Originally Posted by
Mossdog
Have to say that my first reaction to this was "Yuk. Gross. What a weirdo!" Almost a curse. However, having reflected on my repulsion I decided to do some research and came up with this interpretation.
"The relationship of the writer and reader to endings is a major theme in Keats' "This living hand, now warm and capable." Ends are often viewed as final, like death, but a poetic work is a beginning for a reader; and only that final death for the poet. In John Keats' poem "This living hand, now warm and capable" Keats is contemplating on the integral part of literature, the relation of the writer and reader to a piece of literature and to each other. For a writer, the finishing of a piece is likened to death, death of the piece and the writer writing that particular piece. For the reader, the end of a piece of literature is the beginning, the beginning of their interpretation and thought. And the relationship between the writer and reader is the basis of literatures appeal: the grasping for expression and understanding. After all, what is a piece of literature without the reader, writer, and the dynamic they create? In discussing these connections I try to show how Keats works to defy death, defy the reader, and yet still attempts to make the connection between reader and writer, but fails, and what's more knows it."
Quite brilliant if seen through that perceptive. I expect he'll go far that Keats fellah :D
Wonder if the rather sombre choices recently of the thread reflects the approaching end of this year. If so, hurry up Spring :wink: