"This Living Hand" John Keats

Imagery

Living warm hand

Silent tomb

Dreaming nights

Heart dry of blood

“This Living Hand” by Keats            

In “This Living Hand,” I believe Keats first utilizes the image of a warm living hand in order to symbolize the meaning of life and love.  The “warm and capable hand” could often represent, in this case, a couples relationship and bond with each other.  The warmth and capable hand indicates happiness and emotion.  The author then goes on to paint an image of coldness, most likely symbolizing the death of the individual with the warm hand.  The sudden switch from a warm happy image to a dark dreary image often clashes, but in this poem it invites the reader to indulge into the idea of after- life. The image of death and liveliness further develops into the idea that metaphorically there could be a capable warm hand even on an individual who has passed.  The hand metaphorically symbolizes an individual who touched the life of their loved ones immensely. When the “warm capable hand” suddenly becomes incapable and cold, the story usually comes to an end. Yet, Keats utilizes a countering image of life and happiness that reappears through the line, “ So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights.”. Even though the individual died in the poem they still watch over and are with their loved one in their dreams.  The image of the individual dying and lying in a cold tomb seems dreary yet is overridden by the next idea of red life streaming again.   The vivid imagery of redness and blood ironically brings life to the poem. The deceased individual who the reader can imagine in the last two lines of the poem represents the idea of after life.  A loving couple that is torn apart from each other because of death still believes in contentment and hope because they deep down know they are still connected.  The final line, “I hold it towards you,” symbolizes the deceased individual passing on love, hope, and assurance that life will go on.