Keats poetry Essay Example

the world, instead accepting and embracing its true nature – both its pleasures and sorrows.

"Fair and foul I love together" - Keats, the romantic poet known for lush, sensual imagery, exemplifies this style in his odes. These works emerged from the attitudes and emotions of Keats' time and express a range of sensations, from joy and pain to happiness and sorrow. The odes often intertwine different sensations into a single vivid image, conveying the complexity of human thought and feeling.

According to Wright Thomas and Stuart Gerry Brown cited in Romanticism: An Anthology 2001, Blackwell Publishers, synaesthesia is the act of attributing the characteristics of one sense to another. This practice enhances their sensory impact and implies the unity of life. Keats' odes are not merely a reflection of one emotion, but a sequence of moods and sensations. They express desires, yearnings, and ambitions influenced by Keats' own anguish and suffering, often connected to internal feelings and perceptions like laziness and sadness.

Keats employed lively and dynamic verbs in his odes to fully express the emotional and sensual aspects of his language. As Richard Woodhouse stated, the "Keatsian" style of language is purely sensual and reflective of reality, identifying Keats as a philosopher rather than an academic intellectual. Further insight into Keats' poetic theories can be found in his letters during that period.

According to Keats, poets are the most unpoetical beings as they have no identity and constantly replace and embody others. This viewpoint was expressed in an epistle written to John Reynolds in March 1818. In "Ode to a Nightingale," Keats becomes one with the bird, fully immersing himself in its sensations and consciousness. This exemplifies

the vivid imaginative involvement that Keats had in composing his odes. In this state of imaginative experience, Keats loses awareness of his self and awakens to a perception that they wouldn't have gained otherwise - the intrinsic beauty of the object he's merged with. Keats even goes as far as to suggest that whatever the imagination finds beautiful must be true.

Keats compared imagination to Adam's dream and expressed in a letter to Benjamin Bailey in November 1817 that he realized its power upon waking up. In March 1818, in an epistle to John Reynolds, he stated his desire that imagination would continue to be a source of inspiration.

According to Keats, the coloring of poets' and painters' dreams could stem from something sublime as opposed to the inner conflict of material despair. Keats believed that any emotion arising from imagination was akin to a dream and that a poet could completely lose themselves in the contemplation of external reality, allowing them to be whoever they wished to be. This imaginative immersion was inherently beautiful and truthful, rooted in the world of misery, pain, and sorrow (Romanticism: An Anthology Duncan Wu 2001, Blackwell Publishers, Pg 1011).

Although Keats' odes often contain themes of death and sorrow, his merging of self through imagination does not serve as an escape. Rather, it offers a means to confront the painful world of reality and achieve a heightened awareness of the complexities of human emotion. As the poet contemplates on sensations of happiness, he acknowledges the inextricable link between joy and pain. Keats accepts this union as fundamentally true, as exemplified in his line "My heart aches and a drowsy numbness pains,...".

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poet yearns to escape from a world filled with the sound of people groaning and instead seeks a realm of beauty depicted by the nightingale’s song. Keats acknowledges the exhilaration of hearing the nightingale sing but understands that he can never fully merge with its melody. He expresses a desire to "Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget/What thou among the leaves hast never known" (Lines 30-1). Keats experiences a bittersweet response of happiness and pain, questioning why pleasure can be so intense that it either numbs or hurts one. He combines bitterness with poetic joy and a desire for immortality embodied by the music.

According to G.S., the "Keats Odes" are filled with feelings of sorrow and remorse.

According to Fraser 1991 and McMillan on page 46, in "Ode to a Nightingale," Keats idealizes the feelings of pain and sorrow as not just belonging to the sufferer, but also as perfect expressions of suffering. This leaves no room for rational thought as the rich, sensual beauty is too overwhelming. Keats also states that thinking leads to sorrow. When reading the poem, the senses are still and there is a feeling of numbness, yet there is also a heightened awareness of sensuality as Keats contemplates divine oblivion or "easeful death" and "nothingness." Entranced by the nightingale's voice, Keats responds with ecstasy that transcends time, space, and rationality.

In the 'Ode to a Nightingale', Keats alludes to the 'dull brain', suggesting that rational thinking conflicts with imagination. This internal divide in romantic sensibility challenges the idea of the poet as a rational and analytical being, contradicting the creative and romantic sensibilities of the time. Keats celebrates sensations

and vivid imagery. The onomatopoeic effects of the bird's song are possibly meant to harmonize with the lyrical movement of the poem. The poem references the 'drowsy numbness' induced by the bird's melody, as well as the desire to escape from weariness, fever, and frustration into flower-scented words.

