Warm up, Glossary

Poem

A Thing of Beauty

John Keats

Warm up

1. Do you admire the beauty of nature, animals, people, places or things? Discuss with your partner.

Answer: I admire the beauty of nature, animals, people, place and things. I love to spend time with nature and broaden my views about it to my friends. I like to appreciate all the plants and lovely blossoms on it. When I go out, I look up at the sky, the water around me and admire their flow and vastness. I also appreciate the rainbows, which are wonderful to look at, with the seven different colours. I find time to look around the cities and the people involved in their work. So we should always remember that everything is beautiful in some way or the other. 

About the Poet

John Keats (1795 – 1821) was a British Romantic poet. Although trained to be a surgeon, Keats decided to devote himself wholly to poetry. Keats’ secret, his power to sway and delight the readers, lies primarily in his gift for perceiving the world and living his moods and aspirations in terms of language. "A Thing of Beauty' is an excerpt from his poem ‘Endymion: A Poetic Romance’. The poem is based on a Greek legend, in which Endymion, a beautiful young shepherd and poet who lived on Mount Latmos, had a vision of Cynthia, the Moon Goddess. The enchanted youth resolved to seek her out and so wandered away through the forest and downunder the sea.

Glossary

bower (n) - shelter under the shade of trees

wreathing (v) - cover, surround, encircle something

pall (n) - covering

rills (n) - clear stream

sprinkling (v) - falling in fine drops