Where's the Poet?
Where's the Poet? - meaning Summary
Poet as Universal Translator
Keats defines the true poet as a universal empath: someone who treats every person—king or beggar—equally and who understands animals deeply. The speaker asks the Muses to reveal this poet and describes him as able to discern and speak the instincts of birds and the roars and yells of beasts as if they were his native language. Poetry becomes an act of communion across species and social ranks.
Read Complete AnalysesWhere's the Poet? show him! show him, Muses nine! that I may know him. 'Tis the man who with a man Is an equal, be he King, Or poorest of the beggar-clan Or any other wonderous thing A man may be 'twixt ape and Plato; 'Tis the man who with a bird, Wren or Eagle, finds his way to All its instincts; he hath heard The Lion's roaring, and can tell What his horny throat expresseth, And to him the Tiger's yell Come articulate and presseth Or his ear like mother-tongue.
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