CHAPTER 4 TWO PLANES OF AESTHETICS IN KEATS MAJOR ODES, HYPERION AND BAUDELAIRE S LES FLEURS DU MAL

Transcription

1 CHAPTER 4 TWO PLANES OF AESTHETICS IN KEATS MAJOR ODES, HYPERION AND BAUDELAIRE S LES FLEURS DU MAL 115 P a g e

2 Two Planes of Aesthetics in Keats Major Odes, Hyperion and Baudelaire s Les Fleurs du Mal Both John Keats and Charles Baudelaire in their works glorify or celebrate the beautiful. However there is a basic difference between their concepts of beauty. Keats s beauty is in its purest state, untainted by any kind of blemishes and ugliness. He gives more emphasis to the physical aspect of beauty. The letter written to Benjamin Bailey on 22 nd November 1817 speaks about a life of sensations rather than of thoughts. His belief in supremacy of sensations was the main reason which makes his works sensuously appealing. [... ] I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the Heart s affections and the truth of Imagination What the imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth whether it existed before or not for I have the same Idea of all our Passions as of Love they are all in their sublime, creative of essential Beauty[.] However it may be, O for a Life of Sensations rather than of Thoughts! It is a Vision in the form of Youth a Shadow of reality to come and this consideration has further convinced me for it has come as auxiliary to another favorite Speculation of mine, that we shall enjoy ourselves here after by having what we called happiness on Earth repeated in a finer tone and so repeated And yet such a fate can only befall those who delight in sensation rather than hunger as you do after Truth[ ]even then you were mounted on the Wings of Imagination so high that the Prototype must be here after that delicious face you will see P a g e

3 This idea of a life of sensations is again reiterated in his letter to Benjamin Bailey written on 13 th March 1818 when he says that -I shall never be a reasoner because I care not to be in the right, when retired from bickering and in a proper philosophical temper. 2 What concerned more for Keats were emotions rather than intellect. He believes that outer beauty reflects the inner beauty and strength. He tirelessly seeks for truth in beauty. Baudelaire s concept about beauty on the other hand is a more complex one. He perceives the beautiful even in the ugliest things of his society. He believes that beauty can be truly experienced only after one has known and fully understood the idea of ugliness. He firmly believes that highest form of beauty is not only found in the perfect and sublime things around him but it can also be found in the squalors and ugliness of common everyday life. For Baudelaire, to experience the ultimate ideal and heavenly beauty one has to go through the experience of hell and purgatory. So in this chapter I would like to look into the different aspects of beauty as portrayed in Keat s major odes, Hyperion and Baudelaire s Les Fluers du Mal. Keats greatest achievement in his works is the presentation and glorification of beauty in its purest state. Keats loved the principle of beauty that existed in all things. For him this principle came through three different channels: through external nature, through richness of thought seen in Elizabethan playwrights and poets, and through the grandeur of Greek art. His belief in the greatness of art and its capacity of making all disagreeables 117 P a g e

4 evaporate from things he writes about. In fact the greatness of art depends on its capacity of doing so and in a letter to George and Tom Keats written on 21 st or the 27 th of December 1817 he mentions about it- this [... ] [T]he excellence of every Art is its intensity, capable of making all disagreeables evaporate, from their being in close relationship with Beauty & Truth. 3 According to Keats this power of art actually grows from the poets capacity of negative capability. By negative capability Keats meant- [ ]what quality went to form a Man of Achievement especially in Literature & which Shakespeare possessed so enormously I mean Negative Capability, that is when man is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason [ ]This pursued through Volumes would perhaps take us no further than this, that with a great poet the sense of Beauty overcomes every other consideration, or rather obliterates all consideration. 4 By capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason Keats means that a poet should be able to assume multiple characters according to the situation and the character he sketches in his works. He should not betray his own identity or character in his works. Keats did not encourage self portrayal in the works of art. He felt that it was the greatest flaw in Wordsworth. In a letter to George and Thomas Keats written on 21 st December 1817, he speaks about Reynold s Luke in Riches. He claims that it is a fine piece of 118 P a g e

5 lamentation against the obsoletion of Christmas Gambols and pastimes: but it was mixed up with so much egotism of that driveling nature the pleasure is entirely lost. 5 Again in a letter to Banjamin Robert Haydon written on 8 th March 1819 he tells him that he is never going to write about his own childhood. Writing about his own childhood would mean to him like running alongside the most vulgar of all crowds. When he speaks on the topic he is primarily talking about Poet s identity. In a letter to Richard Woodhouse written on 27 th October 1818, he seeks to understand who a poet actually is. First he points out that a poet when distinguished from the Wordsworthian or egotistical sublime is Not itself- it has no self- it is everything and nothing it has no character- it enjoys light and shade; it lives in gusto, be it foul or fair, high or low, rich or poor, mean or elevated- it has as much delight in conceiving an Iago as an Imogen.[ ] a poet is the most unpoetical of anything in existence; because he has no identity- he is continually in for- (? informing) and filling some other body- the sun, the moon, the sea, and men and women who are creatures of impulse are poetical and have about them an unchangeable attribute- the poet has none. He is certainly the most unpoetical of all God s creatures 6. Keats points out the fact that a poet does not have an identity of his own. He assumes the character of his creation. With this argument we wonder whether what the poet says in his work is his remark or is it some disinterested remark independent of his personality, preferences and biases. 119 P a g e

