On Death by John Keats Analysis

On Death by John Keats

Can death be sleep, when life is but a dream,
And scenes of bliss pass as a phantom by?
The transient pleasures as a vision seem,
And yet we think the greatest pain's to die.

How strange it is that man on earth should roam,
And lead a life of woe, but not forsake
His rugged path; nor dare he view alone
His future doom which is but to awake. 

As human beings, we have perceived death as an event to avoid. Even if there’s a need to cut us open or stuck a needle inside body, those pain is nothing compared to the failure of keeping our heart beating. You may be walking in streets or eating food to survive. However, is that enough to say that you are living?  What makes you say you are alive?

On the first part of the poem, the author contradicts the idea of death being associated with sleep. On the line, “Can death be sleep, when life is but a dream,” Keats creates an idea that when we are awake, we are dreaming. People try to participate in this world in order to survive. We do things for the sake of saying we have done something. We are not continuous in what we need to do in order to exist.

To exist is to be aware. The line “How strange it is that man on earth should roam,” describes us wandering in this lonely world without the feeling of fulfilment. One must be afraid when he/she is awake for the pain of reality can be felt through their bones. People have always been anxious of their life would end. We can be breathing the same air but some are just space fillers of this world. As stated by Keats, “his future doom which is but to awake” meaning our real battle is not our death but us being alive.