Assignment
Topic :
Paper : 3
Romantic Literature
Name : Ravina Parmar
Roll no : 19
SEM : M.A. sem- 2
Batch year : (2019-2021)
Email :ravinaparmar827@gmail.com
Enrollment no : 2069108420200031
Submitted to : Smt. S. B. Gardi English Department Bhavnagar
- John Keats and his Mythology :
- ( Ode to Psyche )
Introduction :
John Keats used Greek mythology in his Odes. Normally the question was raised in my mind why John Keats used mythical elements in his odes ? How does mythology connect with his odes ? As we know that the Myth was used and transformed by its believer. As we have great mythical characters Rama and Krishna, and of course we have thousands of different stories about them. So here we discussed how Keats used myth in his famous odes.
Generally the myth is used to explain how things came to be, to teach lessons or values, to explain social or religious rituals, and to entertain, to give different kinds of messages. But Keats uses myth in a vastly different way. Let's see what is the meaning of "Mythology" according to merriam Webster dictionary :
An allegorical narrative and a body of myths: such as the myths dealing with the gods, demigods, and legendary heroes of a particular people. And also a branch of knowledge that deals with myth.
So the main purpose of the assignment is how John Keats used myth in his odes, which way he portrayed, how he connected with his time and situations. He had used many mythical elements in various poems but here I am dealing with two poems that are Ode to Psyche and Ode to a Nightingale.
Introduction of Poet :
John Keats (31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821) belonged to the romantic age. He was the one of the main figures of second generation romantic poets. His poems were not generally well received by critics, during his lifetime but after his death he became a well known English poet. The poetry of Keats is characterised by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. He died when Only 25 years old but he was known as one of the most remarkable in the history of literature.
His remarkable poetry :
Shelley, Byron, Keats and other romantic writer mythology become a new language for exploring religion and spiritual themes. And also Harry Levin notes that the three poets ( Byron,Keats and Shelley)
" Are very near the center of Romantic, Hellenism in England ".
So here I am discussing four poems and in which how and were Keats used myth. Let's see how John Keats writes his poetry through the use of myth.
Poem : Ode to a Nightingale
This poem was first published in 1819. It is a kind of song. This poem is written in ten lines stanzas. Also that is different from other poems because this poem has a unique rhyming pattern. One thought suggests another and, in this way, the poem proceeds to a somewhat arbitrary conclusion. In this poem we find that human Morality and immortality of poetry symbolized by the Nightingale. And also in this poem 'Ode to a Nightingale' uses the birds music to contrast the Morality of humans with immorality of art.
In 'Ode to a Nightingale' we find that many mythical characters. John Keats relates his ideas and his feelings to the mythical characters. These mythical characters through he was putting beauty in his poem.
It is quite a long poem. In which Keats used the following myths and you can say mentioned these mythical characters:
The myth of Tereus, Philomela and Procne :
Here in this poem we can connect the myth of Philomela. Philomela and Procne were the daughters of king Pandion. Procne was married to the king Tereus. Who was the son of Mars and the cruel God of war. But later on Tereus like younger sister Philomela. He wished that he had married her instead of Procne. And then He sent Procne away into a great forest and also he had cut her tongue. Then, he told Philomela that her sister was dead. But she could weave most wonderful pictures, and could embroider letters, and put them together to form a few simple words. She needed nothing more but spread her story. Then Philomela finds that these letters are from her sister. Then she helped her sister and at that time Tereus became more cruel.
Philomela and Procne ran as fast as they could but King Tereus was getting nearer and nearer. The gods' pity had changed them into birds, Philomela became a Nightingale.
She hides away from other birds, and remained silent while they were singing. At night, when all was dark and still, she used to sing under the windows of the peasants, telling the story of her dumb sister's wrongs, and her own sorrow.
So in this poem also we know that the Nightingale who sings a song in the dark night.
"Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget
What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret
Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;"
Philomela and Procne get freedom from Tereus like that poet wants that type of freedom. He would like to disappear in forest like Nightingale.
'Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,'
As we know, Philomela and Procne got freedom from the cruel Tereus. As a human being dead within a second and have a new life as beautiful birds. So here the poet also wants to "Easeful Death", don't want to have a painful death. He wished, he could die as easily and painlessly as he could fall asleep.
In myth, the nightingale symbolizes immortality and freedom. This is an allusion to the myth of Philomela and her sister who were turned into birds in order to escape their captor and rapist.
