CLASS: XII

Subject: ENGLISH CORE

Chapter / Topic Name A THING OF BEAUTY by John Keats (FLAMINGO)
You tube Video Link https://youtu.be/54rO_D5kXrM?t=35
Notes Summary: This poem is a revolt against the commonplace reality. According to Keats, there
Students need to write in is a difference between ordinary object and an object of beauty. While the effects of an
their Fair Notebook ordinary object are temporary to our senses, they do not remain long in our minds and fade
away with the time passes. On the other hand the effects of the objects of beauty permanently
appeals to our senses, they do not fade with time and lingers in our senses. No time and space
can destroy the effect of beauty of objects. Keats describes the sun, the moon, the old trees,
the daffodils, the clear streams and the forest, which are rich with beautiful flowers-as the
objects of beauty. These objects permanently appeals to our senses and nothing neither time
nor space can make us forget them. Everything in this world has beauty, beauty lies in the
eye of the beholder. We are the one who are not alert and continuously running in our life.
Only if we become more alter and patient then we will be able to see beauty everywhere
around us. Endymion is an epic poem in English. This poem by Keats is based on the Greek
mythology of Endymion, the shepherd beloved by the moon goddess Selene. We see an
elaboration of the original story and the moon Goddess Selene is named as “Cynthia”.
The poem equates Endymion’s original romantic ardor with a universal quest for a self-
destroying transcendence in which he might achieve a blissful personal unity with all
creation. Endymion in Greek mythology is a story of a handsome youth who spent much of
his life sleeping. There are different views related to Endymion. According to some tradition,
Endymion was the king of Elis. Several traditions say that he was offered by Zeus to choose
anything he might desire and Endymion in order to remain young forever chose an
everlasting sleep. While some tradition says Endymion’s eternal sleep was a punishment
given by Zeus, because Endymion fell in love with Zeus’s wife Hera. Selene was deeply in
love with Endymion, some say Selene had cursed Endymion into everlasting sleep so that she
can enjoy him all by herself. Selene’s love for Endymion made her visit him every night
while he was asleep. However, in the poem Keats emphasizes on Endymion’s love for Diana
rather than on hers for him. Keats transformed this tale into prose to express the loves that
have been felt on imaginative longings. This theme of love is determined in the adventure of
the Endymion quest by Diana. In the search for Diana Endymion falls in love with an earthly
maiden. Nevertheless, in the end Diana and the earthly maiden turn out to be the same.
Daily Homework 1. List the things of beauty mentioned in the poem.
2. What pleasure does a beautiful thing give us? Are beautiful things worth treasuring?
3. List the things that cause suffering and pain.
4. What does the line, ‘Therefore are we wreathing a flowery band to bind us to earth’ suggest to
you?
5. What makes human beings love life in spite of troubles and sufferings?
6. Extract based Question
…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,
Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose blooms;
a) How do ‘daffodils’ and ‘rills’ enrich the environment?
b) What makes the mid forest brake rich?
c) Find words in the passage, which mean: i) Small streams ii) Shelter of thickets
d) Cooling covert is a
i) Simile (symbol/allegory) ii) Metaphor (representation, image)
iii) Personification (characterisation) iv) Alliteration (repetition of sound)
CLASS: XII
Subject: ENGLISH CORE
Chapter / Topic Name A THING OF BEAUTY by John Keats (FLAMINGO)
You tube Video Link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi_J4QLvC_s
Notes Poetic Devises, Style and Rhyming Scheme
Students need to write in
their Fair Notebook
The poem is written in rhyming couplets also referred to as heroic couplet.
The Rhyming scheme is aabbccdd

Alliteration –
“Noble Natures”
“Some shape”
“Simple Sheep”
“Cooling Covert”
“Band Bind”

Metaphor -
“will keep a bower quiet for us” (a shady place in a garden),
sweet dreams” (happy and pleasant dream)
“some shape of beauty” (beautiful things like sun, moon, trees, etc..)
“wreathing a flowery band”
“pall” (a cover which looks like a shroud)
“endless fountain of immortal drink” (natural beauty that has long lasting impression)

Imagery -
“flowery bands” which visualizes a bunch of flowers like a band.
“shady boon” pictures the blessing to be shady.
“daffodils in green world”, “clear rills”, grandeur of dooms” etc. are instances of use of
imagery.
“Cooling covert” and “endless fountain of eternal drink” are one of the notable examples
of imagery used in this poem.

Oxymoron – (two opposite words ideas used to create an effect)

“Mighty dead”

Transferred Epithet – (A transferred epithet is when an epithet is transferred from

the thing it actually describes to something else in the sentence.)
“Gloomy days”
Daily Homework 1. Why is ‘grandeur’ associated with the ‘mighty dead’?
2. Do we experience things of beauty only for short moments or do they make a lasting
impression on us?
3. How do the ‘daffodils’ and ‘clear rills’ enrich our environment?
4. How does a thing of beauty provide us shelter and comfort?
5. What spreads the pall of despondence over our dark spirits? How is it removed?
6. What is the message of the poem ‘A Thing of Beauty’?
7. What image does the poet use to describe the beautiful bounty of the earth?