6 According to this argument a poet does not have one identity. He assumes the identities of different characters he creates. He also believed that a poet can create a delight in the reader s mind through his descriptions of sensuous beauty and imaginative recreation. In a letter to Bailey written on 22 nd November 1817 he speaks highly about the idea of imagination. I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the heart s affections and the truth of imagination what the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth of imagination. What the imagination seizes as beauty must be truth- whether it existed before or not.[ ] the imagination may be compared to Adam s dream- he woke and found it truth. 7 These lines speak of how highly Keats thought about imagination. Imagination seizes something to be ideal or beautiful and that according to Keats is truth. The world created by imagination is not just a world of shadows but on contrary something true. With imagination is associated a world of sensations and passions for they in their sublime form helps in the process of creation of essential beauty. In other words we might as well say that imagination, world of sensations and passions play important role for poetic process. He feels that a human mind is capable of perceiving beauty in spite of the existence of sufferings and ugliness in the present world. Even though he celebrates the physical aspect of beauty for Keats it is not just limited to skin deep. It is constantly evolving and Keats in his idea of beauty moves from one level to the other. Outer beauty actually reflects the inner beauty, physical the spiritual. Beautiful thing is also all powerful, that is why in 120 P a g e

7 Hyperion he says- first in beauty is first in might 8. Beauty is a source of eternal joy as in Endymion he says- A thing of beauty is joy forever 9. For him anything seen or felt with intensity has to be beautiful and true because of that very intensity. Keats deeply enjoys beauty that he finds in nature and because of this his poems are replete with enchanting nature imageries. A very personal and dear idea that Keats held so close to his heart was that poetry should not have any ulterior motives behind it. This is where he makes way for the aesthetic movement that was to begin in England in 1880 s with Walter Pater, Ocsar Wilde and others. In a letter to John Hamilton Reynolds written on 3 rd February 1818 he writes- We hate poetry that has a palpable design upon us- and if we do not agree, seems to put its hand in its breeches pocket. Poetry should be great and unobtrusive, a thing which enters into one s soul and does not startle it or amaze it with itself, but with its subject. How beautiful are the retired flowers! How would they loose their beauty were they to throng into the highway crying out admire me I am a violet! Dote upon me I am a primrose. 10 Keats encouraged the aesthetic idea about poetry. A poem s existence is just for its own self and not for any other purpose. It should have nothing to preach about and it is an end in itself. He gives us an example of flowers on the roadside and declares that they loose their essence and beauty if they are too engrossed to get noticed. They should be noticed for their sheer beauty. So a work of art should not have any mandate not even that of getting itself noticed. 121 P a g e

8 Keeping these ideas supported by Keats let us consider his works. In his Ode to Psyche Keats takes up a classical theme. It is a story about Psyche a winged Goddess. According to the Greek myth Cupid the winged God of love had fallen in love with the nymph Psyche. He had often made love to her in the blissful Arcadian bowers. However after the intercession of Cupid with Jupiter, Psyche became a winged Goddess. In the ode Keats changes this basic idea and portrays Psyche as someone who is already winged at the time when Cupid made love to her. In Greek the word psyche has different meanings. It meant soul and also a butterfly. The whole idea of giving wings to Psyche is because a soul is supposed to transcend the body, and a butterfly too is transformation of a caterpillar. Keats begins his ode with a description of the Cupid and Psyche embracing on the grass. Then after he praises the beauty of Psyche and regrets that she was considered as Goddess too late. He regrets that there is no one to worship this beautiful Goddess. No temple has been built for her and there is no choir to sing for her. Keats feels pity that there are no sweet melodies of musical instruments usually associated with worship, and no fragrance of incense to adorn the rituals. But when he says that he is going to make amends by becoming Psyche s priest he is actually paying a tribute to the beauty of a heathen Goddess. In Keats ode, Psyche does not simply symbolize an ordinary human soul but she is also a personification of beauty itself. O latest born and loveliest vision far Of all Olympus faded hierarchy! Fairer than Phoebe s sapphire -region d star. 11 (Ode to Psyche; L 24-26) 122 P a g e

9 In these lines the poet addresses Psyche as a star which is most pleasing to behold. The words latest born also tell us about her young disposition. Keats tells us that Psyche is fairer than Venus the moon star and Vesper the evening star. She is a loveliest vision to behold. Symbolically she stands in between the real world which is temporary and the imaginary world, which is permanent. Keats is unhappy that this young and beautiful Goddess Psyche is not being properly worshipped and he laments about it in the following lines- Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none, Nor altar heap'd with flowers; Nor virgin-choir to make delicious moan Upon the midnight hours; No voice, no lute, no pipe, no incense sweet From chain-swung censer teeming; No shrine, no globe, no oracle, no heat. 12 (Ode to Psyche; L 28-35) The lines tell us that Keats himself is a worshipper of beauty. He feels bad when he sees that there is none to worship the beautiful Goddess. One reason for this is that even though she is beautiful, she came too late for the lyric poets of antiquity to celebrate and invoke her. When he finds that there is no one to worship her, he offers himself as Psyche s worshipper and priest. I see and sing, by my eyes inspired So let me be thy choir, and make a moan Upon the midnight hours; 123 P a g e

