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Keats And Longfellow Comparison

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Sonnet Comparison and Contrast: “When I Have Fears” and “Mezzo Cammin”
In the sonnet, "When I Have Fears" by John Keats, the opening line "When I have fears that I may cease to be," represents the contemplation both Keats and Longfellow are undertaking as they reflect on their life. While Keats recognizes that he may not accomplish everything he wants to in this life, he is hopeful for the future and all it may hold. On the other hand, Longfellow reflects more on his life, which he views as uneventful and lacking meaning, and instead of looking toward the future, he swamps himself in dreading the inaction of his past. Through the use of diction, imagery, and tone, Keats and Longfellow illustrate the fleeting nature of life.
Both author's make …show more content…

Both authors make use of personification and metaphor or simile. For example, Keats describes night with a "starr'd face" and compares his life works to, "high-piled books, in charactery, [holding] like rich garners the full ripened grain." Additionally, Longfellow describes his passions as "restless" and "not [to] be stilled" and similarly to Keats, compares his life works to a lofty tower, a parapet. However, through the use of imagery, it is revealed to the reader the different views Keats and Longfellow hold on their lives. While Keats fears for what his future holds, Longfellow focuses more on his past and regret. Seen in the line "before my pen has glean'd my teeming brain," Keats has a fear of dying before being able to build up his literary works. He also has a fear of dying before finding love: "never relish in the faery power of unreflecting love." Not only do both images portray his desires for the future, but also what he wants to accomplish. However, Longfellow has a more solemn outlook on the remainder of his life. In the line "the years slip from me and have not fulfilled the aspiration of my youth", it shows that he sees his inaction as missed opportunities. Shifting toward a darker note, "And hear above me on the Autumnal blast / and the cataract of Death far thundering from the heights." This line is more sudden and forceful than the more thoughtful

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