Imagery In Poetry

“This Living Hand”

John Keats

This living hand, now warm and capable

Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold

And in the icy silence of the tomb,

So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights

That thou wouldst wish thine own heart dry of blood

So in my veins red life might stream again,

And thou be conscience-calm'd—see here it is—

I hold it towards you.

Imagery

-A human hand: alive and warm vs. cold and dead, reaching/grasping

-Tomb: nighttime, “icy silence”, inanimate, corpse

-Heart: organic, muscle, center, but “dry of blood” so useless?

-Blood: red, flowing, streaming, veins, life source

The image of the human hand in John Keats’ poem is described as being “warm and capable”, beginning the poem with the idea of life (1). As mankind has evolved, life has been shaped around the uses of hands. We can write, draw, paint, play instruments and throw a ball. Though the hand has also made it possible to simply grasp, hold or feel. With these actions in mind, Keats’ imagery of moving and flexing hands embodies the concept of life and purpose.

This is reinforced by his images of the heart, blood and veins. All are essential for the body to survive. Blood becomes the life-source in Keats’ poem, streaming through the veins that connect a web of tissue, muscle and consciousness. He uses the imagery of flesh and blood to point out the beauty of organic life.

However, the idea of life is greatly contrasted by the imagery of death. Keats’ hand is no longer alive and healthy, but cold “in the icy silence of the tomb” (3). This presents an image of a corpse, only a remnant of what was once living. The hand is not only capable of holding a pen to paper, but of hitting, striking and killing. There is also the impression that the narrator of the poem has been murdered and brought back to haunt his killer with the hand as a weapon that can take life away. Keats writes that “thou wouldst wish thine own heart dry of blood / So in my veins red life might stream again”, showing how overwhelming guilt could cause the desire to give one life up for another (5-6). Keats also suggests something larger than life that could cause a remorseful person to become “conscience-calm’d” or guilt free from whatever crime had been committed (7). A picture is formed of hands folded in prayer, asking for forgiveness in a handshake.