10 Thy voice, thy lute, thy pipe, thy incense sweet From swinged censer teeming; Thy shrine, thy grove, thy oracle, thy heat Of pale mouth d prophet dreaming. Yes I will be thy priest, and built a fane In some un-trodden region of my mind, 13 (Ode to Psyche; L 43-51) He is sympathetic towards Psyche as she still does not have any worshipper. In the lines quoted above Keats proclaims that he is going to build a shrine for her in the deepest recesses of his mind and then sing and worship her praises. The image that the words create is just serene and beautiful not to forget the purity of those un-trodden regions. The lines: I wandered in the forest thoughtlessly, And, on the sudden, fainting with surprise, Saw two fair creatures, couched side by side In deepest grass, beneath the whispering roof Of leaves and trembled blossoms. 14 (Ode to Psyche; L 7-11) In the very first stanza of the ode Keats gives us a sensuous, dreamy and beautiful atmosphere. The whispering leaves and trembling blossoms not only give life to nature but also show her delicate beauty. The poem is filled with intense emotions and feelings. He says that he is going to build a temple for Psyche in some unexplored region of his mind. His mind will serve as forest and thoughts as pine trees. There the nymphs will lie asleep 124 P a g e

11 To let the warm love in! 15 (Ode to Psyche; L 55-69) amidst birds, beasts, streams and cool breeze. The shrine is going to be covered with rose. Another beautiful thing is that when Keats decides to build a temple for Psyche he proclaims that the temple is going to be built in the deepest recess of his mind which is not frequented by the ordinary. It is going to be a region- Where branched thoughts, new grown with pleasant pain, Instead of pines shall murmur in the wind: Far, far around shall that dark cluster d trees Fledge the wild ridged mountains steep by steep; And there be Zyphers, streams, and birds and bees, The moss lain Dryads shall be lulled to sleep; And in the midst of this wide quietness A rosy sanctuary will I dress With the wreath d trellis of a working brain, With buds, and bells, and stars without a name, With all the gardener Fancy e er could feign Who breeding flowers, will never breed the same: And there shall be for thee all soft delight That shadowy thought can win, A bright torch, and a casement ope at night The place where the temple is going to be built is not in any simple physical or geographical region. Keats moves from a physical realm to a psychological one here. The place is going to be the deepest recess of his mind, a highly imaginative one where everything is extra ordinary. The 125 P a g e

12 region is going to be such that it is the thoughts instead of pines that is going to murmur in the wind, dryads will be lulled to sleep, the place is going to be full of roses, there would be buds, bells and stars but without any names, flowers of same variety would breed only once and the place itself would be full of love. The ode is not only a song celebrating a beautiful Goddess but at the same time it is also replete with beautiful images of gardens, floral setting and dreams of sweet delight. Keats might have looked into various sources for the different ideas he presents in the ode. Lemprière s Bibliotheca Classica might be the source for the theme of Psyche and the whole idea about position of Psyche in the Godhead. William Adlington s translation of the The Golden Ass of Apuleius, Mrs Tighe s description of Psyche as dove in her Psyche, Spencer s description of The garden of Adonis in The Faerie Queene, and Milton s On the Morning of Christ s Nativity might have provided for Keats the ideas about various images that is found in the ode. Through this poem the poet also acknowledges Psyche to be the Goddess of beauty. Thus in worshipping Psyche the poet shows his regard for his love for the beautiful. In another ode-on a Grecian Urn, Keats celebrates the beauty of an urn with scenes carved on its surface. There are two different scenes carved on the surface of the urn. First is the scene of mad pursuit where we find a boy piping under the tree and another boy chasing his lover. The second one is that of sacrifice where the priest leads a garlanded heifer towards the alter followed by worshippers. The scenes are respectively imbued with Dionysian excitement and Apollonian order. These tell us that the scenes are not united though they may be complimentary to each other. 126 P a g e

13 Let us here at this point discuss a little about the urn itself. Keats in this ode talks about a Grecian urn. However the urn he writes about is a marble urn and marble urns belonged to the Neo-Attic Age rather than to the Greco Age. These marble urns had just one scene portrayed on them, but Keats urn has two scenes on it. So there is a possibility that Keats urn never existed in reality. It might be an invention of his fancy. In the Romantic Imagination Bowra has pointed out that Keats must have had taken his subject from two different urns made by Sosibios. One of Sosibios marble vases had sacrificial scene on it. A kid is dragged to the alter however not by a priest but by a Goddess. The other vase had a Dionysiac pleasure. There are about ten figures. A man playing a flute accompanied with others and an almost naked man holding the hem of a maid s dress that he pursues. These two urns must have provided material for Keats imaginative urn. However when he does so, it is not just a carbon copy. Keats retained only those themes that appealed to him and discarded the rest. The themes selected were Hellenic things belonging to the art of Athens of 5 th BC and nowhere close to the Greco Roman world. The imaginary urn of Keats bore a certain affinity with the Attic artists and this gives a hint that he knew well the Elgin marbles and Grecian grandeur. He allows plenty of his imagination to play. The image of lowing heifer is another recreation that we find in Keats urn. In the original urn there is neither a priest nor a heifer. There is a kid led to the alter by a Goddess like figure. The poet however knew about lowing oxen led by priests on the Southern fringe of Parthenon. Keats with his creative genius and imagination transforms two different images into a perfect one. The Ode on a Grecian Urn is a refined representation of sense impressions and memories of these Greek monuments Keats had experienced in his life. The Greek world presented in the Ode on a Grecian Urn is much more 127 P a g e

