Notes On Ode to Indolence by John Keats
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 before they arrived - lazily enjoying the summer day in sublime numbness. He asks the figures why they didn't disappear and leave him in his indolent nothingness. He mentions the 'drowsy hour' being ripe, but fails to state what time of day it is. Keats slips into the oblivion of sleep, he doesn't care about pain or
Ode To A Nightingale/ Ode On A Grecian Urn - comparison
Ode To A Nightingale/ Ode On A Grecian Urn John Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale" is intricate in detail whilst maintaining its ability to allow many different readings from its readers even whilst its own statements are quite precise. One very common reading of the ode is to see the nightingale as a symbol of poetic inspiration and fulfillment. This is displayed by Keats's descriptions of the nightingale and his use of imagery that links closely with that of inspiration. Thus, the poem is interpreted to be Keats's quest to find inspiration and go beyond human boundaries. Another reading of the same poem, which suppresses the symbolic role of the nightingale and focuses more on the strong paradoxes evident throughout the poem, is that of Keats's desire to lose himself completely in an experience of happiness by the effort of his imagination, however, this renders reality more painful by contrast and this experience can be only maintained momentarily before reality sets in again Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale" can fittingly be interpreted as a metaphorical text on the nature of poetic inspiration and the poet's quest to become one with inspiration as historically, birds have always been ideal as symbols of inspiration. The way Keats describes the nightingale plays a central part to this reading of the poem. In the first stanza, Keats describes the bird as a "light-winged Dryad of
How does Keats appeal to the senses in Ode to the Nightingale
How does Keats appeal to the senses in Ode to a Nightingale? Robbie Morrison(tm) 11MCM "I have been half in love with easeful death". In 'Ode to a Nightingale', John Keats writes his first person perspective on the pain and pleasures experienced by humanity, and their inextricable connection to the concepts of immortality and death. The key source of inspiration in 'Ode to a Nightingale' lies in the Nightingale's song; the poem itself explores the metacognitive introspection which follows Keats' experience with the bird. Keats appeals to the senses in Ode to a Nightingale through his use of personification and metaphor to convey his surreal state of mind, Dramatic irony in his choice of sensory imagery including touch, logic and sight, which underlines the conflicted emotions Keats feels and Keats' juxtaposition of conflicting images of wines and flowers to appeal to the reader's sense of sight, taste and sound and underline the themes of death and beauty in Ode to a Nightingale. Keats uses personification and metaphor to convey his surreal state of mind and convey his own senses to the reader. In stanza one Keats expresses that his senses are "dulled as though of hemlock I had drunk" This use of simile helps the reader to understand that Keats' perspicacity, or sense of awareness, is not sharp enough to appreciate the full beauty emitted by the Nightingale. Thus the
How does on first looking into Chapmans homer precisely mirror Keats thoughts on poetry?
How does "on first looking into Chapman's homer" precisely mirror Keat's thoughts on poetry? Its difficult to determine whether "On first looking into Chapman's Homer" precisely mirrors Keats thoughts on poetry , unless you are able to understand his view point. To gain an insight into his mind and his thoughts on poetry, it is necessary to examine some of Keats letters , many of which are written to his friends and family. As well as everyday events, he uses his letters to express his thinking. In a letter written by Keats on 22 November 1817, he outlines his thoughts on poetry ' I am certain of nothing, but the holiness of the Heart's affections and the truth of the Imagination - What the Imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth - whether it existed before or not. Also in a letter to his brother George, written on 31/12/1818 , he states that "a work of art should not seek to supply all the details but give enough to stimulate the readers imagination and omit enough to allow that imagination fill in the gaps". The Chapman's Homer , that's is referred to in the title of the poem, relates to a translation , of Homers Greek poetry by the Elizabethan writer, George Chapman , and was introduced to Keats by his good friend John Clarke. Keats was moved by intense feelings after reading Chapman's interpretation of Homer, and wrote the sonnet in his head the following
What Do Ode To A Nightingale And Ode To A Grecian Urn Have To Say About Superiority Of Art Over Life.
