Abstract
One may get the impression that this poem is about pain and agony and troubles encountered throughout life, yet at the same time one expects a sonnet to possess the qualities of romance, adoration, and themes of love. Although this poem may appear to only deal with dark images about the difficulties of life, I don't believe that it strays away from the traditional notion of a sonnet. In essence, this sonnet is a 'love poem' addressed to sleep. Keats even uses gentle words to describe his affection for sleep, referring to it with the use of personification as a "soft embalmer" (I) with "careful fingers" (II). The images created by phrases such as "Around my bed" (VIII) and "Upon my pillow" (X) offer the impression that the speaker is thinking only of sleep while lying in his or her bed, much the same way one thinks of loved ones when alone in bed at night. Although Keats obviously cannot describe any physical attributes of sleep and doesn't illustrate it as a thing of beauty, he clearly personifies the notion of sleep as something the speaker has undeniable affection and longing for.
