King Lear

Question 1

‘O Golden-tongued Romance, with serene Lute! Fair plumed Syren, Queen of far-away!
Leave melodizing on this wintry day
Shut up thine olden Pages, and be mute.’

Answer 1

• begins with apostrophe, yet not praising of it
• ‘Romance’ could refer to his own writing of Endymion
• ‘syren’ implies she may be lovely but also deceitful (context)
• open vowel sounds contrast monosyllabic phrase ‘and be mute’ - stark contrast
• speaker’s longing to immerse himself in a richer, darker, more truthful kind of art than Romance can provide.
• sings Shakespeare’s praises through sonnet (though NOT shakesperean sonnet)
• iambic pentameter
• ‘far away’ - literature acting as escapist

Question 2

‘Adieu! for, once again, the fierce dispute, Betwixt Damnation and impassion’d clay Must I burn through; once more humbly assay The bitter-sweet of this Shaksperean fruit.’

Answer 2

• treats reading KL as ordeal - has to prepare for it
• modal verb ‘must’ accentuates desire
• has to banish Romance ‘Adieu!’ because there is no truth to it compared to tragedies like King Lear
• metaphor of ‘Shakesperean fruit’ contrasts the organic nature of KL with Romance’s artifice
• sibilance and dental alliteration (fierce dispute) conveying struggle
• ‘betwixt….clay’ - fight between good and evil - alluding to Cordelia as good and perhaps Regan as bad

Question 3

‘Chief Poet! and ye Clouds of Albion, Begetters of our deep eternal theme!’

Answer 3

• makes second apostrophe to spirits he hopes will act as his muses in concluding sestet
• makes connection between him and Shakespeare through the land they share ‘Clouds of Albion’ and wanting to create something innately British &laquo_space;ironically romantic way of saying this
• ^^ deeply important to Keats that he speaks same tongue as Shakespeare and lived under same clouds

Question 4

‘When through the old oak forest I am gone,’

Answer 4

• unlike most poets calling upon guiding spirits, Keats wants help to become a particular type of poet (like Shakespeare not writing cloying Romance) instead of just help with a poem
• ^^ explored through metaphorical language - journey through ‘old oak forest’ - alludes to KL raving on stormy heath - famous scene
• again ironically Romantic idea, implying he struggles to escape from this type of literature

Question 5

‘Let me not wander in a barren dream:
But, when I am consumed in the fire,
Give me new Phoenix Wings to fly at my desire.’

Answer 5

• metaphor as King Lear referred to as ‘fire’
• ^^ burning from its brilliance, Keats hopes he will both die from pain and awe but also be resurrected - wants a transformative process
• ^^ reflected through final line having line of hexameter instead of pentameter - line reaches past boundaries of meter as Keats too hopes to break boundaries
• duplexity of language - could also refer to Keats wanting to live on through his work as Shakespeare does - Shakespeare often called ‘Immortal Bard’

Question 6

Form

Answer 6

• Petrarchan sonnet (surprisingly not Shakespearean)
  ^^ - Suggests he respects Shakespeare (through content of poem) but wants to be known for his own work and brilliance, hence why petrarchan
• octave first banishes Romantic literature, then sestet desires a transformation after reading Shakka