On the Grasshopper and the Cricket

Introduction:

The poem ‘On the Grasshopper and the Cricket’ is a nature poem. In it, the grasshopper and cricket do not appear as characters in a story. Rather, they act as symbols, each suggesting something else.  Nature is seen as a celebrated figure throughout this poem. In the poem, Keats indicates birds, the sun, trees, hedges, meadows, frost and grassy hills. All of these are popular motifs of a nature poem. Keats uses the grasshopper and the cricket as the symbols of summer and winter, respectively. Seasons are another important theme in the poem. Summer and winter are seen as two parallel peers who sustain the natural world. Putting nature through the test, Keats coincides that grasshopper and the cricket are the ones that can overcome all strife, including the extreme temperatures.

Meanings of words and phrases:

• faint : pale
• hedge : bushes
• mead : an alcoholic drink of fermented honey and water
• luxury : a state of great comfort
• ceasing : to come or bring to an end
• shrills : to come through loud and clear
• drowsiness : a feeling of being sleepy

Rhyme Scheme:

Stanza 1

The rhyme scheme of this stanza would be aabbaab.

Stanza 2

The rhyme scheme of this stanza would be abcabc