Endymion
Introduction
of the Poet
John Keats is one of the finest
English poets. In spite of living only for twenty-six years, he contributed a
lot to English Poetry. His poems are spirited and lively. His personal life was
a tale of sorrow and bereavement, but his keen observant eye made him an
admirer of nature, which is fully reflected in his poems.
Introduction
of the Poem
Endymion is poem of great beauty. In
this poem John Keats has expressed his conception of beauty and has given a
unique definition of beauty. According to Classical Mythology Endymion was a
beautiful youth with whom moon Goddess fell in love and on whom she induced a
perpetual sleep in order to kiss him without his knowledge.
Summary
Endymion is a poem of great beauty.
In this poem John Keats has expressed his conception of beauty and has given a
unique definition of beauty. According to Classical Mythology Endymion was a
beautiful youth with whom the moon goddess fell in love and on whom she induced
a perpetual sleep in order to kiss him without his knowledge.
In this poem the poet says that
beauty is a constant source of joy. Its loveliness increases with the passage
of time. Beauty is immortal. It appears in many shapes. The world is full of
misery but the beautiful objects of nature such as the sun, the moon, old and
new trees and flowers give us great pleasure and we forget our griefs.
“Beauty moves away the pall from our dark spirits.”
We also see glimpses of beauty of the
grand places, which we imagine for the mighty dead. Similarly we derive great
pleasure from lovely tales which we have read or heard. There are masterpieces
of literature and Art which serve as source of eternal joy. Heroic deeds and
lives of great men of the past too, are among these objects of beauty. It is
the heights of keat’s imagination All these visions of beauty are like a
fountain, which gives an immortal drink to our thirsty souls.
“Imagination is the eye of the soul.”
- Joubert
Conclusion
Beauty is truth, turth beauty that is all
You know on earth, and all ye need to know
- John Keats
John Keats is an ardent lover of
beauty. This is his fundamental belief and it operates in all his poems. He is
really in search of Truth. He wants to enjoy beauty to the best possible
degree. Endymion is a magnificent poem, which reflects profound love of the
poet for beauty as it is a constant source of spiritual joy. Therefore one must
not forget:
“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever”
Reference to
the Context
Reference
The lines given for explanation have
been extracted from the poem entitled Endymion, composed by John Keats.
About the Poet
John Keats is one of the finest
English poets. In spite of living only for twenty-six years, he contributed a
lot to English Poetry. His poems are spirited and lively. His personal life was
a tale of sorrow and bereavement, but his keen observant eye made him an
admirer of nature, which is fully reflected in his poems.
About the Poem
Endymion is poem of great beauty. In
this poem John Keats has expressed his conception of beauty and has given a
unique definition of beauty. According to Classical Mythology Endymion was a
beautiful youth with whom moon Goddess fell in love and on whom she induced a
perpetual sleep in order to kiss him without his knowledge.
Lines
A thing of beauty is a joy forever ————— Full of sweet dreams, and
health, and quiet breating
Explanation
“Beauty is a divine gift.”
– J. Seigell
In these oft-quoted famous opening
lines of the poem, Keats is giving vent to his views on the concept of beauty
and its influence on human life. He believes that an object of rare and real
beauty communicates to human soul the message of lasting joy and eternal
relief. Beauty is immortal like truth; it never dies and fades. The charm of a
lovely object is unaffected by time. This charm goes on increasing with the
flight of time.
The poet says that beauty always
remains a constant source of peace and joy. It has a refreshing, soothing and
healthy impact on human life. It will keep a quiet and shady place for us and
induce a sound sleep keeps us healthy and enables us to breathe freely.
The poet wants to say that life is
full of pains and sufferings; still we cling to it because of the compensations
offered to us in some form of beauty. Thus the presence of beautiful objects
around us is an eternal source of comfort and happiness.
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty, that is all,
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
Lines
Therefore, on every marrow, we are wreathing ——– Some shape of beauty
moves away the pall
Explanation
“Beauty moves away the pall from our dark spirits.”
In these lines, Keats gives vent to
his strong romantic faith that real and rare objects of beauty have the power
to make us forget our sorrows and grief’s as they take us away from the world
of bitter realities into the world of imagination.
Therefore, Keats says that an every
day we wreathe a flowery band in order to join ourselves with the earth, which
is an unattractive and unhappy place. In his famous novel Thomas Hardy, an
eminent Victorian novelist and poet says that this world is a Blighted Star
meaning that this world is full of difficulties, hardships, troubles and
griefs. Man can never be happy in this problem-plagued World. John Keats
expresses the same ideas but with a difference. And it is beauty, which makes
all the difference.
According to Keats the world is an
unattractive, place full of griefs and troubles. There is shortage of men and
women of good character and noble thoughts. Darkness is prevailing every where.
So, life is full of sorrow, disappointment and disease. But in spite of all
this, some shape of beauty, whether in nature, human history or literature
removes the darkness from the world. Beauty dispels darkness, beauty makes us
happy; beauty gives us courage to bear the difficulties and hardships of life
and take interest in the world.
In these thought-provoking lines
Keats describes the realities of the world but at the same time he does not
forget beauty which makes a person forgetful of his griefs and worries. Not
doubt beauty removes the pall from our dark spirits.
Lines
And such too is the grandeur of the dooms ———- Pouring unto us from the
heaven’s brink.
Explanation
In these concluding lines, Keats
gives vent to his strong romantic faith that real objects of beauty, whether in
nature, human history or literature, have the power to make us forget our
sorrows and griefs as they take us away from the world of bitter realities into
the world of imagination.
He refers to various shapes of
beauty, which please us and make us forgetful of our griefs and worries. He
says that the grand deaths and the splendid destinies we have imagined for the
brave heroes of history are also beautiful because they too inspire us to deeds
of nobility and fortitude. Similarly, works of art and literature created over
centuries are also a thing of beauty. All lovely trails which we have read or
heard and beautiful objects of art are permanent source of endless joy. These
tales give us great pleasure and we forget the depressions and agonies of life.
Thus all these visions of beauty are like an endless fountain which gives an
immortal drink to our thirsty souls.
In the concluding lines, Keats says that
beauty is something unearthly. It is being showered upon mankind from the
heaven like a Divine blessing.
“Beauty is a conopy for the suffering souls.”
– Trolope
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