A Thing of Beauty Summary

The summary of the Poem “A Thing of Beauty” is given

below.
‘A Thing of Beauty– is a poem taken from the poem titled –
"Endymion – a poetic romance’• written by the famous poet
John Keats. The poet says that a beautiful thing is a
source of endless joy. It has eternal beauty which never
fades away. A beautiful thing is like a shady shelter which
gives us a sleep full of sweet dreams, good health and
relaxation.
Our attachments to the Earthly things are like a flowery
wreath. They are traps which bind us to the materialistic
things and keeps us away from eternal happiness. The
Earth is full of hatred, greed and negativity. According
to the poet, the gloom and sadness caused by this
negativity fades away with the positive vibes of the
beautiful things that surround us.

The poet lists out some of the beautiful things that

surround us. As the saying goes -"Beauty lies in the eyes of
the beholder. He says that the numerous creations of God
like the Sun which gives us energy, the moon’s beauty, the
trees which give us shade are the natural beauties
around us. The various animals like the sheep that
surround us make our world lively. The pretty flowers
like daffodils make the world green and lively. The
flowing streams of water cool and refresh us in the hot
summer season. The forests which are full of the pretty
musk rose flowers are a beautiful sight to the eye. All
these are the things of beauty. Also, the stories of the
brave soldiers who laid their lives to protect their people
are beautiful and inspiring. These beautiful things are
like a fountain of immortality bestowed upon us by God.
They inspire us to live on and maintain our faith in
goodness.
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A Thing of Beauty Poem Explanation

A thing of beauty is a joy forever
Its loveliness increases, it will never
Pass into nothingness; but will keep
A bower quiet for us, and a sleep
Full of sweet dreams, and health, and quiet breathing.

Bower: A shady place under the tree

The poet says that beauty stays forever. It never fades

away. Rather, it increases with the passing time. The
perception of the poet regarding beauty is that it never
goes off with the passing time, rather it beautifies more
and more. For the poet, beauty is like a beautiful shady
tree under whose shade all the creatures can sleep
peacefully and enjoy good health.

Literary devices:
rhyme scheme: aabbc (forever, never, keep, sleep,
breathing)
Alliteration: Use of consonant sound at the start of two
words which are close in series (Sleep-Sweet)
Metaphor: bower Quiet (calmness of the bower is
compared to the calming effect of a beautiful thing)

Therefore, on every morrow, are we wreathing

A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of the inhuman dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and o’er-darkened ways
Made for our searching: yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty moves away the pall
From our dark spirits.
Morrow: The following day
Wreathing: surround, encircle
Despondence: depressed
Gloomy: sad

The poet says that every day, it is the beauty which fills us
with the spirit to live. It is the beauty which builds the
desire in us to live though there are sad moments and
cruel people around us. So here the poet wants to say
that without beauty the earth will be full of cruel
people, sad and gloomy moments. It is the beauty which is
created by god which helps us to remove the sadness from
our hearts.

Literary devices:
Anaphora: Use of same word in two consecutive lines (of
noble natures- Of all the unhealthy)
Alliteration: Use of consonant sound at the start of two
words which are close in series (‘b’ in Band Bind, ‘n’ in
Noble nature, ‘s’ in some shape).
Metaphor: wreathing a flowery band (the beautiful things
of our life bind us to the earth)
Imagery: creating a sensory effect of beautiful things
lined up in a string ( A flowery band to bind us)
inversion: normal order of words is reversed ( Are we
wreathing a flowery band)

Such the sun, the moon,

Trees old, and young, sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and such are daffodils
With the green world they live in; and clear rills
That for themselves a cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season; the mid forest brake

Boon: blessing
Rills: a small stream
Brake: a process to slow down

Here the poet describes the beautiful things which are

present on earth. These are the sun, moon, trees, flowers
(daffodils) and the rivers. Poet says that all these things
are like a blessing bestowed on all the creatures by
earth. He further describes that the trees provide us with
their shade, flowers with their beauty and rivers with
their coolness during the hot summers. All of these are
the beauties of nature which are like a boon for us.

Literary devices:
Alliteration: Use of consonant sound at the start of two
words which are close in series (‘s’ in Sprouting Shady,
Simple sheep, ‘c’ in cooling covert)
Imagery: Trees giving shade (sprouting shady boon),
growing process of daffodils (daffodils with the green
world they live in), Clean river streams (Clear rills)
Antithesis: opposite words placed together (old and
young)

Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms;

And such too is the grandeur of the dooms
We have imagined for the mighty dead;
All lovely tales that we have heard or read;
An endless fountain of immortal drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink

Grandeur: high rank or socially important

Mighty: enormous
Immortal: never dying
Brink: edge
The poet further carries on with the description of the
more beautiful things present on earth. such as the
beautiful musk roses which have such a nice fragrance.
Then he describes the tales of the mighty warriors who
laid their lives for their countries or for humanity. He
says that these beautiful things are the gifts from god
for all of us. They are like a nectar given by god to us and
these are those beauties which are immortal and give us a
reason to live on this earth despite having so many
sorrows in our life.

Literary devices:
Alliteration: Use of consonant sound at the start of two
words which are close in series (‘h’ in have heard)
Metaphor: Immortal drinks ( beautiful objects of nature
are forever like a neverending portion of a drink)
Rhyme: Rhyme scheme is used in every stanza of the poem
(forever; never, keep; sleep, dead; read etc.)
Imagery: Bushes full of musk roses (sprinkling of fair
musk rose blooms), books describing valor of fighters
(grandeur-..mighty dead), god providing us with best things
(pouring from the heaven’s brink)
New words
 Bower- a pleasant shady place under trees or
climbing plants.
 Morrow the following day
 Wreathing covering or to encircle.
 Spite – desire to offend or annoy someone.
 Despondence disheartened, hopeless.
 Noble of superior quality, having high moral
principles
  Pall a cloud, here, a dark cloud of gloom and
sadness.
 Spirits the soul where lie our emotions and
character.
 Sprouting to develop suddenly in large numbers.
 Shady boon a shade which is helpful to someone.
 Rills streams of running water.
 Covert not openly known or displayed.
 Grandeur so as to impress.
 Dooms last day of existence.
 Immortal living forever.
 Heaven’s brink the door of God’s home.
List the things of beauty mentioned in the poem.
 The Sun
 The Moon
 Shady trees
 Beautiful daffodil flowers
 Streams of water
 Dense green bushes of forest ferns where fragrant
musk roses grow
 Tales of heroic men who sacrifice their lives

List the things that cause suffering and pain.

 Desire to offend others
 Hopelessness
 Lack of noble men
 Bad health
 Unhappiness
 Gloom
 Darkness