What does the poet assert in his poem ‘The Poetry of Earth’ and how?

John Keats in his poem ‘The Poetry of Earth’ unfolds the never-ending poetry of earth and celebrates the beauty of nature.

In this poem, the beauty of summer, as well as winter, is portrayed by the poet. On a hot summer day, when the birds stop singing because of the unbearable heat, the grasshopper’s merry voice is heard from the hedges. He takes the lead’ in ‘summer luxury’ and spreads happiness to every corner of the world. Similarly, in winter, the shrill note of the cricket breaks the silence of the gloomy winter evening and reminds a person of the grasshopper in the days of summer. In this way, Keats merges the songs of summer and winter and makes the readers realise that the creatures of the earth celebrate the beauty of nature in their own way but their song remains the same.


Comment on the use of symbolism in this poem ‘The Poetry of Earth’

In ‘The Poetry of Earth’ Keats has made brilliant use of symbolism. The word ‘earth symbolises nature as a whole. Summer with its luxurious bounty firstly stands for the pleasant phases of our lives. Secondly, it symbolises the youth with all its vigour. The winter frost covering all life forms with its shroud of silence represents on one hand the painful phases one has to go through in life. On the other hand, it indicates the old age of a human being. The poet tries to convey whether it is a youth or it is old age, beauty can always be derived from nature. Nature also has its pleasant phases and barren phases, but it never ceases to sing its exuberant song. So, we can hear the grasshopper’s song in summer which is succeeded by that of the cricket in winter. Again, the cycle of seasons, the birds, the grasshopper and the cricket- they all symbolize the brevity of human life and activities in contrast to the eternal nature. Nature does not take rest or stop providing solace and inspiration to mankind.