Analyze of the sonnet ?to sleep' by J. Keats

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One may get the impression that this poem is about pain and agony and troubles encountered throughout life, yet at the same time one expects a sonnet to possess the qualities of romance, adoration, and themes of love. Although this poem may appear to only deal with dark images about the difficulties of life, I don't believe that it strays away from the traditional notion of a sonnet. In essence, this sonnet is a 'love poem' addressed to sleep. Keats even uses gentle words to describe his affection for sleep, referring to it with the use of personification as a "soft embalmer" (I) with "careful fingers" (II). The images created by phrases such as "Around my bed" (VIII) and "Upon my pillow" (X) offer the impression that the speaker is thinking only of sleep while lying in his or her bed, much the same way one thinks of loved ones when alone in bed at night. Although Keats obviously cannot describe any physical attributes of sleep and doesn't illustrate it as a thing of beauty, he clearly personifies the notion of sleep as something the speaker has undeniable affection and longing for.

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[...] Thus, one may get the impression that this poem is about pain and agony and troubles encountered throughout life, yet at the same time one expects a sonnet to possess the qualities of romance, adoration, and themes of love. Although this poem may appear to only deal with dark images about the difficulties of life, I don't believe that it strays far from the traditional notion of a sonnet. In essence, this sonnet is a ‘love poem' addressed to sleep. Keats even utilizes gentle words to describe his affection for sleep, referring to it with the use of personification as a “soft embalmer” with “careful fingers” (II). [...]

[...] The use of light vs. dark images also plays a prominent role in this sonnet as Keats uses them to play with the contradictory concept of a welcomed dark night vs. an unwelcome bright day. Keats begins the sonnet by describing horrid and dark things as gentle and quiet, addressing sleep as the “soft embalmer of the still midnight” This immediate juxtaposition of images sets the stage for the sonnet to deal with concepts that may seem contrary to traditional beliefs and what we may expect from a sonnet. [...]

[...] Keats further illustrates the speaker's admiration for sleep by using language that offers holy and spiritual connotations when describing it. For instance, he says that sleep is “Enshaded in forgetfulness divine” and the speaker begs for sleep to come whilst he is in the middle of prayer. The speaker requests sleep to “save in both lines IX and XI, which reinforces the concept that sleep has some supernatural ability to affect the speaker. The use of this language effectively portrays the speaker as someone who is offering a desperate prayer to something that has more control over his life than he has himself. [...]

[...] Keats earlier used the words benign and divine with positive connotations in regard to sleep, and the speaker begged for his eyes to close because of all his negative feelings. Thus, in context, the words shine and woes do not match with the words they rhyme with, and they therefore ironically rhyme. Even though by definition these words logically rhyme with words like benign, divine, and close, in context they serve a meaning contrary to what we would expect of them. [...]

[...] Analyze of the sonnet sleep' by J. Keats John Keats' Sleep” is a desperate request for sleep itself to help the speaker escape from the misery of his conscious daytime life. Although we never learn about the nature of the speaker's misery, Keats' choice of language demonstrates the speaker's extreme need and affection for the solace and relief that sleep will provide him with. Keats' focus on contradictory bright and dark images helps stress the irony of the speaker finding happiness in dark places while running from the horror of the bright day. [...]