What Do Ode To A Nightingale And Ode To A Grecian Urn Have To Say About Superiority Of Art Over Life An ode is a form of lyric poetry where the poet reveals his personality. He shares his thoughts, feelings and opinions as we see through his eyes. Keats's odes were very majestic and full of imagination. The two poems Ode to a Nightingale and Ode on a Grecian Urn are very similar in their structure and message. Keats was tired of the mortal world and could only see the negative things in his life and so he looked for an escape. It wasn't only his own pain that depressed him, it was the pain of his brother who was dying and we can see evidence of this in this quote; "The weariness, the fever, the fret. Here, where men sit and hear each other groan. Where palsy shakes a few last grey hairs." Both Ode to a Nightingale and Ode to a Grecian Urn have similarities in them. In Ode to a Nightingale and Ode the speaker opens with a declaration of his own heartache. He feels as if he is numb and "as though of hemlock I had drunk," he then addresses a nightingale he hears singing somewhere in the forest. He says in this opening stanza that he is not envious of the nightingale because it is so happy. Keats appreciated nature and saw it in some ways superior to humans. In "Ode To A Grecian Urn" Keats imagine what the people on the urn were doing when the picture on the urn was
John Keat's Odes
Ode to John Keats "They believed that the imagination stands in some essential relation to truth and reality" (Maurice Bowra) shows how the romantics believed to find truth and reality, not through reason, such as that of the era before, but through the imagination. The romantics saw beauty through nature and isolation. Keats is no exception using his language to bring forth his vivid imagination and in doing so brings forth a truth that can only be reached through the journey of his poetry. This can be seen in both "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn". Through "Ode to a Nightingale" Keats is trying to escape reality and go on a journey using the euphoria that he feels when listening to the Nightingale. In the first few stanzas, Keats relates the song of the Nightingale to a drugged state, feeling as if he had drunk hemlock or "emptied some dull opiate to the drains". The melancholy that appears from this language, along with the slow rhythm, is contradicted with his happiness which that the melancholy has stemmed from ("being too happy in thine happiness"). This though shows Keats realisation that he cannot escape reality, and that the happiness cannot last. Keats though tries to fight reality by drinking yet realises that this is not possible. While he invokes beautiful images of wine - further emphasised by the alliteration of "beaded bubbles winking at the
Ode to a Nightingale
Ode to a Nightingale Summary The speaker opens with a declaration of his own heartache. He feels numb, as though he had taken a drug only a moment ago. He is addressing a nightingale he hears singing somewhere in the forest and says that his "drowsy numbness" is not from envy of the nightingale's happiness, but rather from sharing it too completely; he is "too happy" that the nightingale sings the music of summer from amid some unseen plot of green trees and shadows. In the second stanza, the speaker longs for the oblivion of alcohol, expressing his wish for wine, "a draught of vintage," that would taste like the country and like peasant dances, and let him "leave the world unseen" and disappear into the dim forest with the nightingale. In the third stanza, he explains his desire to fade away, saying he would like to forget the troubles the nightingale has never known: "the weariness, the fever, and the fret" of human life, with its consciousness that everything is mortal and nothing lasts. Youth "grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies," and "beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes." In the fourth stanza, the speaker tells the nightingale to fly away, and he will follow, not through alcohol ("Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards"), but through poetry, which will give him "viewless wings." He says he is already with the nightingale and describes the forest glade, where
How is Romanticism conveyed in Keats To Autumn'?
Transfer-Encoding: chunked Is To Autumn a purely descriptive poem? Keats has made To Autumn a fairly descriptive poem with lots of technical devises to portray the themes he has imbedded throughout. The poem focusses on the season of autumn, set in England in the 1800s and this is obviously conveyed through the language and descriptive phrases he uses. The first line of the first stanza begins to unravel Keats’ perception of autumn in a very positive way ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.’ Here, Keats is directly addressing autumn, in a rhetorical technique known as an apostrophe. The images used here are very bucolic. The word ‘mist’ portrays the hazy, dimming setting, which is calm and settling. ‘Mellow fruitfulness’ suggests an abundance of ripening fruits, which is what a traditional English autumn tends to bring. This is showing that what Keats is explaining is fruitful and full of nice, sweet things. This period of Keats life (1819) would have been emotionally straining for him. The year prior to him writing To Autumn, his beloved brother died at just 19. Also that same year, Keats met Fanny Brawne and they fell in love. Due to this, Keats may have been in a very emotionally confused state when writing To Autum. He would have been grieving the death of his brother and also having strong feelings of love and passion towards Fanny Brawne, after
Is "To Autumn" by Keats a purely descriptive poem?
Transfer-Encoding: chunked Is To Autumn a purely descriptive poem? Keats has made To Autumn a fairly descriptive poem with lots of technical devises to portray the themes he has imbedded throughout. The poem focusses on the season of autumn, set in England in the 1800s and this is obviously conveyed through the language and descriptive phrases he uses. The first line of the first stanza begins to unravel Keats’ perception of autumn in a very positive way ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.’ Here, Keats is directly addressing autumn, in a rhetorical technique known as an apostrophe. The images used here are very bucolic. The word ‘mist’ portrays the hazy, dimming setting, which is calm and settling. ‘Mellow fruitfulness’ suggests an abundance of ripening fruits, which is what a traditional English autumn tends to bring. This is showing that what Keats is explaining is fruitful and full of nice, sweet things. This period of Keats life (1819) would have been emotionally straining for him. The year prior to him writing To Autumn, his beloved brother died at just 19. Also that same year, Keats met Fanny Brawne and they fell in love. Due to this, Keats may have been in a very emotionally confused state when writing To Autum. He would have been grieving the death of his brother and also having strong feelings of love and passion towards Fanny Brawne, after
In tragedy, the boundaries between antagonists and protagonists are continually blurred. Explore to what extent you agree. Analyse closely Keats Authorial methods in two of the texts.
In tragedy, the boundaries between antagonists and protagonists are continually blurred. Explore to what extent you agree. Analyse closely Keats’ Authorial methods in two of the texts. Keats’ desire to be remembered in history as a great literary writer lead to him taking on inspiration from traditional tragedies such as Shakespeare’s plays. However he wanted to make his own mark in history by advancing his own ideas in his literature. The influence of both traditional tragic literature and his own new ideas meant that the boundary between antagonists and protagonists were blurred. Aristotle set out that a true tragedy must have a tragic hero and a villain, however some of Keats’ poems are far more open to interpretation. A key example of where that boundary between antagonists and protagonists is blurred, is in the poem ‘La Belle Dame Sans Merci.’ At the start of this poem Keats attempts to identify the tragic hero as the ‘knight-at-arms’, the fact that he’s knight establishes a medieval setting, this is also reinforced through archaic language such as ‘Woe betide!’. Keats uses the fairytale stereotype of a heroic knight to set him up as the protagonist, the repetition of the first line (‘O what can ail thee, knight-at-arms’), in stanza two emphasises this. We are also told through Keats’ use of language that the knight is dying (‘palely