bring out the contrast used in the poem, 'The Poetry of Earth'.

Ans. In the sonnet, The Poetry of Earth', Keats
uses the literary device of contrast to establish
his firm conviction that the poetry of the earth
never comes to an end. The octave and the ses-
tet of the poem stand in sharp contrast to each
other. While the octave presents the scene of a
hot summer day, the sestet depicts the picture of
a cold winter evening. While in the octave, the
birds hide in the cool shade to protect them from
the scorching heat, in the sestet, a half-asleep
person sits by the stove to get the warmth. The
Grasshopper is the symbol of summer and the
Cricket becomes the symbol of winter. However,
there is no rivalry between summer and winter.
They are but parts of the same wonderful cycle of
seasons. The contrast highlights the obvious dif-
ference between the two seasons to show the
continuity of the poetry of earth amidst cyclic
change of seasons