14 refined than those presented in his earlier works. In Book One of Endymion the scene of rustic sacrifice conducted by a priest is portrayed in an elaborate manner. The crowded activity found in Sosibios urn is depicted in more or less exact manner. This is however excluded from the ode. Many descriptions and details are transformed. The whole scene is simplified considerably. The ugly images are eliminated and just few of the choicest remain. In the poem Epistile to John Hamilton Reynolds the sacrifice scene was portrayed thus- the sacrifice goes on; the pontiff knife Gleans in the sun, the milk white heifer lows, The pipes go shrilly, the libation flows 16 (Epistile to John Hamilton Reynolds Lines ) In the Ode on a Grecian Urn we find nothing of knives, pipes, and libation. Just the heifer remains but again nothing is said about its milk white colour. Similarly in Book Four of Endymion the Dionysian revelry is described in a detailed manner. The Indian maid sings on the arrival of Bacchus- And as I sat,over the light blue hills, Tthere came a noise of revelers: the rills, Into the wide stream came of purple hue- twas Bacchus and his kin! the earnest trumpet spake, and silver thrills from kissing cymbals made a merry din- Twas Bacchus and his kin! 17 ( Endymion; Book IV; L ) 128 P a g e

15 And the revelers are asked questions- Why have ye left your bowers desolate, Your lutes and gentler fate? 18 (Endymion; Book IV;L ) In these lines Keats uses concrete images and when he does so he leaves very little scope for reader s imagination. In the ode there are no concrete images about Bacchus and the scene has a less defined character. These little changes have intensified the impressions and also encourage the readers to imagine thus making the whole thing more sublime and beautiful. Similarly when we look at the pursuit scene we get a hint that the second vase inspired Keats to imagine so. The man holding the dress of a woman in the second vase is presented by Keats as a lover pursuing his loved one. The ode is built on a neat plan of three parts, - the introduction, main subject and the conclusion. This order makes it possible to ask questions, answer them, evoke a special kind of state, and create curiosity, amazement, solemnity and delight. Keats imagination gives an unexpected beauty and strength to the world of urn. He clothes the urn with all splendors. As the poem progresses Keats transmutes to his poetic thoughts he had so long paid much attention to. In the opening lines of Ode on a Grecian Urn- Thou still unravished bride of quietness, Thou foster child of silence and slow time. 19 (Ode on a Grecian Urn; L 1-2) 129 P a g e

16 The urn to him is an unravished bride who tells a flowery tale. The bride of quietness gives us the hint that she is mysterious unchanging beauty in this ever changing world. There is some kind of special existence the urn enjoys and a mystery about its unchanging silence. These words also tell us that the urn belongs to things remote from the usual world. The words, foster child of silence and slow time, hints at the durability of the urn. It has survived in this world of changeability for many years. In Book Three of Endymion through the following lines- Aye bove the withering of old lipped fate A thousand powers keep religious state In water fiery realm, and airy bourne; And, silent as a consecrated urn Hold spherey sessions for a season due 20 (Endymion; Book III; L 29-33) Keats tells us that there are some things like silent as consecrated urn which are beyond the reach of fate. They remain silent yet they have a message to pass. They take us to the spiritual heights. They may be dumb themselves yet they are in some way related to the mysterious supernatural realms. On our part we have to learn how to enter into their presence and get transported along with it to that sublime realm. Initially the urn stands for the remote, sublime reality but later becomes more definite as it marks a peculiar experience for the poet. Every image engraved on the surface of the urn has its own charm and they are full of life. The life like attitudes of the figures astonishes him. Men who might be mistaken for Gods, blushing maids running away from lovers, pipers 130 P a g e

17 playing tunes, and trees whose leaves will never shed establishes the superiority of art over real life. Real life activities are short lived but the joy and beauty of art is its permanence. This is shown in the Ode on a Grecian Urn in the lines: And happy melodist, unwearied, For ever piping songs forever new More happy love! More happy happy love! Forever warm and still to be enjoy d For ever panting and forever young 21 (Ode on a Grecian Urn; L 23-27) The lines tell us that the melodist will pipe his tune for eternity. It is never going to end. The unheard melodies also symbolizes ideal and beautiful melodies. These melodies are music that we don t hear with our sensual ears but they can be conceived only through imagination, and this is ideal state of what music ought to be. The melodist is never going to be tired and the music produced is always going to have eternal freshness unlike concrete ones. It is sad that the lover on the urn may never succeed in planting a kiss on his maid s cheeks but non-the less the lovers will remain together for eternity, close to one another in the same mood of anticipation. Real life love and beauty is destined to die and decay with the passage of time, but love and beauty depicted on the urn will live forever. The unheard melodies from those soft pipes are sweeter than the heard ones. The readers are asked to imagine tunes these flute players are playing and this makes the tunes all the more beautiful. According to Keats the lovers are happy and the boughs will never shed their leaves. The ode also speaks about the poet s belief on the superiority of art and art s ability of glorifying beauty. Everything beyond art is temporary, transitory and inferior. Expressions like attic shape, fair attitude and cold pastoral tell us about the beauty 131 P a g e