Keats expresses his rapturous indulgence in the nightingale's melody with luxurious language, as seen in "Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways" (line 39). In "Ode to a Grecian Urn," Keats reiterates his preference for a perfect beauty over the real world. The magical figures on the urn are eternally charming and untouched by the struggles, alterations, and demise of life. In typical Keats fashion, the poet gets lost in the poem and is absorbed into the Grecian urn.

To Keats, the act of noticing an object is more than simply acknowledging its existence; it transforms it into a new being through sympathetic absorption. Keats often portrays a speaker in his poems who is jolted out of a trance-like state to recognize the beauty that exists within the suffering of the mortal world. In "Ode to a Grecian Urn," Keats examines the relationships between reality and ideals, as well as art and history, by exploring both the senses and the sensual aspects of the urn. (Adapted from 'The Ode: The Critical Idiom' John D. Jump, Meuthuen Press, Pg 47).

Keats juxtaposes the miseries of life with the beauty of art and nature by highlighting the concepts of transience and the inevitable imperfections of human existence. However, he believes that the excellence of every art lies in its intensity, which can bring about sensations of beauty and truth while also acknowledging

human suffering through art. In his odes, including "Ode to a Grecian Urn," Keats explores inner conflict and intertwines sensations of both pain and pleasure. According to Kenneth Muir in "Keats Odes," the "cold pastoral" may be perfect but lacks the warmth of reality (1991, McMillan, pg 230).

Having a deep realization of the happiness and sorrow that come with being human...

According to http://kcweb/edu/samuels/keats/htm, "an awareness can be both a feeling and a thought." In "Ode to a Grecian Urn," Keats suggests that art can communicate, but only through tangible means. The poem uses an urn as an example of art that is not merely a reflection of the past, but a completed product. Through the use of the urn, Keats explores themes such as the contradictions between death and passion, art and life, objectivity and mystery. Ultimately, the poem implies that art conveys a message about the true identity of beauty, suffering, and pain, making it a friend to mankind." (Keats: Odes G.)

According to S. Fraser's book from 1991, McMillan on page 24, the urn serves as a representation of a world frozen in time. It displays everlasting youth, love, and joyful devotion, signified by the phrase "Fair youth..." within the text.

According to Miriam Allott's 1976 book "John Keats" (Longman, Pg 29), the ode can be seen as a conversation between the poet's mind and his senses, creating a stream of consciousness that showcases the uncertain connection between actual and perceived encounters. The urn is depicted as always being captured in a state of elegance and romance, free from the fleeting nature of reality thanks to its immortalization through art. Indeed, lines 15-17 symbolize this

perpetual beauty by stating "thou canst not leave...never canst thou kiss."

In his poem 'Ode to a Grecian Urn', Keats highlights the importance of human emotions and sensibilities over the historical significance of the urn's images. Despite being shielded from humanity's disillusionments, the figures on the urn are denied its rewards. For Keats, the sensuousness of human nature holds greater importance than the inanimate objects depicted on the urn. He acknowledges that the urn is beyond human passions and sensations, but also indulges in his infatuation with its beauty and the philosophical perception that its abstract beauty is demonstrated through concrete forms. The poem celebrates the 'drowsily vague' and 'languorously narcotic' qualities of the urn as a representation of beauty, captured in the 'Attic shape' and 'marble men and maidens'.

The poem "Ode to Melancholy" by Keats includes the lines "with forest branches and the troddenWeed" (Lines 41-3) and "Beauty is truth, truth beauty - that is allYe know on earth, and all ye need to know" (Lines 48-50). These lines may seem conflicting since truth is often associated with knowledge and science, while beauty is often associated with art and poetry. However, Keats suggests that seeing an object in its beauty is seeing it in its truth, emphasizing his preference for the sensual over the intellectual. Keats uses his poetic writing to find truth and beauty within reality. Therefore, "Ode to Melancholy" should not only be associated with negative symbols but also seen as a conveying a direct and sensual experience and realism.

According to William Walsh's 'Introduction to Keats' from Meuthun Press (1981, Pg 130), it is advisable to indulge in the contemplation of beauty

when faced with a fit of melancholy. Keats' powerful outcry in 'Ode to Melancholy' emphasizes not rejecting melancholy, using negative phrasing such as "no," "not," "neither," and "nor."

Keats employs grammar to amplify his intended meaning, thereby strengthening its impact. The initial two words "No, no" are both accented, underscoring their force and fervor. In the first stanza, the emotions of happiness and sadness approach a sexual nature; "Make not your rosary of yew-berries" (Line 5). Keats suggests that melancholy should be sought in beauty and joy since beauty fades, and love and joy are ephemeral. Even though beauty is attractive, its essence is in its transience; "She dwells with Beauty - Beauty that must die" (Line 21). The distress in the first stanza is necessary for pondering on life's experiences.

