A presentation on the poem 'A Thing of Beauty', written by John Keats. It highlights the main themes and poetic devices used in the poem.

1. A Thing of Beauty
John Keats

2. John Keats
(1795 - 1821)
John Keats was born in London on 31
October 1795
He published only fifty-four poems
Important poems -
▪ Ode on a Grecian Urn (1819)
▪ La Belle Dame Sans Merci (1819)
▪ Ode to a Nightingale (1819)
▪ To Autumn (1819)
Jude Joseph, PGT English KVS

3. Introduction
❖ A Thing of Beauty by John Keats, taken from
a larger poem, 'Endymion: A Poetic
Romance,’
❖ Endymion is an epic poem in English.
❖ This poem is based on the Greek mythology
of Endymion, the shepherd beloved by the
moon goddess Selene.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

4. Who was Endymion?
This poem was inspired by the Greek myth of
Endymion who was a shepherd and was granted
immortality. His father, Zeus, offered Endymion
anything under the sun, and he chose to be
immortalized in his youth, and sleep eternally.
The moon goddess Selene loved him and visited
him every night.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

5. Introduction
The poem is written in the Romantic
style of writing.
'A Thing of Beauty' romanticizes
beauty as something that has the
ability to transform lives.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

6. Romanticism
❖ Romanticizing is about investing objects
with larger-than-life attributes
❖ It is about extolling the virtues of an
object
❖ It could be any object-
➢ the poet's beloved,
➢ nature,
➢ beauty (in the case of this extract)
➢ anything that has impacted the mind
of the poet.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

7. The central idea
❖ Any beautiful thing gives unending pleasure
❖ A beautiful thing is happiness forever.
❖ Whatever happens, we cannot hate a really
beautiful thing.
❖ Even when it fades, decays or dies, we love such
things without any conditions. It will never be
elapsed even after its death
❖ When we live enclosed by beautiful people,
places and things, our minds will be refreshed
and will have sweet dreams while sleeping.
❖ As a further result we will have good health
and quiet breathing.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

8. Theme ofthe Poem
❖ Keats’s firm belief in the non-destruction of
beauty
❖ Beauty in all its forms -
➔ Earthly beauty and Spiritual beauty.
❖ The transformational, therapeutic and
spiritual impact of beauty on our lives.
❖ The objects of beauty are resistant to the
perishability of time, and indeed of
mortality.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

9. Themes
1.Things of beauty have an embalming effect.
2.They help us cope with negativity.
3.They make life more meaningful.
4.God has blessed us with objects of beauty.
5.We need to bond with them.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

10. Poet’s Message
Beauty has the ability to transform lives, it can
dispel negativism and dark thoughts.
Beauty can also remove the sting from grief, it can
help one survive even when there is a ‘dearth of
noble natures’ or when one is surrounded by hostile
and malicious people.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

11. Beauty has a positive impact on
one’s health
- It can help steady the breathing
- It can give one a sound sleep.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

12. Things of Beauty
John Keats suggests that beauty can be found everywhere in life
the poet draws a list of beautiful things which include:
sun
moon
daffodils
musk rose blooms
Simple sheep trees
Clear rills
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

13. List of things of beauty
1. Sun, moon, deep forests
2. Sheep grazing in open pastures
3. Daffodils, rivulets, musk roses
4. Tombs built to honour heroes.
5. Legends, tales from classics and scriptures
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

14. Daffodils
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

15. Musk Rose Rill
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

16. Sheep
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

17. Qualities of a thing of beauty
1. Gives everlasting joy.
2. Ageless.
3. Never goes waste
4. Shelters and protects like a bower.
5. Relaxes, comforts, invigorates us.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

18. Things that cause pain
1. Ill health, gloomy days, depression
2. Lack of goodness in human beings
3. In sad moments things of beauty come to
our rescue, remove the gloom from our lives.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

19. Conclusion
★ The poem concludes by saying that beautiful things
are figuratively an endless source of nectar that
pours down to us from heaven bringing eternal joy
for the soul’s grandeur.
★ They are like a medicine of life, a never diminishing
source of pleasure and delight, a boundless source
of joy that seems to be a precious gift from Heaven.
★ A beautiful thing will give joy throughout one’s
lifetime.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

20. Metaphorsusedinthepoem
● bower - a calm, pleasant shade
● sweet dreams - happy dreams
● flowery band - to bind us to earth
● pall - a cloth covering/a cloud of dust, smoke
● endless fountain of immortal drink - a shower of
blessings of good health
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

21. ● A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
● Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
● Some shape of beauty moves away the pall.
● From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
● Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
● For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
● That for themselves a cooling covert make
● 'Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake,
● Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms:
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS
Alliterationused in the poem

22. ● A flowery band to bind us to the earth
● Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
● From our dark spirits. Such the sun, the moon,
● Trees old and young, sprouting a shady boon
● With the green world they live in; and clear rills
● That for themselves a cooling covert make
● Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms
● An endless fountain of immortal drink
● Pouring unto us from the heaven's brink
Imagery used in the poem
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

23. Other Poetic Devices used
Anaphora - It is the repetition of a word at the start of two or more
consecutive lines -
(Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er- darkened ways)
Antitheses - The poet has used two words opposite in meaning -
Trees old, and young.
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

24. PoeticDevices
Enjambment - The sentence is being continued to
the next line without break. It has been used
throughout the stanza.
Oxymoron - ‘mighty dead’
Transferred epithet - ‘gloomy days’ ‘unhealthy an
o’er darkened ways’
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

25. PoeticDevices- Symbolism&Inversion
Symbol
‘simple sheep’ — refers to mankind as Christ is
considered the shepherd who leads human souls
out of the dark world of sins and temptations
Inversion: normal order of words is reversed
( Are we wreathing a flowery band)
Jude Joseph, PGT English, KVS

26. Thank you