18 of the urn. The urn sends a message that beauty and truth are not separate things. They are two sides of the same coin. Everything beautiful is bound to be true and everything true similarly is bound to be beautiful. The Grecian urn transcends time and becomes timeless. The ode transports us from the world of time to the world of eternity. It belongs to emotions and thoughts that do not belong to this world. Keats started writing the ode with intense personal emotions but towards the end it becomes impersonal and absolute. Through this ode Keats tries to drive home the message that Art is not just a reflection of life but a higher ideal in itself. The urn itself is the very epitome of beauty, a piece of beauty that is going to live forever. Beauty of art outshines real life. Joy of art is more beautiful and satisfying than that of the real life. In last stanza of Ode on a Grecian Urn, the lines- When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say st, Beauty is truth, truth beauty,- that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. 22 (Ode on a Grecian Urn L46-50) Keats realizes about the timeless world, which can be attained only through art. There might be different kinds of troubles plaguing the world but Keats Grecian Urn would survive all tests of time and then finally proclaim the superiority of its beauty over a transient world. Ode on a Grecian Urn is important, as it is his most matured expression on the vision of Hellas. Secondly it is the only poem that can be explained in a 132 P a g e

19 multiple ways. Keats always emphasized that a poem should be able to explain itself without any comment, but when he comes to this particular ode he fails. The Grecian urn will have a valuable lesson to teach the generations Beauty is Truth and Truth Beauty 23. Here beauty becomes a touchstone of truth and it is not so just for the poet but for everyone. Ode to a Nightingale is another poem where Keats celebrates beauty. The song of the Nightingale here symbolizes the world of ideal beauty. At the same time it is also a symbol of a possibility of escape from the burdens of time and mundane everyday life. Nightingale as a theme for a poetry has a long literary history right from Ovid s metamorphosis to Eliot s Wasteland. The bird became prominent during the Romantic period as it also gave forth the idea of spontaneous lyrical utterance. Many believe that Keats was well aware of the different ways in which Nightingale was portrayed in Romantic poetries like Clarke s The Nightingale, Charlotte Smith s To a Nightingale, Coleridge s To the Nightingale and The Nightingale: A Conversation Poem. During that time in a walking tour with Coleridge the two had discussed about nightingales. However when we consider these poems we find that Keats approach is different from all of them and if we were to look into the poem we would not get a slightest idea about the physical aspects of a nightingale. The bird is not seen as an individual mortal creature but on contrary, the she is presented as a soothing and beautiful voice which has been continuously living in the world for many centuries. It was beautiful in the past; it is beautiful at present and will continue to be so in future. As the poem develops we find that the living nightingale transforms into a symbol of living art. The song itself is a joyous one in a glorious voice. It is so beautiful that it sets Keats s imagination on fire. The song brings about a peculiar pain in the poet s heart due to excess of joy. 133 P a g e

20 The opening lines of the Ode to a Nightingale shows this pain that the poet experiences. However the pain he speaks about is not brought about by envy or any other negative feelings but it is through the sharing of nightingale s happiness. My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains One minute past, and Lethe- wards had sunk: It is not through envy of thy happy lot, But being too happy in thy happiness, 24 (Ode to a Nightingale; Lines 1-6) Many factors worked upon and influenced Keats while writing this poem. For example the sad song of William Wordsworth s Solitary Reaper and Clarke s claim that the nightingale s song is full of Ruth might have made Keats allude to the biblical figure of Ruth. Similarly lines from Wordsworth s The Nightingale also might have inspired him. No Nightingale did ever chaunt More welcome notes to weary bands Of travelers in some shady haunt, Among Arabian sands: A voice so thrilling nev r was heard In spring time from a cuckoo bird, Breaking the silence of the seas Among the farthest Hebrides. 25 ( The Nightingale; L l2-30) 134 P a g e

21 The song of the nightingale affects the poet s mind like an opiate, which brings about aches, drowsy numbness and pains of joy. The excess of happiness that the beautiful song gives brings about these effects. The Nightingale s song is so beautiful that initially the poet wanted to drink wine and escape into the bird s world. That I might drink, and leave the world unseen, And with thee fade away into the forest dim: 26 (Ode to a Nightingale; L19-20) These words helps us to understand that Keats is so much enticed and fallen in love with the Nightingale s world that he would want to fade away from reality into its world which he thinks at the moment is the ideal world. The sun burnt mirth gives us an idea of a beautiful atmosphere. He also feels that the world of the nightingale is without any sorrow. So he wants to fade away from his world which is full of pains into the nightingale s world. However immediately in the fourth stanza he expresses his wish to get transported to the nightingale s world not with the help of wine but with the help of poetry. So poetic fancy transports the poet to the nightingale s world, which is all beautiful, full of flowers and fruits. It is not the wine but poetic imagination that helps him to fly to the realm of forgetfulness, the world which is the heaven of joy. Almost immediately he leaves this world full of pains and frets when he says- Already with thee! Tender is the night And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne, Cluster d around by all her starry fays 27 (Ode to a Nightingale; L-5-7) 135 P a g e

