How Does John Keats Feel About Nature?

How does Keats feel about nature?

If you read through Keats' work it is clear that he loves nature. As he is dying he feels like he is losing everything close to him, his girlfriend, his friends and nature. Nature has become his family and a large and significant part of his life; all Keats wants to do now is die without pain, "to cease upon the midnight with no pain." He has accepted his death and wants to spend the rest of his time with nature. Keats uses similes, metaphors and personification to describe the way he feels about nature.

In 'Ode to a Nightingale' he explains that he envies the nightingale and its song, which it seems, will last forever. He also feels almost annoyed with himself, "being too happy in thine happiness." This means that he likes being happy listening to the nightingale's song but at the same time he doesn't want to be happy because he knows he is dying. He also knows how he is going to die because he has seen his mother and brother die the same way. He says the nightingale will not die though and he wishes it could be that way for him, "thou wast not born for death, immortal bird."

In 'To Autumn' Keas feels autumn is like him, it is his season. It is a time of ripening and, "sitting careless on a granary floor." Autumn is a time of the end of beings, a time to grow old. To him it is almost time for him to die. He uses personification to represent autumn as an old woman, "Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind:"

Autumn to him is truly a lazy, calm and docile time,

"Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours."

Autumn, in its own way, is a beautiful time, with its own song, "Where are the songs of spring?...Think not of them, thou hast music too."

He is in mourning for himself, I believe, because he is dying a hard death.

Keats clearly loved nature; it was a part of him. You can see this by reading his poetry, I believe he probably would not have loved it as much if he wasn't dying.

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