This Living Hand by John Keats

The speaker of the poem could be either a male or female, however the writer believes that death is approaching. In my opinion most writers are set in the idea that creation impends death just like life will eventually end in death. Only the writer can and does understand his ideas and beliefs of death. The "living hand" is a symbol and representation of life. In a way it is a representation of the writer's actual hand (his tool) and the idea of dying is a representation of how a writer's hand dies with time as the writer expresses this by stating, "and in the icy silence of the tomb." A writer fights for his/her inspiration when finding the right words to write as is mentioned in the second line of the poem, "Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold." The audience can be any and every person since life and death is often thought about and experienced by so many individuals. I believe a writer would understand and relate to the poem more so than any random person. The writer is very reliable in that he is writing of an actual experience. Speaking from first hand experience is always a more reliable source because experience speaks for more than hearsay.
The writer uses imagery to express his thoughts and ideas. Writing of a living hand gives the reader a sense of an actual hand that is utilized each and every day for various purposes by all individuals. When the hand is "living" it is "warm and capable" of various uses and the audience can picture a "healthy hand" full of life that he/she is able to and ready to use. In the line, "so haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights," the writer gives the reader an image of dreary days and chilling nights as if in a horror.
Overall, I enjoyed the poem. I thought it was insightful and I was able to understand the poem much better by using and thinking of the strategies and guidelines of responding to poetry. I think the poet conveys his ideas to the reader very well. He gets his point across and expresses his personal feelings to the reader through his writing.