What arguments, supported by evidence from his poetry, would you put forward to show that Keats was a Romantic poet?

Ruth Youngman English

Keats in his time

Plan

Introduction
The use of nature
Use of imagination and idealism
Reference to pain and suffering
Use of mythology
The ‘voice of the poet’
Conclusion

The Romantic Movement affected most of Europe. It changed the way people thought about themselves and their world through poetry, art, theatre, music and much more. Romanticism was prominent in England between 1792 and 1832. Keats started writing in 1818 and is considered a modern Romantic. Romantic poetry rejects the rationality and logic of the enlightenment period and embraces beauty and emotion. Keats expresses excitement in his poetry, over nature, and indulges the reader in the creativity of his imagination. Keats’ reference to mythology throughout his poetry shows him to be intelligent and educated but also allows him to explore and personify nature. Prior to Romanticism poets did not openly speak in their poetry; any attitudes were expressed subtly, often in the guise of a story. Keats, however, participates in the poem and often describes and comments on his own experiences. Another characteristic of Romantic poetry that we see in Keats is a reluctant acknowledgement of reality in contrast to the fantastical world created by the poet.

In accordance with Romantic tradition nature is at the centre of Keats’ poetry. Nature symbolises a kind of pure and immortal beauty. In ‘Ode To A Nightingale’ Keats exclaims, “Thou wast not born for death immortal bird!” In this poem Keats uses nature to enter into a feeling of transcendent peacefulness and freedom from “The weariness, the fever and the fret” of real life. Keats sees nature as the inspiration for all human creativity. In ‘I Stood Tip-toe Upon A Little Hill’ he says, “For what has made the sage or poet write/But the fair paradise of nature’s light?”

Imagination ...

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Imagination plays a key role in allowing the Romantic poet to create a concept of idealism. In ‘Ode To Psyche’ Keats shows us how the power of imagination transcends rationality and convention, allowing him to create a temple for Psyche, the goddess of mind and soul. In ‘Ode To A Nightingale’ Keats expresses, in the first three stanzas, his desire to join with the nightingale. In the fourth stanzas he is able to do this “on the viewless wings of poesy.” Poesy refers to imagination; this reveals how much value and power imagination held for Romantics.

Keats discovers after each experience of bliss that he must return to reality. We find, throughout his poetry, reference to death and suffering. The water in ‘I Stood Tip-toe Upon A Little Hill’ “charms us at once away from all our troubles” but the image is contrasted by Pan’s “sweet desolation – balmy pain” and earlier by clusters of bluebells “scattered thoughtlessly/By infant hands, left on the path to die.” Often in his poetry Keats brings the reader back to reality in the last line or two as a reminder that his imaginative creation is only a temporary escape. He does this in ‘I Stood Tip-toe…’ “but now no more/My wondering spirit must no further soar.”

In ‘I Stood Tip-toe…’ Keats tells the reader that he believes mythology was first inspired by nature. The writer, he claims, wrote the story of Narcissus and Echo, when “a lonely flower he spied.” ‘Ode To Psyche’ is, of course, written to Psyche, a mortal who became a goddess. It not only demonstrates Keats’ knowledge of myth, which was important to the audience of the time, but allows Keats to personify and worship the concept of soul and selfhood.

The beauty of Romantic poetry is that the poet communicates with the reader in an open yet intimate way. Romantic poetry allows the reader to understand the emotions and reactions of the poet. In ‘I Stood Tip-toe…’ Keats shares his astonishment at nature and inspires a similar awe in the reader. In ‘Ode To Psyche’ Keats engages the reader’s imagination with his vivid descriptions. He speaks to the reader, as well as to Psyche, with such an enthused passion so as to re-ignite the Romantic view of the imagination as powerful and even invincible. In ‘Ode To A Nightingale’ Keats recreates an experience with such acute use of the senses that any attentive reader is transported and transfixed in sharing Keats experience. Keats’ voice is very prominent in his poetry; this is an essential characteristic of a Romantic poet.

With his use of natural beauty and mythology, his stark contrast and yet integration of reality and fantasy and with his direct and sincere approach to the reader, Keats is a truly Romantic poet.