The Full Text of “This living hand, now warm and capable”
1This living hand, now warm and capable
2Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
3And in the icy silence of the tomb,
4So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
5That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood
6So in my veins red life might stream again,
7And thou be conscience-calm’d–see here it is–
8I hold it towards you.
The Full Text of “This living hand, now warm and capable”
1This living hand, now warm and capable
2Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
3And in the icy silence of the tomb,
4So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
5That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood
6So in my veins red life might stream again,
7And thou be conscience-calm’d–see here it is–
8I hold it towards you.
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“This living hand, now warm and capable” Introduction
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“This living hand, now warm and capable” Summary
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“This living hand, now warm and capable” Themes
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Death and Mourning
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Love, Fidelity, and Guilt
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “This living hand, now warm and capable”
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Lines 1-3
This living hand, now warm and capable
Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
And in the icy silence of the tomb, -
Lines 4-7
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
That thou would wish thine own heart dry of blood
So in my veins red life might stream again,
And thou be conscience-calm’d– -
Lines 7-8
see here it is–
I hold it towards you.
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“This living hand, now warm and capable” Symbols
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Hands
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“This living hand, now warm and capable” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Apostrophe
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Antithesis
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Alliteration
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Caesura
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“This living hand, now warm and capable” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Earnest
- Thou/thy/thine
- Conscience-calm'd
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “This living hand, now warm and capable”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“This living hand, now warm and capable” Speaker
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“This living hand, now warm and capable” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “This living hand, now warm and capable”
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More “This living hand, now warm and capable” Resources
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External Resources
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The Poet's Life — A biography of Keats from the Poetry Foundation.
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Keats-Brawne Letters — Read a selection of Keats's letters to Fanny Brawne, the love of his short life and a possible source of inspiration for "This living hand."
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Introduction to Romanticism — Read the Poetry Foundation's introduction to British Romanticism, the literary movement with which Keats's work is associated.
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The Poem Aloud — Check out a reading of the poem, courtesy of the Keats-Shelley Memorial Association.
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The Keats-Shelley House — The website of the Keats-Shelley House museum in Rome, complete with media and resources related to Keats's work, life, and death.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by John Keats
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