Comparing The Star 'And John Keats' Choose Something Like A Star

Love is the magic that holds the world together. People search and hope to find their soul mate. In today’s world, loving one individual for the rest of your life is the ultimate goal. Love is not easy and it is never certain. In his romantic poem “Bright Star, would I were stedfast as thou art,” John Keats admires the steadfastness of the star, and how the speaker wishes he could be in the same situation as the star with his love. On the contrary, Robert Frost, in his poem “Choose Something Like a Star,” admires the star for its uncertain nature and focuses on humanity’s need for reassurance from a high power. Although both poets address the star initially, a closer examination of each poem reveals that Frost actually speaks to a higher power …show more content…
In Frost’s poem, the star is spoken to by the speaker or speakers as if a thing of “loftiness,” “stedfast,” “mystery,” and a thing of hope. Opening his poem with “O Star (the fairest one in sight)”, Frost immediately begins to praise the star. Similarly, the speaker of Keats’ poem directly addresses the star, “Bright Star, would I were stedfast as thou art” indicating his admiration of the star’s “stedfast” and “unchangeable” quality that he wishes to apply to his relationship with his love. However, Keats’ speaker uses a tone shift with the word “not” which implies that although the steadfastness of the star is ideal, he does not want to be “in lone splendour,” “watching, with eternal lids apart,” or “gaze on the […] snow upon the mountains.” Frost’s speaker, on the other hand, beseeches the star to “say something to us we can learn.” With respect, the speaker demeans the star by stating that although “some mystery” is tolerable, “to be wholly taciturn […] is not allowed.” The difference in tones from the authors reveals their independent views of the …show more content…
Keats sticks with first person pronouns to restrict the conversation with the star to just himself and it. Keats’ more individual way of dealing with the star allows the reader to make a more individual connection with the speaker and the sonnet itself. Then again, the method of approaching the star from a large group of people suggests that this theme is more important and that more individuals will concur or identify with these thoughts. On the contrary, Frost says that “we grant your loftiness the right,” “say something to us we can learn,” and “to stay our minds on and be staid.” Using pronouns such as “we,” “us,” and “our” indicates that this plea for knowledge is from the majority of people. The eternality of the star is tended to more logically, and the star is just considered and challenged for the speakers public and social concern. The speakers longing and need for certainties from the star demonstrates Frost’s endeavor to send a message to the reader: despite the star’s immortality, it does not imply that the star is shrewder, but that it is wiser in