10 Years After

My return to college

10.02.2002

In British Lit we were given two sonnets, one by John Keats and one by Leigh Hunt, and asked to determine which poem was written by Keats. I surmised the correct sonnet. The two sonnets were written by the two poets as an after dinner contest. Hunt recognized, as did the other dinner guests, that Keats had written the more remarkable sonnet. The instructor said he didn't want to put anyone on the spot for guessing, so unless anyone was sure he wouldn't call on anyone. Confident, I offered my opinion. And lo!, I was correct. Can you ascertain which was by Keats? Here they are:
To the Grasshoppper and the Cricket
Green little vaulter in the summer grass,
Catching your heart up at the feel of June,
Sole voice that's heard admist the lazy noon,
When ev'n the bees lag at the summoning brass; --
And you, warm little housekeeper, who class
Wth those who think the candles come too soon,
Loving the fire, and with your tricksome tune
Nick the glad silent moments as they pass;--

Oh, sweet and tiny cousins, that belong
One to the fields, the other to the hearth,
Both have your sunshine; both, though small, are strong
At your clear hearts; and both were sent on earth
To sing in thoughtful ears this natural song --
In doors and out, --summer and winter, --Mirth.

On the Grasshopper and the Cricket
The poetry of earth is never dead:
When all the birds are faint with the hot sun,
And hide in the cooling trees, a coice 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 first
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.
Both poems: 30th December, 1816.
Highlight here to read the correct answer: On the Grasshopper and the Cricket
Comments: Post a Comment

<< Home

Archives

09.01.2002   09.08.2002   09.15.2002   09.22.2002   09.29.2002   10.06.2002   10.13.2002   10.20.2002   10.27.2002   11.03.2002   11.10.2002   11.17.2002   12.08.2002   01.05.2003   01.12.2003   01.19.2003   01.26.2003   02.02.2003   02.23.2003   05.04.2003   08.10.2003   08.24.2003   08.31.2003   09.07.2003   09.14.2003   09.21.2003   09.28.2003   10.05.2003   10.12.2003   10.19.2003   10.26.2003   11.02.2003   11.09.2003   12.21.2003   01.04.2004   01.11.2004   03.14.2004   03.21.2004   03.28.2004   04.04.2004   04.11.2004   04.18.2004   04.25.2004   05.09.2004   12.05.2004   12.26.2004   02.06.2005   03.06.2005   03.20.2005   04.03.2005   04.24.2005   05.01.2005   05.08.2005   05.29.2005   06.12.2005   06.19.2005   07.10.2005   07.24.2005  

This page is powered by Blogger. Isn't yours?