Summary of On the Grasshopper and Cricket
In this article, we will be reading On the Grasshopper and Cricket summary. This poem is a fine piece of Petrarchan sonnet by the famous poet John Keats. He wrote this poem in December 1816. It is inspired by the beauty of nature. Poets usually find beauty and poetry in spring and good weather. But Keats is different as he finds nature beautiful in all seasons including hot summer and cold winter.
The poet symbolizes the grasshopper as hot summer and the cricket as a very cold winter. He says that even when the birds stop singing during the hot summers, the Earth still sings. The grasshopper sings tirelessly during this time flying from the hedge. The poet further says that during the cold winter also the Earth keeps expressing pleasure through cricket. A cricket sings through the stones.
On the Grasshopper and Cricket Summary in English
In the poem ‘On the Grasshopper and Cricket’, the poet John Keats celebrates the music of the Earth. He finds beauty in hot summer as well as in the cold winter. Here, in this poem, the grasshopper is a symbol of hot summer and cricket is a symbol of cold winter. The poet says that the music of nature or earth is always alive whether it is hot summer or cold and bleak winter.
During the hot summer, all the singing birds are tired and take rest under the shady branches of trees. But even if they don’t sing the song of nature goes on. We can still hear the voice of the grasshopper who runs from hedge to hedge. He keeps singing tirelessly and when tired rests beneath some weed.
A grasshopper carries on the duty of singing the everlasting song of nature. During summers, he is a fun-loving and cheerful creature and is never done with his delights.
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During the cold winter season also, the birds are silent. There is utter silence on the frosty winter days. But the earth has its own way of expressing pleasure and joys. The song of a cricket can be heard which breaks this silence.
He sings from the stones but not from the trees. His song appears to be increasing the warmth every moment. People are able to hear it sitting in their houses. However, the poet says that to a person who is half-asleep, it may appear to be a grasshopper’s song coming from the grassy hills.
Thus, we can say that the grasshopper and the cricket, two tiny insects, perform a big responsibility. They carry on with nature’s continuous and everlasting music irrespective of the extreme climates. The poet has thus personified them. It is thus a symbolic poem. Here, the grasshopper and the cricket are a symbol of the constant joyous mood of nature.
Conclusion of On the Grasshopper and Cricket
The poem teaches us that we shall be joyful and pleasant no matter what are the situations in our life. With this attitude, we can easily overcome all the obstacles in life.
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