22 The voice of the nightingale sings for both high and low, comforts homesickness, frees one from bitter isolation, and opens up magical casements. The poet views the bird and the song as one. They are both immortal and meant to survive till eternity. Thou wast not born for death, immortal bird! No hungry generations tread thee down. 28 (Ode to a Nightingale; L 61-62) Here the bird becomes a pure song and thus gains entirety of beauty. The world of time passes into the world of entirety. By doing so the permanence of the nightingale s song is contrasted with the transitoriness of individual human life. After the poet listens to the nightingale s song he is filled with aching pain which according to Keats in his Ode on Melancholy is caused by coming into contact with beautiful and joyful things of life. Listening to the songs Keats wants to merge himself with the happy spirit and the beautiful world of the bird. He wants to leave the world unseen and fade away into the dim forest. He wants to leave behind him all the cares, woes, weariness, fever and frets of life. For him this escape is brought about by poetry. The viewless wing of poesy transports him to the romantic forest, which he describes in lines of the ode: I cannot see what flowers are at my feet Nor what soft incense, hangs upon the boughs, But in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet Wherewith the seasonable mouth endows The grass, the thicket, and fruit trees wild. 29 (Ode to a Nightingale; L 41-45) 136 P a g e

23 The song of the nightingale represents beauty- an ideal beauty that never fades. It also talks about a world where beauty does not perish. The initial stanza introduces us to the theme and gradually in stanzas that follow we are told about the effect of nightingale s song on the poet s mind. The poet s realization about the song s immortality and then towards the end the poet comes back to his own world but something has happened to him. The world of the nightingale is the ideal world of beauty and amazing happiness. Charles Brown recalled one incident that gave birth to Keats Ode to a Nightingale. According to him- in the spring of 1819 a nightingale had built her nest near my house. Keats felt a continuous and tranquil joy in her song; and one morning he took a chair from the breakfast table to the grass-plot under a plum-tree, where he sat for two or three hours. When he came into the house, I perceived he had some scraps of paper in his hand, and these he was quietly thrusting behind the books. On inquiry I found those scraps, four or five in number, contained his poetic feeling on the song of our nightingale. 30 With the above account we can, but just marvel at Keats poetic power. He was able to transform an ordinary little bird and her song into an immortal creature through his imagination. Melancholy on ordinary circumstances would be associated to the sad and ugly things. However Keats in his Ode on Melancholy states that melancholy is a rare emotion, delicate, refined and exalted. It is not caused 137 P a g e

24 by the gloom, sadness and death but in contrary through coming into contact with the beautiful and joyful things of life. According to Keats true melancholy is not to be found in sad and ugly things like the wolf s bane, night shade, yew berries, the beetle or the death moth. It has its shrine in the very temple of delight. It is to be found existing alongside with everything beautiful and joyful. In the lines: She dwells with beauty- beauty that must die And joy, whose hands is ever at his lips Bidding adieu 31 (Ode on Melancholy; L 21-23) Keats tells us about the transitory nature of beauty and joy. He speaks about beauty that must die and joy that is always taking leave. The knowledge about this transitory nature of beauty and joy gives birth to melancholy in man s mind. Keats tells us that melancholy dwells alongside with beauty and joy. This concept about melancholy changes the ordinary meaning and melancholy itself becomes something sublime and beautiful. Ay, in the very temple of Delight Veil d Melancholy has her Sovran shrine, Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue Can burst Joy s grape against his palate fine; 32 (Ode on Melancholy; L 35-38) Melancholy is not something different from joy and delight but it shares space in the same temple which accommodates delight. It might not be noticed always. The images used in the ode are beautiful and full of 138 P a g e

25 sensuous quality. Rain dropping on flower, sunlight playing on wet sand and man squeezing his lover s hand all make up beautiful ideas. Through this ode we can know about one thing. Keats s concept of beauty is not only a sensuous one, but it is also enriched by imaginative and intellectual perception. In the Ode to Autumn Keats writes about the beauty of the autumn season. Ordinarily autumn is considered to be a season of death and decay. Keats however describes it as a season of mellow fruitfulness which conspires with the sun to bless and load - To bend with apples the moss d cottage trees, And fill all fruits with ripeness to the core; To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells With a sweet kernel; to set budding more, And still more, later flowers for the bees, Until they think that warm days will never cease, For summer has o er brimm d their clammy cells. 33 (Ode to Autumn; L 4-11) describes the bounties of autumn season. Autumn is presented to work closely with the sun, conspiring how to load and bless people with fruits. The apple trees are so full with fruits that they bend to the ground because of the weight. The hazel nuts are filled with sweet kernel. The season boasts of having own variety of flowers too, full of nectar, and bee hives brimmed with honey. The fullness of existence that is introduced in the first stanza; is carried forward in the second stanza and it finally reaches its climax in the last. In the second stanza the autumn season is endowed with different human 139 P a g e

