On Seeing the Elgin Marbles

In the poem “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles”, John Keats alludes to his ever present pain, frustration and anguish with his mortality. To describe this anguish, John Keats adopts a petrarchon style sonnet, with the octave describing his pain with mortality and the sestet exposing the origins of his pain. John Keats establishes the tone of the poem by stating in the first and second lines of the poem how his spirit is weak faced with the grim reality of his mortality. Keats elaborates his grief with mortality by comparing himself to “a sick eagle looking at the sky”. The conclusion of the poem, the sestet, reveals how John Keats anguish over his eventual death was triggered by him observing the Greek Elgin Marbles. By analyzing Keats use of enjambment, his use of simile, and the impact of Keats observing the Elgin Marbles, the struggle Keats have with his mortality is seen.

In the first octave of the poem, John Keats immediately displays his internal tension with his eventual death. This internal struggle and emotional grief is emphasized by the use of enjambment. Keats describes his spirit as being weak. His weakness is displayed in lines one through four as he describes how he is “unwilling to sleep” and how his “mortality weighs heavily” in his life. These phrases flow from line to line, only separated by a comma in the second line. This mirrors Keats emotional distress.

At the end of the first octave and going into the second octave, Keats alludes to images and uses comparisons to show his grief. One simile that I feel is most significant is the comparison of his internal struggle with mortality to that of “a sick eagle looking at the sky”. Though the eagle wishes he could fly, he is faced with the grim reality of his sickness. The eagle can only look to the sky in solace. Just like the eagle, Keats desires to live forever but is faced with the grim reality of his death.

The sestet of the poem reveals the origins of Keats’ grief. Keats observance of the “Grecian grandeur” or Elgin Marbles makes him desire immortality. Just how the Elgin Marbles immortal beauty withstands the test of time, Keats desires this immortality in reference to his life.