spacer 45
Poem of the Day | Top 30 | Poets | Shopping | Forums | Search | Comments
Today, on September 8th, 2008, the site contains 193 poets, 8,680 poems and 4,529 comments.
Analysis and comments on This Living Hand by John Keats

Comment 7 of 7, added on May 31st, 2006 at 6:04 AM.

This is the poem which ends a recent biography of Jim Morrison (of the 60's group, The Doors). It is incredibly apt - how at the last moment 'this living hand' reaches right off the page towards the reader!

Michael from United States
Comment 6 of 7, added on May 7th, 2006 at 9:49 PM.

I think that what John Keats meant to said was that his hands will be a reminder that even though he is not there with her, he will always be with her, because now his hands are warm like his love for her, and that when he dies, she will just have to remember his warm hand and just because of the memory he will come back to life in her dreams and nights.

Leo from United States
Comment 5 of 7, added on April 18th, 2006 at 3:32 AM.

Quite ghoulish isn't it. I feel it highlights a different age, where belief in the afterlife was much stronger and perhaps the imagination was more prone to attacks of the vapours like this. I like this poem, however, I can't visualise it without hearing the voice of Vincent Price!!! I don't think this poem is intended for a loved one, except maybe in the sense of Keats feeling rejected by a former love.
I feel this poem is an act of revenge, an attempt to make someone feel guilty for some perceived slight on Keats' part. Very gothic, very powerful and evokative of dark nights, candlelight and ghost stories

JOE CONNELLY from United Kingdom
Comment 4 of 7, added on April 12th, 2006 at 8:24 PM.

Keats is writing this to his lover. He fears that he is about to die. He recognizes that when he dies his lover will be distraught. She will wish herself dead that he might live again. He writes this poem to comfort her. He is holding out this poem writing with his living hand as a hand from the grave. She can read it when he is dead and know that when alive his hand then alive and warm wrote that to her and he loved her and wished her comfort.

yossarian from United States
Comment 3 of 7, added on March 22nd, 2006 at 12:19 PM.

Keats seems so upset, to the point where he wants to just reach out and kill someone with his own hand. He realizes as he is seeing blood coming out of his body that any minute he will die and wishes that [whoever this is address to] dies instead of him, that he doesn't deserve to die, that this person whomever this is addressed to deserves to die. He wants this person to feel guilty of his death to gain conscience that they are the ones who should have died instead. He wants this person to feel his suffering.

Ruth from United States
Comment 2 of 7, added on October 24th, 2005 at 12:47 PM.

The picture I am getting is that the speaker is dead, his hand is warmed by the hand of a loved one he has left behind, who wishes her own death because of her loss. He would become alive again if she joined him in death.

Salvador from United States
Comment 1 of 7, added on October 23rd, 2005 at 10:27 PM.

Is this poem talking about bringing someone back from the dead? Is is a ghost?

Chava from United States



Information about This Living Hand

Poet: John Keats
Poem: This Living Hand
Added: Apr 8 2005
Viewed: 2511 times
Poem of the Day: Jun 21 2008


Add Comment

Do you have any comments, criticism, paraphrasis or analysis of this poem that you feel would assist other visitors in understanding this poem better? If they are accepted, they will be added to this page of Poetry Connection. Together we can build a wealth of information, but it will take some discipline and determination.

Do not post questions, pleas for homework help or anything of the sort, as these types of comments will be removed. The proper place for questions is the poetry forum. Also, please do not post any links what so ever.

Please note that after you post a comment, it can take up to an hour before it is visible on the website! Rest assured that your comment is not lost, so don't enter your comment again.

Comment on: This Living Hand
By: John Keats

Name: (required)
E-mail Address: (required)
Country:
Show E-mail Address:
Yes No
Subject:
Poem Comments:

Poem Info

Keats Info
Copyright © 2003-2008 Gunnar Bengtsson, Poetry Connection. All Rights Reserved.