Before Reading
Think About What You Know
Are you afraid of dying? If you had only a few months to live, what would you want to do? Do a quick write in response to these questions. Read the About the Author and the About the Selection paragraphs on page 728. Keep your ideas about death and what you know about Keats in mind as you read the selection.
During Reading
Use What You Know as You Read
1. Listen as your teacher reads the first four lines of the poem aloud. What fear does the speaker identify in these lines? How is this related to the poet's life? What do you think the speaker does when he has this fear?
2. Continue reading the selection on your own. Notice the speaker's other thoughts about death. What does he do when he has these fears?
Fix-Up Idea: Use Text Organization
This poem is a sonnet. From reading other sonnets, you know that sonnets usually develop a theme in a specific way. The three quatrains in this poem develop a theme and the final couplet highlights the meaning of the poem. Try to identify the meaning of each quatrain and then see how the couplet ties the ideas together.
After Reading
Discuss What You Learned
With two or three of your classmates, discuss the speaker's fears and his reactions to them. What would you say to the speaker if he shared these feelings with you?
Before Reading
Identify a Purpose
"When I Have Fears" expresses the theme that life and human experience are fleeting. As you read, look for the theme of "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and compare it to that of "When I Have Fears."
During Reading
Keep Purpose in Mind as You Read
1. Listen as your teacher reads the first two stanzas of the poem. Focus on the paradoxes in stanza 2. What conflicting ideas are presented in the stanza? What is the mood of the stanza?
2. Continue reading the selection on your own. Keep looking for paradoxes and identify the mood of each stanza.
Fix-Up Idea: Listen and Refocus
If you are having trouble understanding the poem, you might want to try listening to it being read aloud. As you listen, focus on the many questions in the poem. Are these questions meant to be answered, or are they rhetorical? What ideas does the speaker express in these questions? After listening to the whole poem, read the poem again on your own.
After Reading
Summarize Effect of Purpose
With a partner, discuss the theme of the poem. How does it compare to the theme of "When I Have Fears"? After discussing this question with your partner, write a brief response to the question.