Bright Star

"Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite"
"Bright Star"
John Keats


This poem is an apostrophe praising the beauty of stars. The writer is admiring her gleaming "splendor" that lights up the night sky. Throughout the poem, there is a certain pace associated with the location of the stars. Lines 5-8 show how stars are shining above the water, or on the snow, depending upon the season. The pace is moving, there are "moving waters," and the stars are "steadfast." Lines 2, 4, and 10 show that the star's position, though, remains "unchangeable," "in lone splendor," and "patient." Stars remain in fixed positions and I found that the words "sweet unrest" accurately convey this point. The phrase "sweet unrest" is contradictory because usually unrest is not considered sweet--It's rather bothersome and annoying. Keats portrays stars to be in a sweet unrest to show how he feels in his own life. He wants to be constant, like a star, but he would prefer being with his lover over being trapped in the same place.