1. On the Grasshopper and the Cricket
John Keats
Presentation by:
Emad Masroor
Hashir Shahid
Faaris Khan

2. The poetry of earth 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 done With his delights; for when tired out with fun He rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. The poetry of earth is ceasing never: On a lone winter evening, when the frost Has wrought a silence, from the stove 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

3. Structure The poem is structurally similar to a sonnet because:
It has 14 lines
It can be divided into an octet and a sestet
It is written in iambic pentameter
The poem has a definite rhyme scheme
{abbaabba cdecde}
The first half of the octet deals with summer imagery, while the second half deals with the grasshopper
Similarly, the first half of the sestet deals with winter imagery, while the second half deals with the cricket.

4. Imagery The Octet: The Sestet: Summer (afternoon) imagery:
Hot sun
Cooling trees
Hedge
New-mown mead (meadow)
The Sestet:
Winter (evening) imagery:
Lone winter evening
Frost
Stove
Silence

5. ______________________ ___ Pleasant and active mood
Octet: Grasshopper
Sestet: Cricket
Active in the summer
Active in the day time
______________________ ___
Pleasant and active mood
Lively environment created by the words ‘delights’ and ‘fun’
Active in the winter
Active in the evening
______________________ ___
Dismal and melancholy mood
Slow and peaceful environment created by ‘silence’ and ‘drowsiness’

6. Holistic Interpretation
The poem begins in a lively mood with images mostly relating to the typical ideal of a summer afternoon. Amidst this environment, the poet introduces the grasshopper, who ‘takes the lead’ among other creatures, as if proclaiming the bounties of summer
In the sestet, the mood of the poem changes, with the images now dealing mostly with the winter evening and its related silence. Amidst this silence, the cricket’s song is introduced, which brings ‘warmth’ in the cold atmosphere

7. The song of the cricket amidst the silence wrought by the frost reminds the poet of the grasshopper’s song in the summer.
The two are only different in outward nature, but if one listens ‘in drowsiness half lost’, both represent the ‘poetry of earth’

8. Thematic Analysis “The poetry of earth is never dead”
This is the opening line of the poem and suggests a veneration of nature, as the poet perceives the beauty of nature to be eternal and everlasting
The beauty of nature is not constrained by time
Nature’s poetry is as resonant in the winter as it is in the summer. It’s more obvious in summer, because of the myriad sounds to be heard, but for the attentive ear, winter holds the same charm.

9. JazakAllah
Thank you