On the Grasshopper and the Cricket By John Keats

1. On the Grasshopper and the CricketBy John Keats • 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.

2. Background • English romantic poet in the early 1800’s • Keats wanted the world to see the flaw of the scientific rationalisation of nature • Struck by tuberculosis like his mother and died at an early age of 25 • During his time his poems were not appreciated by the critics • The poem is a clear allusion to the tale of the ant and the grasshopper

3. Stanza 1 • 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; Stanza 1 establishes the setting for the poem

4. Stanza 2 • That is the Grasshopper's-he takes the lead In summer luxury,-he has never done With his delights; for when tired out withfunHe rests at ease beneath some pleasant weed. Part 2 introduces the grasshopper and establishes an easy going mood

5. Stanza 3 • The poetry of earth is ceasing never: On a lone winter evening, when thefrostHas 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. Nature is shown in its full force

6. Morale • Through the grasshopper and the cricket John Keats shows the repercussions of ones actions • It also teaches that nature is a force which one must take into account • Throughout the poem nature can be seen to be compared to God and its actions should not be rationalised

7. Themes • The eternity of nature • The poetry and beauty of nature • Religion and belief into a higher power • Reward and punishment • The flow of life

8. Essay Questions • Comment on the way the author empowers nature • Explain how the author appeals to the senses to convey his beliefs • Explain how the author contrasts the lives of the cricket and grasshopper