Commentary on “Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art” by John Keats

By: Dara Larasati

“Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art” says John Keats as he calls upon a star as an
opening line and the title of one of his poems. In Bright Star, would I were steadfast as thou art, John
Keats expresses to his lover of his desire to stay with her for eternity, similar to the way the “Bright
star” does not move from its position and doesn’t change. The author conveys this by utilising
language, structure and diction.

Firstly, John Keats illustrates the theme of love through imagery and diction. This is evident
in the symbolism of the “Bright Star” in the opening line of the poem. John Keats wishes to be the
star in a way which the star does not move and does not change, constantly staying in its position.
Furthermore, the author further emphasises the way he wants to be the star, exemplified in the
alliteration “…watching, with eternal lids apart”. The author utilises alliteration to emphasise the
author’s perception of the star he sees, further conveying that the star is watching eternally. This
reflects the author’s desire to be constantly watching his lover, constantly keeping an eye for on his
lover in order to be with her eternally. This is effective because it emphasises to the reader of the
theme of love which the author expresses, and further expresses the extents of his devotion to his
lover. Pursuing this further, the author utilises repetition to emphasise Keats’ desire to stay with his
lover. This is evident in the repetition of “still” in line 9: “No-yet still stedfast, still unchangeable” and
the thirteenth line: “Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath”. This emphasises that the author
wants to remain for eternity, to never move away from his position of being “pillow’d upon [his]
lover’s ripening breast.”. This affects the reader to create the impression that the speaker is
passionate for devoting his time to his lover.

Besides that, the poem conveys a tone of passion and devotion to further emphasise the
author’s expression of love to his lover. This is illustrated in the motif of religious elements in line 5-6
such as “Eremite”, “priest-like task” and “pure ablution”. These religious themes portray the sacred
activities in which someone devotes themselves to their religious beliefs. In particular, Eremite is
defined as a hermit, someone who lives in isolation and devotes themselves to their religious beliefs.
This symbolises the speaker’s devotion to his lover, wanting to remain forever in his life with her,
“watching, with eternal lids apart” the way a star does not move. This effects the reader by
emphasising the speaker’s passion for this lover to the extent that he would devote his life for her.
Furthermore, the poet uses imagery from line 5-9 in which the poet illustrates certain areas of land
such as “the moving waters”, “mountains and moors”, “earth’s human shores”. However, the
imagery from line 5-9 is parts of nature below the “Bright star” in the sky, the first two words of the
poem. Perhaps this suggests the poet’s desire to be like the star, devoting him to stay with his lover
for eternity, however, in reality, he is not able to fulfil such a dream to such an extent, thus, he can
only fulfil his passion through smaller extents. This creates the impression to the reader of the poet’s
jealousy of the “Bright star”, further emphasising the extents he would want to devote an eternity
just for his lover but his guilt in unable to fulfil an eternal devotion to her in reality.
 Moreover, the author utilises structure to further indicate his passion for his lover which
goes beyond finite. This is evident in the rhythm of the poem which is in iambic pentameter, where
one syllable is pronounced softer and the next syllable is more stressed. The use of iambic
pentameter mimics the rhythm of the heartbeat, sounding like “ba-DUM, ba-DUM, ba-DUM” which
further reflects the matter dwelling in the speaker’s heart which is his lover. Pursuing this further,
this creates the impression to the reader that the poem are words spoken from the speaker’s heart,
resonating to the readers of the speaker’s strong emotions towards his lover. Additionally, the
rhyming scheme of the poem follows the pattern ABAB, which can be exemplified from the first to
fourth line. However, the last two lines from line 13-14 is a rhyming couplet (AA). Thus, this poem is
a Shakespearean sonnet with 14 lines consisting iambic pentameter and ending with a rhyming
couplet. The rhyming couplet from line 13-14 suggests that if the poet cannot live forever to “hear
her tender-taken breath”, he would rather die due to his love for her. This is effective because it
creates the impression to the reader that the speaker desires his lover so much, he would devote his
entire life for her.

Lastly, Keats uses stylistic devices to illustrate the speaker’s desire of eternally being with his
lover. This is illustrated in the use of assonance exemplified in “snow upon” (line 8) and “Pillow’d
upon” (line 10). The author uses assonance in these lines by emphasising “o” which creates a gentle
and whole effect when readers read those lines. Pursuing this further, the nouns used in this
assonance have soft, gentle connotations such as pillow and snow, particularly snow which
symbolises beauty, resonating a pleasant tone. This is effective because the readers will be impacted
with a pleasant, warm tone to understand the way the poet feels about his lover. Furthermore, the
pet uses diction by using consonance, evident in “fall and swell” when describing the lover’s
breathing. This symbolises the poet’s strong desire to the details of his lover, even paying attention
to the movement of his “love’s ripening breast” when breathing. The poet describes the lover’s
breathing as if it’s gentle and soft, creating the impression to the reader of the way the poet
perceives his lover, as someone soft. This effects the reader to emphasise the speaker’s love for his
love, particularly the speaker’s admiration of his lover’s beauty and existence. This further creates
the impression that the speaker loves her presence and the fact that she’s alive and breathing.

In the final analysis, the author uses language, structure and diction to express to his lover of
his desire to remain with her for eternity the way a star is “stedfast” “with eternal lids”. The poet’s
choice of a Shakespearean sonnet emphasises the theme of love, the poem being an expression of
his deepest emotional desires and passion of his lover. Pursuing this further, John Keats uses
symbolism, and diction to portray the theme of love by manifesting a passionate tone of love and
further portraying a gentle, soft tone to let the readers understand Keats’ perception of his lover.
Unfortunately, the reader is also affected that the speaker realises his inability to be like a star, to
remain “still, steadfast, still” on Earth in order to devote an eternity to his lover reflected in imagery
of nature of land and the sky. Overall, in Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art, John Keats
effectively expresses a universal feeling which resonates with an audience beyond his lover even in
today’s age: the intense yet tragic feeling of wanting to remain someone you love forever but the
inability to achieve that due to the inevitability of death.