10-14 Analysis

Literary Analysis of 10-14:

Lines ten through fourteen resolve the conflict of the poem. The speaker wants to be steadfast and unchanging like the star, but as humans, our lives here on earth are not eternal and are anything but steadfast. He desires a steadfast and eternal love and realizes that that will not happen here on earth. In line 10 and line 11 he uses the words "for ever" and in line 14 he uses the word "ever" in order to express the theme of the poem, grappling with eternity and love. The words "soft fall and swell" in line 10 create a calming and what can described as a sensual tone. That tone links back into the purpose because it shows the power of love, but also that the speaker is struggling with the question, "if love is so powerful why can it not live past death?".
Keats uses this in order to show what he would sacrifice for an eternal love. The word "unrest" also contradicts the idea of being steadfast which shows the internal conflict that the speaker is feeling even though this is the resolution of the poem. Another oxymoron is used in the transition between lines 11 and 12, because while he says he would be in a state of "sweet unrest" he goes on to repeat the word still twice in line 12. This is also to show humans inevitable conflict and reconciling with the relationship our short lives here on earth and eternity. The first time he says "still" the reader gets the sense that, it is a command to be still. The second use of the word "still" is more in response to eternity, much like when someone says, "I still feel sick" or "I am still upset". This is a repetition of the same word, but the two ways he uses the word have a very different connotation. When the speaker says "tender-taken breath" this is once again portraying a very sensual, romantic and calming tone, in order to show what love is to the speaker and to further explain why he desires his love to last forever and why he is having such a difficult