This poem of course expresses Keats' belief in the way
that "the poetry of the earth" never dies, no matter how inhospitable the conditions of
the seasons, as in the heat of summer, the grasshopper is able to continue the song of
earth's poetry, and then passes the baton on to the cricket in the depths of winter, who
is able to continue the tune.
The first phrase you have
indicated is used to describe the grasshopper and the sound that it makes as the rest of
nature are languishing in the heat of mid-summer. Note how this scene is
described:
readability="20">When all the birds are faint with the hot
sun,And hide in cooling trees, a voice will
runFrom hedge to hedge about the new-mown
mead;That is the Grasshopper's--he takes the
leadIn summer luxury,--he had never
doneWith his delights; for when tired out with
funHe rests at ease beneath some pleasant
weed.The grasshopper then is
presented as singing the "poetry of earth" in every hedge during a scene where other
forms of nature are shown to be silent and exhausted. Your second phrase of course is
also part of this quote, and seems to point towards the playful and joyful way in which
the grasshopper captures the delights of summer in his actions, enjoying and capturing
the decadence of summer in his voice and the way he rests "at ease" when he is tired of
his "fun."
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