26 qualities when it is compared with a winnower a woman sitting on a granary floor with her soft hair lifted by the winnowing wind, reaper working in the fields, gleaner collecting the grains from the fields and finally as cyder presser watching the last drops of juice oozing from the presser. These personifications make autumn all the more special. These different personalities are however portrayed without much movement, lazily enjoying their life. The last and the final stanza tell us that the autumn season has its own music like that of spring or any other season. In this ode Keats uses various images, which combined makes, a picture of a beautiful season. In the final and the third stanza Keats speaks about the different music and songs autumn season has. Where are the songs of spring? Ay, where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too. 34 (Ode to Autumn; L 23-24) The question is fittingly replied to when Keats says that the melancholic singing of the gnats, bleating of lambs, whistling of redbreasts and hedge crickets, and the twittering of the swallows all make up the songs of autumn season. Ode to Autumn shows Keats in a serene mood. The season is not considered as a prelude to winter but it is a season of mellow fruitfulness. The poet himself is not bothered about the approaching winter but he is content with present happiness and the beauty the season offers. So in his Ode to Autumn, Keats in the three stanzas has used different images which actually appeals to our different senses. Autumn, the season if death is looked at in a 140 P a g e

27 new perspective, and in the process is transformed totally into something serene, beautiful and full of life. Keats believes in the impermanence of things around him. Beauty itself is short lived. In Ode to Fancy he gives his view about the impermanent character of beauty and pleasure. At a touch sweet pleasures melteth Like to bubbles when rain pelteth. 35 (Ode to Fancy; L3-4) In the same ode he also speaks about a hope that fancy can bring back lost beauties and can even immortalize them. Fancy high commissioned- send her She has vassals to attend her She will bring inspite of frost Beauties that earth hath lost. 36 (Ode to Fancy; L 27-30) According to Keats it is through fancy or imagination that one can enjoy the beauties of summer, spring, and autumn. The ode is also rich with its sensual appeal. Keats gives us a numerous picture imageries of beautiful things like the fruits of autumn, buds of May, and sweet singing birds and flowers. Imagination creates a perfectly beautiful sweetheart, which reminds us about Proserpine of ancient mythology. Fancy enhances the concept of beauty or in other words beauty is perfected through imagination. In the beginning of the poem the poet had recognized impermanence of beauty however later we find that poetic imagination creates an unfading beauty. According to Keats, imagination has a direct relation with beauty. In order to appreciate something beautiful, fully, one 141 P a g e

28 has to undergo the process of imagination. Keats s support for the intuitive is seen here. In the Ode to Beauty Keats creates a beautiful sensuous image of heaven. In Keats thinking heaven is unique and strange where daisies are rose scented, and the rose itself has a perfume which cannot be found on this earth, the nightingale s songs are full of philosophies, and Elysian lawns permit non except Dian s fawns. The description of heaven is brief but it again celebrates perfect beauty. Keats s Hyperion an unfinished poem in three books is based on the Greek myth, which talks about the defeat of the Titans. Under Saturn, the Titans along with Hyperion the sun god ruled the universe. The Olympians led by the three sons of Saturn: Jupiter, Neptune, and Pluto had overthrown the older order. Apollo, the sun god who was also associated with music and poetry, replaced Hyperion. In Hyperion Keats talks about the new world order-the regime of the beautiful. It shows his faith in the idea of progress. The older gods are made to accept the fact that the younger gods are more beautiful than they are, and thus, are better fitted to rule. Outer beauty speaks about inner strength. Keats believes that everything beautiful has to be powerful when he in Book II says- That first in beauty should be first in might 37 (Hyperion; Book II; l-229) His Chaos Theory or Genesis Myth which Keats puts in the mouth of sea God, Oceanus in Book II, lines talks about the nature of beauty and its relationship with might and truth. He speaks about the how Titan 142 P a g e

29 came into being from the state of darkness and chaos. Oceanus in his attempt to console fallen fellow Titans speaks about the theory of evolution of beauty that he understands to be the real reason behind their ultimate fall. Through Oceanus speech- We fall by course of Nature's law, not force Of thunder, or of Jove. Great Saturn, thou Hast sifted well the atom-universe; But for this reason, that thou art the King, And only blind from sheer supremacy, One avenue was shaded from thine eyes, Through which I wandered to eternal truth. And first, as thou was t not the first of powers, So art thou not the last; it cannot be: Thou art not the beginning nor the end. From chaos and parental darkness came Light, the first fruits of that intestine broil, That sullen ferment, which for wondrous ends Was ripening in itself. The ripe hour came, And with it light, and light, engendering Upon its own producer, forthwith touch'd The whole enormous matter into life. Upon that very hour, our parentage, The Heavens and the Earth, were manifest: Then thou first-born, and we the giant-race, Found ourselves ruling new and beauteous realms. Now comes the pain of truth, to whom 'tis pain; O folly! for to bear all naked truths, And to envisage circumstance, all calm, 143 P a g e

30 That is the top of sovereignty. Mark well! As Heaven and Earth are fairer, fairer far Than Chaos and blank Darkness, though once chiefs; And as we show beyond that Heaven and Earth In form and shape compact and beautiful, In will, in action free, companionship, And thousand other signs of purer life; So on our heels a fresh perfection treads, A power more strong in beauty, born of us And fated to excel us, as we pass In glory that old Darkness: nor are we Thereby more conquer'd, than by us the rule Of shapeless Chaos. Say, doth the dull soil Quarrel with the proud forests it hath fed, And feedeth still, more comely than itself? Can it deny the chiefdom of green groves? We are such forest-trees, and our fair boughs Have bred forth, not pale solitary doves, But eagles golden-feather'd, who do tower Above us in their beauty, and must reign In right thereof; for 'tis the eternal law That first in beauty should be first in might: Yea, by that law, another race may drive 38 (Hyperion; Book II; L ) Keats makes it clear that the nothing but nature s course is responsible for the fall of the Titans. According to Keats the rule of nature is that the ruler is always the one who is beautiful. In line 229 when Oceanus says first in beauty should be first in might he is actually speaking about Keats belief in the power of beauty. Outer beauty speaks about the inner strength. In this 144 P a g e

