John Keats

John Keats arose from the lower-middle class and was able to therefore provide some interesting and valuable information into the lives of what the podcast deems the "have-nots" of society. Although his career (and life) was short-lived, Keats published many pieces important to the Romantic Era. After escaping the prison-like form of sonnets, he began working on ode-writing which is regarded as his "highest achievement" (437). His odes encompassed many diverse subjects most of which are quintessentially Romantic concerns: the beauty of nature, the relationship between imagination and creativity, the transitory steps of human life in time and the relationship between pleasure and pain. One can think of Keats' odes as building on one another, where the conclusions and themes in the earlier odes return in later odes.

Of Keats' famous odes, I've chosen to focus on the Ode on Melancholy. This ode focuses specifically on how one should cope with sadness. This ode definitely has some similarities to his previous odes. Ode on Melancholy features Greek mythology as does Ode on a Grecian Urn, while it also conveys magnificent illustrations of nature like Ode to a Nightingale. 

I could guess that Keats writes this advice possibly because of the troubled times he has endured. In the first stanza, Keats writes of all the things that one should not do as a result of some tragedy. Although the references he uses require outside knowledge to fully comprehend, I found the captions to be quite helpful in getting me through the ode. Keats begins by stating the victim of suffering should not "go to Lethe," which simply means he who is suffering should not forget their pain, nor should they drink poison and "be kiss'd by nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine,"which means the sufferer should not commit suicide and join Proserpine- the mythical queen of the underworld(442).  Keats then lists some objects of death and misery: "beetle/death-moth/downy owl" and claims that the sufferer should not become obsessed with these objects, for such an act could make the soul "drowsy," for the sufferer must be fully aware of his "anguish of the soul"(442). 

In the second stanza, Keats informs the reader of what should be done in place of the things mentioned in the first stanza. He states "when the melancholy fit shall fall," the reader should turn their attention to "a morning rose, or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave..." or in the "peerless eyes" of their love (442).  Somewhat like the Wordsworths, Keats is attributing nature to having some healing effect in troubled times. However, Keats also attributes love to providing an escape from sorrow. 

In the third stanza, Keats explores the most important concept of this ode: the relationship between pleasure and pain. This relationship can be seen as Keats conveys that Beauty must die and Joy is leaving, "bidding adieu" while Pleasure is "turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips" (pleasure symbolically represented as a flower) (442). These verses follow the notion that mistress of the speaker will eventually grow old and die, but instead of ignoring this fact, he choses to appreciate her more while she is alive. Because her "Beauty must die" he will "feed deep, deep, deep upon her peerless eyes" (442). Keats seems to be implying that the mortal nature of beauty and joy make beauty and joy more amazing. He then states that the shrine of melancholy lies in the "temple of Delight," which also entails that the two emotions are intimately conjoined.