Five Odes of Keats

Edward Bliss Reed has claimed that "the odes of Keats are not only the greatest lyric achievement, but they are the finest expression of his genius" (425). These works of John Keats are particularly notable for their fine sense of lyricism. Most definitions of lyricism include four aspects which are found in abundance in Keats' odes: musicality, simplicity of subject, emphasis on tone and mood, and subjectivity in thought and feeling. This paper will examine these elements as contained in five of Keats' odes: "Ode on Melancholy," "Ode on a Grecian Urn," "Ode to a Nightingale," "Ode to Psyche," and "To Autumn."

According to Schelling, one of the most important features of lyric poetry is the use of devices to create musicality. There are many possible devices for achieving this effect, such as: "Rhythm ordered with artistic variety on the basis of an organic regularity; the recurrence of stress, pause, line, and stanza so that the pattern is repeated though with individual distinction; melody in the sound and succession of words and harmony in their fitness for the thought and its changes" (23). Reed agrees that musicality is a vital feature in the definition of lyric poetry and has indicated that the element of music "is to be found in the melody of rhyme" (9). Minahan has pointed out that the ode form is especially linked to music. In fact, the word ode itself stems from the Greek aidein, which means "to sing or chant" (Minahan 140). The fact that Keats was try

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(Stanza 7, Lines 910). His mood shifts to one of alienation: "Forlorn! the very word is like a bell / To toll me back from thee to my sole self!" (Stanza 8, lines 12). The poet's escape into his imagination is broken and he returns to the harshness of real life. His mood quickly darkens as "the bird's song retreats down the valleys, no longer hopeful but plaintive" (Gittings 318). The flight of his imagination has ended and he doubts its authenticity: "Was it a vision, or a waking dream?" (Stanza 8, Line 9). The lyricism of "Ode to a Nightingale" is seen in its simple subject matter and directness. In this poem, Keats asserts that the effects of the imagination are transient. By equating his imagination with the nightingale's song, Keats expresses the idea that happiness and beauty are also fragile and impermanent. After his imaginary experience in the woods, he is confused and disoriented. He ponders the truth of the creative experience in contrast to the real world: "Fled is that music: Do I wake or sleep?" (Stanza 8, Line 10). He seeks to determine the true nature of reality by questioning subjectivity and objectivity. The work as a whole is emotive and subjective; it is a true lyrical poem. The experience of

Category: Literature - F