hea[r]t

In a footnote for Keats's 'This living hand' it describes the possibility that, due to his characteristic dropping of the letter "r" in his handwriting, he intended the word in line 5 to be 'heart' instead of 'heat'. The footnote also states that even though 'heart' best fits the context, 'heat' is also relevant. So, after reading this poetic fragment (?), I immediately became curious about this word and of Keats' original intention for the word. To get a better idea about which word he meant, we must take a look at the meaning of the poem.

I found this poem to be extremely threatening. Lines 1-2 express a newfound ('now') strength of the speaker (hand) which, after reading the entirety of the poem, sounds aggressive and forward. Lines 3-8 comprises the threat: if the speaker was 'cold' or in a malicious mood then they would 'haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights/ That thou would wish thine own hea[r]t dry of blood'. This view is solidified in line 6 with 'So in my veins red life might stream again' which is relief and satisfaction in the poet. 'Conscience-calm'd' could mean a lot of things but in this context I interpreted it as being synonymous with being lifeless/ dead (R.I.P). With '-see here it is-/ I hold it towards you-' in the last two lines, this expresses confidence and directness towards reader. This interpretation of the meaning of this poem leans more towards favoring the word 'heart' over 'heat' however, by inserting 'heat' in, it gives us a very interesting perspective. When thinking of heat, I think of it as something that is given off- output or a product. With this in mind I get the feeling that Keats was directing this poem to another writer or, quite possibly, a critic (the heat/ writings of the critic). This also supports the idea that the hand could also mean handwriting and specifically the writing/ works of Keats himself. Lastly, the vagueness of the word 'hea[r]t' was perhaps an intentional choice by Keats for this supports the rather haunting ambiguity of the poem...