# Mrs. Cameron and Ben Nevis explained — Poetry

> Chapter companion for Poetry by John Keats.

## What happens

A humorous poem describing the encounter between Mrs. Cameron, a stout 50-year-old woman, and Ben Nevis, the ancient mountain. After climbing the mountain, she scolds it for its lack of gratitude, while the mountain, awakened from a thousand-year slumber, threatens to embrace her with volcanic force. She faints, the mountain returns to sleep, and she is rescued by her servants, descending with great difficulty.

## Themes in this chapter

### Nature and Imagination

The mountain is personified and engages in a fantastical dialogue with Mrs. Cameron, blending natural grandeur with imaginative whimsy.

### Social Critique and Mortality

The poem humorously critiques social pretensions and the absurdity of human vanity in the face of ancient, indifferent nature.

## Character check-ins

### Unknown

The narrator who recounts the tale and expresses personal discomfort about the descent.

## Key lines

> She ought to have hired Sisyphus—'Up the high hill he heaves a huge round— Mrs. Cameron.'

She should have enlisted Sisyphus, the mythical figure condemned to roll a boulder uphill, to help her ascent, as she is as round and heavy as a boulder.

_A classical allusion comparing Mrs. Cameron's size and effort to the myth of Sisyphus._

> What whining bit of tongue and Mouth thus dares Disturb my slumber of a thousand years?

What noisy, complaining creature dares to wake me from my sleep that has lasted a thousand years?

_Ben Nevis speaks, expressing irritation at being disturbed after millennia of rest._

> The Lady fainted and he thought her dead; So pulled the clouds again about his head And went to sleep again

Mrs. Cameron fainted, and the mountain, believing her dead, wrapped himself in clouds and resumed his slumber.

_The climax of the encounter: the mountain's threat causes her to faint, and he returns to sleep._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters/mrs-cameron-and-ben-nevis
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_14_se/chapters