The Concept of Nature in the Sonnets by John Keats Cover Image

Образ природы в сонетах Джона Китса
The Concept of Nature in the Sonnets by John Keats

Author(s): E.G. Linyuchkina, Maria Kozyreva
Subject(s): Poetry, Other Language Literature, Theory of Literature
Published by: Казанский (Приволжский) федеральный университет
Keywords: concept of nature; John Keats; mythological images; concept of beauty; concept of love; England; Italy; symbol;

Summary/Abstract: The paper considers the concept of nature in the sonnets of John Keats, an English romantic poet of the early 19th century. The relevance of the problem under investigation is due to the interest of modern philology in the individual style of authors. The purpose of the paper is to determine the concept of nature in the most representative works of the author. The leading method to the study of this problem is thorough analysis of the original works by J. Keats, written in the genre of the sonnet, which is characteristic for the studied poet. The analysis revealed that the concept of nature in J. Keats’ works is composed of several interacting layers. Firstly, the nature appears in its various manifestations, from the very small (grain, grasshopper, drop of dew) to the biggest ones (ocean, rock). The objects and phenomena of nature act not only as visual images familiar to the reader, but also as a variety of symbols. Thus, J. Keats implies a rich symbolic meaning into the images of flowers (rose, violet, carnation, and others). Secondly, the concept of nature is inseparably connected with the philosophical concepts of love and beauty. For J. Keats, the nature is synonymous to love and beauty, being, at the same time, more meaningful than they are.

  • Issue Year: 159/2017
  • Issue No: 1
  • Page Range: 242-255
  • Page Count: 14
  • Language: Russian