The myth of Dryad :
In this poem 'ode to a Nightingale' we find that the Poetry lined like :
" That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees "
Dryads are always female and usually inhabit oak. The myth of Hippocrene that is also included in this poem. Like the lines :
' O for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,'
The Hippocrene was a fountain in Greek mythology that was sacred to the muses. It was supposed to bring poetic inspiration when a person drank the water from the fountain.
Myth of Bacchus, he was the Roman God of wine. Bacchus was essentially a copy of the Greek god Dionysus. Here in this poem we got the beautiful Poetic imagination. Here the poet has rejected the wine for imaginative thinking. Keats wants to escape from life not by means of wine but by a much more powerful agent of imagination.
Poem : Ode to Psyche :
This poem was written in the year 1819. The whole poem is filled with Greek symbols, characters, motifs and customs. The poem opens with an address to the Greek goddess Psyche.
O Goddess! hear these tuneless numbers,wrung By sweet enforcement and remembrance dear,
And pardon that thy secrets should be sung
Even into thine own soft-conched ear:
Surely I dreamt to-day, or did I see
The winged Psyche with awakene'd eyes?
So here we can see that in the starting of the poem we find that the description of goddess Psyche.
Here we can see the similarity of the characters and situations between the myth of Psyche and the poem ' Ode to Psyche '. Let's see what is the myth of Psyche and Cupid. How Keats had portrayed in his poem.
"Ode to Psyche" is simply a song to love and the creative imagination; in the full context of the odes. The basis for the story of “Ode to Psyche” is a famous myth.
Psyche was the youngest and most beautiful daughter of a king. It has been told and retold in several different versions and it has inspired artists all over the world. She was Nymph who attracted the love of Cupid but who left her. Because she makes him angry for her disobedience. She found her lover all over the Earth and had to carry out supernatural tasks. And then eventually Jupiter, at Cupid's entreaty, consented to their marriage and Psyche was brought to heaven. Let see the description of the poem :
" O latest born and loveliest vision far
Of all Olympus' faded hierarchy!
Fairer than Phoebe's sapphire-region'd star,
Or Vesper, amorous glow-worm of the sky;
Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none, "
These lines through we know that she was the youngest, loveliest and most beautiful of all the Olympians gods and goddess. She has no temples like others. Here we can say that the poet constructs a perfect setting for Psyche to enjoy her divine immortality.
" And there shall be for thee all soft delight
That shadowy thought can win,
A bright torch, and a casement ope at night,
To let the warm Love in! "
So here he recalls the myth of Psyche meeting Cupid in the dark but evoke a warning evening awaiting the entry of one's warm love. Not in a secret way but openly. That through the poet expresses his own feeling of being an immortal, he wants to become immortal. So here Keats uses sensual imagery to celebrate the creative power of the poetic imagination bto immortalise a goddess, who represented not just love but the way that love and the soul grows through desire, loss, suffering and reunion.
And also we feel that the poem is like the temple of Psyche, to worship Psyche but also to immortalise her. Therefore the power of art itself. When we thought about, Why did this myth attract Keats ? In a way all classical illusions are not connected with Poetic expression , But Keats tries to connect the poet's concerns with images and stories which had gathered in meaning over the centuries. And also this Yale clearly relates the keatsian concerns : Like the importance of love, idealised as an expression of emotional desire and sexual sensation. He tries to explain the value of suffering in any situation.
Conclusion :
Thus, John Keats beautifully used mythical elements in his poems. That through he talked about suffering, death, and wish to become immortal. He suffered from tuberculosis so unintentionally the fear of death comes out in between. His wish to live a long life that comes across. So he connects his situation with mythical characters and situations. And also Myths are sacred tales that explain the world and peoples experience. Myths are as relevant to us today as they were to the ancients. Myths answer timeless questions and serve as a compass to each generation. So in this way he expressed his situations through the myths.
Cited work :
- Geller, and Geller. “Dryad - Tree Spirit of Greek Mythology.” Mythology.net, 8 Apr. 2017, mythology.net/greek/greek-creatures/dryad/#.
- Keats, John. “Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44479/ode-to-a-nightingale
- Keats, John. “Ode to Psyche by John Keats.” Poetry Foundation, Poetry Foundation, www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/44480/ode-to-psyche
- “Mythology.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Mythology. Accessed 5 Mar. 2020.
- Myth of Philomela ***, m.talesbeyondbelief.com/myth-stories/philomela.htm.
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