Keats: Legend or Crybaby?

Originally songs performed with music, the ode is an elaborately structured lyrical poem praising and glorifying an individual, commemorating an event, or describing nature intellectually rather than emotionally. Among the ancient Greeks, odes fell into two categories: choral odes and those sung by one person. The choral ode has a three-part stanza structure: the strophe, the antistrophe, and the epode. This structure marks a turn from one intellectual position to another and then a description of the entire ode subject. The modern form of the ode dates from the Renaissance and is written as pure poetry not intended for music. A rebirth of the ode occurred during the 18th century and reached its peak in the early 19th century. This was when Keats published his own line of odes, including "Ode to a nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn." John Keats's literary career amounted to just three and a half years, beginning in July 1816 and lasting until late 1819. Keats wrote 150 poems, but those upon which his reputation rests were written in the span of nine months, from January to September 1819. Some believe this talent emerged from Keats unique position of knowing how long he had left to live. Backed into a metaphorical corner and inspired by fear, Keats poured his soul into his work to create an intelligent view on death and how art can secure a place in life.

"Ode to a Nightingale" was the second of the five great odes of 1819 and its themes are reflected in its twin ode, "Ode on a Grecian Urn." One of his deeper poems, the relentless song of the Nightingale pierces Keats' sorrow at the loss of his brother, how the inevitability of death and decay blemish the beauty and happier side of nature and life. As in this poem, Keats tries to escape his pain through his poetry, "on the viewless wings of poesy" ('Ode to a Nightingale'). This poem captures something many of us will have felt at some time, the concept of not wanting a perfect moment to end, "now more than ever it seems rich to die...to cease upon the midnight with no pain" ('Ode to a Nightingale'). Keats comes back to reality as the bird vanishes up the valley, taking it's intoxicating song with it.

It almost seems as if Keats is trying to rationalize (beautifully) his cheated life. He feels as though poetry has in a way fulfilled his life and can make death more bearable. The same thoughts Keats deals with can be compared to the thoughts of the genius Hamlet, who was unsure of when it was right to die. The poem's ending is most fitting. He's confronted with the choice to “wake or sleep” ('Ode to a Nightingale'), a phrase which shows he's reluctant to continue with his daily life after hearing the most beautiful sound he could ever hear. This concludes his rationalization as he can now accept his death with peace.

"Ode on a Grecian Urn" was the third of the five great odes of 1819. During Keats' time it was not unusual to make a work of art, painting or sculpture a subject of a poem. Taken literally, the poem "Ode to a Grecian Urn" is a poem about a vase, but Keats has switched the traditional understanding of physical, tangible objects and transformed them into metaphors for abstract concepts, such as truth and time. An urn is primarily used to preserve the ashes of the dead. The theme of the Ode has to do with the relationship between imagination and actuality, and the supremacy and immortality of a work of art if compared to our ordinary life. With the masterful use of figurative language, Keats has created a melodic poem which serves the purpose he gives it.

Keats wrote the scenes about the musician and the passionate youth to express their eternal value. We can see that from the sentence “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter” ('Ode on a Grecian Urn'). Since the unheard music will last forever and is never affected by time, it is worth more than presently heard music. Also, the passionate youth will always keep his passion and admiration to the girl. Keats used those wonderful images to correspond to the last stanza “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” ('Ode on a Grecian Urn'). It is easy to understand now why he admired the urn for its eternal value. Also, Since Keats' brother died of tuberculosis, there is the possibility of Keats' own imminent death to the same disease, “Who are these coming to the sacrifice” ('Ode on a Grecian Urn')? That is why the poems move on from the endless love between the young couple to the ritual part.

Keats' own imminent death caused him to create a complex rationalization to secure his place in life through his own physical and intellectual art. Evan Boland writes that Keats “read voraciously, to dream of greatness, and even to imagine a place for himself in the fast-moving literature of the time” (Boland 95). Keats had always dreamed of placing himself in the eternal memories of literary greatness. His dreams must have only been intensified when he learned of own imminent death. Humble beginnings as a “son of a lively stable keeper” (Boland 95) must also have inspired him to achieve greatness. Keats was an extraordinary man that was able, in a way, to overcome death for an eternal moment and secure his memories using his own artistic genius.