Portrait of John Keats by Joseph Severn
O soft embalmer of the still midnight,
Shutting with careful fingers and benign
Our gloom-pleas’d eyes, embower’d from the light,
Enshaded in forgetfulness divine:
O soothest Sleep! if so it please thee, close,
In midst of this thine hymn, my willing eyes,
Or wait the Amen ere thy poppy throws
Around my bed its lulling charities.
Save me from curious conscience, that still hoards
Its strength for darkness, burrowing like the mole;
Turn the key deftly in the oiled wards,
And seal the hushed casket of my soul.
This poem is about the longing to escape physical and emotional suffering. Keats expresses deep anguish which appears to be a combination of bodily pain accompanied by thoughts and memories which torment him. As he lies awake in bed, he longs for the forgetfulness of sleep, but sleep eludes him.
Sleep is a common metaphor for death, and Keats uses certain words associated with death to convey the sense that he is weary of living and longs to pass from mortal existence. The words “embalmer” in the opening line and “casket” in the closing line actually serve as a way of entombing the entire poem. Also, the fact that the poem is set at midnight implies that he is at a symbolic threshold, ready to move on to the next plane of existence.
There is one last thing I feel is worth noting. In lines 7 and 8, there is a reference to the use of poppy, which in Keats’ time would be opium. It appears that Keats has turned to narcotics as a way to ease his physical and spiritual pain. But in spite of his self-anesthetizing, he is still unable to numb the darkness, “burrowing like the mole” into the deepest regions of his psyche.
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Thanks for sharing this, Jeff! I remember studying Ode on a Grecian Urn, but don’t remember Sonnet to Sleep. I had to refresh myself on Keats’s life. I remembered that he had died young, probably of tuberculosis, but did you know that he had originally studied to become a doctor?
Hi Barb! I remember from my English Romanticism class in college that Keats was sick most of his life and died young, but if the professor shared that he was had studied medicine, I failed to retain that 🙂 Thanks for sharing that insight, and I hope you have a great Sunday.
so sad. I visited the tiny museum in Italy where he died.It was incredibly moving. I so felt his spirit there, I even penned a poem about it. I used to do that when moments were special. Strange how powerful a spirit can be when dead. I feel close to Keats.
So true! I’ve had similar experiences. Thanks so much for sharing yours.
Just noticed the wonderful portrait by Joseph Severn – he appears in my tribute poem – he drew Keats alot. No telly then.
Very moving portrait.