Editor's Choice
What is the significance of the last two lines in Keats' sonnet "On the Grasshopper and Cricket"?
Quick answer:
The last two lines of Keats' sonnet emphasize the continuous cycle of nature's "poetry" through sound. They merge the summer grasshopper's song with the winter cricket's, suggesting that while seasons change, nature's music persists in memory. This reflects the Romantic theme of nature's eternal presence and the interconnectedness of art and the natural world, as the sounds of different seasons blend into a unified, everlasting song in the listener's mind.
Keat's poem is an Italian or Petrarchan sonnet, which consists of an octet (group of eight lines) followed by a six-line sestet. The last two lines of this sonnet, part of the sestet, bring together the two sections of the sonnet to end on a theme dear to the heart of Romantic poets: memory.
In the first part of the sonnet, Keats's speaker describes the sounds of nature in summertime. He says these sounds, which he calls the "poetry of the earth," are "never dead." To support this idea, he states that when the birds get too tired to sing, the grasshoppers takes over.
In the second section of the sonnet, Keats moves to winter. Instead of saying that the poetry of the earth is never dead, his speaker notes here that it never "ceases." Here, the speaker sits inside by a warm stove, away from the "frost" outside. Indoors,...
Unlock This Answer Now
Start your 48-hour free trial and get ahead in class. Boost your grades with access to expert answers and top-tier study guides. Thousands of students are already mastering their assignments—don't miss out. Cancel anytime.
Already a member? Log in here.
encouraged by the stove's warmth, a cricket "shrills."
The last two lines bring summer and winter together, because as the winter cricket shrills, this sound merges in the drowsy speaker's mind with the remembered song of the grasshopper on the grassy hill. The sound of the cricket triggers a happy memory of summer's natural beauties. We now understand the subtle shift from nature's poetry "never [dying]" to "never [ceasing]": the grasshopper might be dead, but his song lives on in the speaker's memory and, blending with the sound of the cricket, brings comfort on a cold winter night.
The key sense used in this poem is sound. The "poetry of the earth" refers to the many different sounds in nature. When the birds are too hot from the sun, cooling in the trees, one can hear the "voice" or sound of the grasshopper. Likewise, when the grasshopper is resting or inactive (and therefore making no sounds: no poetry), the cricket can be heard. In each case, it is as if when one creature takes a rest, another becomes active: as if collectively, these creatures were taking turns reading "the poetry of the earth."
In the last two lines, the author gives the impression that the birds, the grasshopper, and the cricket are all singing the same song, all reading the same poem.
The Cricket's song, in warmth increasing ever,
And seems to one in drowsiness half lost,
The Grasshopper's among some grassy hills.
That is to say, to one (a person) who is half asleep, he might think that the Cricket's song is the Grasshopper's. This supports the idea that the Cricket and the Grasshopper are singing/reciting the same poetry of the earth. To one who is half drowsy, their songs/poems might sound similar. This poem, and many of Keats' poems, deals with the relationship between art (poetry) and nature.