On the Grasshopper and Cricket by John Keats

Full Text

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.

Overview

Keats claims nature’s music is continuous: in summer through the grasshopper, in winter through the cricket.

Line-by-Line Analysis

Lines 1-8

When birds fall silent in heat, the grasshopper’s song becomes summer’s voice.

Lines 9-14

In winter, the cricket’s song suggests continuity and echoes the grasshopper’s hills.

Themes

• Nature’s continuity
• Seasonal cycles
• Sound
• Vitality

Literary Devices

Personification

poetry of earth — Nature is presented as a poet and singer.

Parallelism

The poetry of earth... — Repetition links summer and winter scenes.

Historical Context

Keats wrote this sonnet as part of a friendly poetic contest; it reflects Romantic reverence for nature.