You Can't Have It Both Ways: A blog about the paradox of Bright Star!

 "And so live ever--or else swoon to death"
In the poem "Bright Star" John Keats seems to have to contradicting ideas. In the first part of the poem Keats describes how he wishes to be eternal like a star in the sky. The star lives forever in beauty and watches over all the other beautiful images of the earth. However, in the second half of the poem he explains a beauty far more important to him than that of any element of nature. He describes how beautiful the girl he loves is and how he wishes to fully love her. The problem is, is that in order to fully love her he must be human and the key element of being human is being mortal. A paradox exists between his yearning to be immortal and his need to love this woman as a mortal. This paradox serves to compare the beauty of both the star and his beloved. He connects the two by describing how the star's light shines on her, which he then uses to parlay into discussing how he hopes to forever be with her and feel her breath. Another paradox in the poem is the phrase "sweet unrest". Normally one wouldn't consider unrest to be sweet, but if he could be awake with his lover then it would all be worth it. In the end he expresses how though he would like to live forever, he would rather die loving this woman and loving her for all his life. The paradox shows just how great his devotion to this love truly is.