English class 12 poem : A Thing Of Beauty

1. Created By Amar Jyoti Saxena

2. About The Poet
• John Keats was one of the main
figures of the second generation of
Romantic poets, along with Lord
Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley.
• His work included Endymion,
Isabella, Lamia, The Eve of St.
Agnes, and Other Poems. He
died at a very early age of
twenty-five of tuberculosis after
leaving an indelible mark on
English poetry.

3. Source
• A Thing of Beauty' is an excerpt
from his poem, 'Endymion:A
Poetic Romance' which was first
published in 1818.
• It begins with the line "A thing
of beauty is a joy forever”.
Endymion is written in rhyming
couplets also known as heroic
couplets.
• The theme of Endymion is love,
beauty and youth and it reflects
the poet's attitude towards
beauty,

4. Theme
• A thing of beauty is a source of
constant joy. Beauty can be found
everywhere.
• It is something that has the ability
to transform life. It also highlights
the fact that beauty has a
therapeutic quality, i.e., the ability
to remove negativity.
• It can be any object, nature, tales or
even noble deeds of our ancestors.

5. Form
•A Thing of Beauty belongs
to the Romantic genre. The
poem is written in rhyming
couplets and the rhyme
scheme is
•aabb.

6. Message
• The poem brings the message that a thing
of beauty is a joy forever.
• It transcends time. It will never fade away
into nothingness. Beauty has the power to
remove darkness and negativity and helps
us survive when there is a 'dearth of noble
nature' or when one is surrounded by evil.
• It has a positive impact on one's health. It
helps one get sound sleep.
• Moreover, it highlights the fact that beauty
is not only physical but also spiritual and
seems to flow down from heaven as an
'immortal drink' made for mankind.

7. Explanation
•
• According to the poet, John Keats, a thing
of beauty is a source of constant joy.
• Its beauty goes on increasing, it never
fades away i.e. it never passes into
nothingness.
• A beautiful thing is as comforting as a
bower which is a peaceful and pleasant
place in the shade of a tree, providing
shelter and protection from the hot rays
of the sun, giving us sound sleep, full of
pleasant dreams, health and peaceful
breathing.

8. • As a result of this, every morning we
are weaving a flowery wreath to bind
us to the beauties of the earth despite
our feelings of sadness and depression.
• We all possess negative attributes of
hatred and disappointment. We suffer
from lack of noble qualities and follow
unhealthy, evil ways. In spite of all this
a beautiful thing helps us to remove
the cover of gloom or darkness from
our lives.
• It makes us love life despite the things
that make us sad and dampen our
spirits.

9. • Here are a number of beautiful things
that have the power to uplift our
spirits like the moon and trees old and
young.
• The trees sprout and spread their
branches to provide shelter within
their green covering (shade) for the
simple sheep (humans).
• Similarly, the sight of daffodils
blooming within their green covering
(shade), the clear and small streams of
water which make a cooling shelter for
themselves against the hot season,the
thick mass of ferns looking grand with
their beautiful musk roses are all
things of beauty that makes us feel
happy.

10. • The mighty dead people whose
achievements have made them great
and powerful inspire us through their
sagas of noble works. Their legends
and stories enthuse us and we imagine
their magnificence.
• A beautiful thing is also a source of joy
just as the lovely tales we have heard
or read give us profound happiness.
• A fountain of immortality gushing out
from nature's endless fountain pours
its sacred and immortal drink into the
heart and soul of man and is a source
of immense joy for us.
• ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
• End of Explanation

11. Poetic Devices
• Metaphor:
• bower quiet’-refers to a quiet shady part in the
garden
• 'sweet dreams •’-happy dreams
• 'wreathing a flowery band'-connecting to
nature
• • 'pall’-a covering like a shroud
• • 'endless fountain of immortal drink'- refers
to the deeds of great men and women that
have made them a source of inspiration for
people of all times
• • The list of beautiful things are metaphors
and symbols of nature

12. Alliteration:
• 'noble natures'
• 'cooling covert .
• 'band to bind'

13. Imagery:
•'flowery bands
•'shady boon
• daffodils in green world
• 'clear rills'
• 'cooling covert
• 'grandeur of dooms'
• 'endless fountain of eternal
drink'

14. 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

15. Transferred epithet:
•‘gloomy days'
•‘unhealthy darkened ways'

16. Oxymoron
• ‘mighty dead'

17. Now I think you have understood
“ A Thing Of Beauty”
Completely
Thank you