31 evolution theory Oceanus tells us that when Titans first came into being they were the most beautiful beings as they had come into being out of chaos. Or in other words before Titans came into existence there was just chaos and parental darkness. So the Titans were never the first of rulers. They had superseded something inferior than themselves in beauty. Now that they have become old and their beauty faded fresh perfection and beauty in the form Olympians have taken the reigns from their hands. Olympians were Titan s children, so they were younger and beautiful than the older generation. They were fresh perfection fated to supersede the Titans. Keats also points out that later they will also be superseded by younger and more beautiful Gods and this is going to happen when nature finds it fit to do so. Keats believes that first in beauty has the right to rule for it is eternal law that one who is beautiful is also mighty. In Hyperion Keats tries to establish his belief on the power of beauty. Each generation deposes the previous one on the basis of beauty and might. When Keats talks about beauty he does not just mean physical beauty. His idea about beauty is a comprehensive one, where other things like self-knowledge, conviction, and honesty also come in as in the case of Apollo. Keats links beauty with feelings. In the case of Mnemosyne, she is not just a supreme shape but also a particular type of enlightenment. Hyperion is full of ideas about the supremacy of beauty, the relation between beauty and might that Keats so firmly believed in. It is also at the same time a work replete with bleak images of fall of the Titans and the usurpation of power. The various images of the fallen Titans and the place where they have gone to after their fall is full of gloom and dejection. Yet at the same time Keats true to his nature gives brilliant glimpses of 145 P a g e

32 beautiful images at times strongly hinting at his ever faithful love for everything beautiful. In the lines She was a Goddess of the infant world; By her in stature the tall Amazon Had stood a pigmy's height: she would have ta'en Achilles by the hair and bent his neck; Or with a finger stay'd Ixion's wheel. Her face was large as that of Memphian sphinx, Pedestal'd haply in a palace court, When sages look'd to Egypt for their lore. But oh! How unlike marble was that face: How beautiful, if sorrow had not made Sorrow more beautiful than Beauty's self. 39 (Hyperion; Book 1; L 26-36) Thea, is described so. She is one of the fallen Titans and a Goddess who is ousted, and her place taken by a younger Goddess. She is also with the rest of the fallen Titans in the gloomy land, yet when Keats introduces her in Hyperion for the first time she is presented still with traces of her beauty and grandeur. Keats describes her physical beauty which is still retained to some extent. Again when Keats tells us about the un-fallen state of Hyperion and goes on to describe Hyperion s palace he basically does so, with its elaborate physical beauty. 146 P a g e

33 His palace bright Bastion'd with pyramids of glowing gold, And touch'd with shade of bronzed obelisks, Glar'd a blood-red through all its thousand courts, Arches, and domes, and fiery galleries; And all its curtains of Aurorian clouds Flush'd angerly: while sometimes eagle's wings, Unseen before by Gods or wondering men, Darken'd the place; and neighing steeds were heard, Not heard before by Gods or wondering men. Also, when he would taste the spicy wreaths Of incense, breath'd aloft from sacred hills, Instead of sweets, his ample palate took Savour of poisonous brass and metal sick: And so, when harbour'd in the sleepy west, After the full completion of fair day, For rest divine upon exalted couch And slumber in the arms of melody, 40 (Hyperion; Book I; L ) These lines are again full of beautiful images. Gold, bronze, colourful artifacts, sculptors, domes, arches, spicy wreaths and incenses fill up the place. The passage also forms a direct contrast to the image of the the shady sadness of a vale in the very first line of the poem, where the other fallen Titans are. Various adornments not only please our senses but at the same time give us a befitting image of a royal palace fit for Gods to live in. In the lines that follow, Hyperion the sun God speak about his unwillingness to part away with this beauty 147 P a g e

34 Saturn is fallen, am I too to fall? Am I to leave this haven of my rest, This cradle of my glory, this soft clime, This calm luxuriance of blissful light, These crystalline pavilions, and pure fanes Of all my lucent empire? It is left Deserted, void, nor any haunt of mine. The blaze, the splendor, and the symmetry, I cannot see but darkness, death and darkness. Even here, into my centre of repose, The shady visions come to domineer, Insult, and blind, and stifle up my pomp. Fall! No, by Tellus and her briny robes! Over the fiery frontier of my realms I will advance a terrible right arm Shall scare that infant thunderer, rebel Jove, And bid old Saturn take his throne again. 41 (Hyperion; Book I, L ) Hyperion is well aware of the fact that his fall is also near. All the Titans have fallen and he is the only one from the older regime still holding on to his throne. The very knowledge of his impending fall pains him, and he finally speaks out his wish to cling on to the beauty of his palace and his realm. In other words he wants to retain his power as long as possible. He even plans to launch an attack against the Olympians and reinstate Saturn and other fallen Titans back to their throne. 148 P a g e