Notes On Ode to Indolence by John Keats

The first 200 words of this essay...

Ode on Indolence

Basic Outline

A young man spends a drowsy summer morning lazing about, until he is startled by a vision of Love, Ambition and Poesy. He feels stirrings of desire to follow the figures, but decides in the end that the temptations of his own indolent morning outweigh the temptations of Love, Ambition and Poesy.

Stanza 1

Keats speaker describes a vision he had one morning of 3 strange figures wearing 'white robes' and 'placid sandals'. They pass in profile and the speaker describes their passing by comparing them to figures carved on the side of a marble urn. When the last figured passed by, the first figure reappeared, just as would happen if you turned a vase. 'White' and 'placid' create a sense of purity and innocence. The urn is a recurring image which is also apparent in the 'Ode to a Grecian Urn'.

Stanza 2

The speaker addresses the figures directly, asking how he didn't recognize them and how they sneaked up on him. He suspects them of trying to 'steal away and leave without task' his 'idle days' and then describes how his morning went