Keats suggests that it is possible to transcend the sorrow of the world. In lines 9-10, he writes that "shade to shade will come too drowsily and drown the wakeful anguish of the soul". He uses the metaphor of a melancholic fit that falls suddenly, like an April shower that nurtures drooping flowers. In this mood, Keats encourages readers to immerse themselves in their sorrow and gain insight from the experience. The word "fit" implies a sudden and intense bout of melancholy. Keats figuratively describes this fit as weeping clouds and drooping flowers, while the hills remain lush and green. The term "green hill" is rich in connotations of youth, beauty, and fertility. Keats suggests that melancholy has its own tenderness and luxury, inviting readers to console themselves with appreciation of the morning rose, sand-wave, and globed peonies. (Source: "Critical Introduction to Keats" by

Robert Bridges, 1929, Oxford University Press, pg 55.)In reality, the transient nature of joy makes it the saddest of emblems. As noted in Line 16's "Or on the wealth of globed peonies," joy is fleeting. The last stanza implies that Beauty must die, and it is uncertain whether Beauty's mistress is Keats' mistress or Melancholy's mistress. According to 'Romanticism: An Anthology' by Duncan Wu, the experience of beauty reveals its meaning and transience, allowing a keener and tender equipoise of sorrow and certainty to develop in the final stanza (pg. 1011). The coexistence of deep melancholy with beauty is a powerful paradox; while joy exists, it quickly departs, exemplifying life's sorrowful reality. The phrase "aching pleasure" is a classic Keatsian oxymoron, as pleasure is painful when it inevitably fades; as Line 24 highlights, joy soon turns to poison.

According to Keats, the organization most capable of joy also experiences the deepest melancholy. He suggests that true joy can only be found in the ambivalence of the "veil'd melancholy" and that the "Sovran shrine" is a fusion of joy and melancholy, potentially leading to a satisfactory kind of melancholy. The "cloudy trophies" may represent the elusive nature of insight into beauty and our flawed appreciation of it. Lines 29-30 indicate that experiencing the power of melancholy is necessary to truly appreciate beauty and be counted among its "cloudy trophies." For Keats, melancholy heightens one's appreciation for fleeting beauty and the awareness of its transience nourishes melancholy.

Although Keats's poetry may seem centered on internal emotions, as demonstrated in works like 'Ode to a Nightingale', it also extends beyond introspection, as seen in 'Ode to Autumn'. The poem's three

eleven-line stanzas simply describe the season without any philosophical ponderings. It commences by conjuring an image of autumn collaborating with the sun to produce a lush abundance of fruitfulness. Keats's first stanza conveys the opulent earthiness and natural fecundity of autumn with verbs emphasizing nature's extreme bounty, such as "To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells" (Line 7).

The poem uses a range of sensory references to create a vivid and expressive description of autumn, with particular emphasis on the senses of sight, touch, sound, and warmth. The poet employs these elements to create a lyrical and emotionally evocative portrayal of the season, praising its beauty and abundance. Keats personifies autumn in the second stanza, portraying it as a carefree figure reclining in various locations. The image is powerful and adds an imaginative dimension to his description.

Within the second stanza, Keats personifies autumn as a nymph, exhibiting characteristics of carefree, sensual, pagan behavior, all while appearing disheveled. "Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind" (Lines 15) adds to this portrayal. The depiction within this stanza is alluring, displaying the contradictory elements of autumn's persistent yet passing qualities. Even as autumn nears its end, it continues to fulfill a purpose.

Keats utilizes sibilance in the stanza to enhance the perception of a dreamy fecundity. The personification of autumn encourages empathy with the pain that comes with creation while evoking the experiences of the season. The final stanza's inquiry proposes that the period of youth and revival with its visual and auditory pleasures has ended, but autumn still retains beauty and melody: "Where are the songs of spring?..."

The final stanza of the poem presents a contrasting

image to the mournful and wailful tone of the first stanza. The use of the transitive verb 'bloom' conjures up spring-like associations, which may be surprising but it effectively suggests the theme's tension - beauty that is lingering and barely present. The stanza emphasizes this further by using predominantly short syllables, symbolizing a sense of fertility that is on the brink of dissolution. The ode focuses more on sensual description than drama, while its latent theme of transience is symbolically represented by the passing course of the day.

Keats's writings about autumn are a splendid symphony of sounds that exalt the beauty of nature through vivid physical sensations. The descriptions are luxuriously rich, seeking to convey the intricate ornateness of autumn and evoking a deep appreciation for its boundless magnificence. This focus on feeling is a central aspect of the Romantic era's legacy, which extolled the virtues of "the spontaneous outflow of powerful feelings." In this vein, Romantic poetry celebrated emotion over reason and the senses over intellect – a movement that Keats was deeply influenced by, and that inspired his work in lush and sensual language.

The odes of Keats were enabled him to fully express his sensual nature through his lively and powerful verbs and emotionally evocative descriptions.