Dreamy, Lovely, Mortality
Keats poems seem to be so jam-packed with meaning in every word, that it is hard to chew a simple sentence. However, what seemed to predominate was a dominating theme of dreaminess and an awareness of mortality.
The first poem: “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” is a prime example of this theme. This poem in particular made me think of a one-nighter experience. In the beginning of the poem, the writer expresses a dilemma: he can’t capture on paper all that he thinks in his mind. The poem then describes the sky and the clouds which seem to symbolize his uncertainty of love. In line 7 he expresses a parallel desire as he had in line 2, wanting to capture the “uncapturable,” in this case the sky. The shadows seemed to symbolize something that is not really there and cannot be traced, perhaps like the past that cannot be grasped. Line 10 in particular gave me the impression that he was describing a passionate one-nighter that made him question his purpose and existence. Line 13, an unreflecting love, seems to describe something that the writer cannot grasp because he is not a part of…his lover. I understood the last line to convey that fame takes away love and so his conclusion was to either sink in suicide or to to sink in the rolling tides of life and just keep going through the motions without purpose.
In the poem “Bright Star,” I understood it as a story of his faithful “steadfast” lover who was consistent with him, however, he was the one that got hung in the “splendor” of the night, such as by going out and getting caught up in nightlife rather than in “steadfast” love. His lover is described with imagery of nature a lot, like in the Asian works we have read. It seems to describe a contrast between her purity and his impurity. Again, this poem ends with a descent to death.
The “Ode to Nightingale” sounded like a dream or like euthanasia. It was describing fleeting memories and desires like a dreamy or dreary calm that is the life before death. It seemed reminiscent of pastoral times, returning to nature, returning to earth. I also thought I was in a nursing home, especially in section III, a descent into dementia or a heart ache for life.
Throughout all of these poems I also saw a strong resemblance of describing love in the way Akinari did in “Bewitched,” a mesmerizing and enchanting way. For example, Line 12 in “When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be” describes this love like a fairy power. It sounded like she was enchanting and then disappears like shadows of the past. The poem with the closest resemblance to Manago and Toyo-0 from Bewitched is “La Belle Dame Sans Merci.” It seemed to be describing a love that was killing him softly. This is also the poem I least understood. How did the imagery of nature relate to the message of the poem? It all seemed too mystical to channel into reality.
Overall, these poems seemed to be written as life perceived under the influence. It could be under the influence of alcohol, drugs, depression, memories of the past, or simply love.
One response so far
Hey Melody,
I really like your analysis of Keats’ works. Keats’ poetry was part of a larger movement within the Romantic Era in which literature, music, and visual arts heavily embraced emotions in their works. Keats does exactly that, harnessing many different motions within each poem. It’s almost as if each line is constructed to convey a different emotion. Poetry of the Romantic Era was lyrical in its form and structure, Keats being a perfect example of that. He especially used imagery and appealed to all of the senses in his poems.
Keats’ poetry seems to not only convey several different emotions but rather conflicting emotions — love vs. pain, desiring passion vs. escaping passion, fear vs. bravery, frustration vs. satisfaction. Keats also highlighted conflicting ideas within his poems — life vs. death, dream vs. reality, etc.
Although his poetry seemed very whimsical/lyrical in its tone and structure, Keats reflected on very serious inner conflicts. In a weird way, to add on to Melody’s point, it seems strange and unsettling to analyze these inner struggles through poetry. On the offset, poetry doesn’t seem to make sense as the medium in which to discuss these tough issues (as we felt with Pope’s “Essay on Man”). But perhaps this was Keats’ way of dealing with reality through fantasy. Perhaps Keats needed to remove himself from these inner conflicts by approaching them in his “mystical” route. Maybe Keats needed to create this distance from reality in order to deal (or rather cope) with it. Just a thought!