Ode to a Nightingale-John Keats

Let's have a look into how "John Keats" himself have considered "the concept of death" by refering his own poem called "Ode to a Nightingale"!

Ode to a Nightingale 

"With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,

And purple-stained mouth;

That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,

And with thee fade away into the forest dim".

Here it says about someone who is carving for death and speaks of abandoning the world with someone, yet isn't cleared who is one. It also suggests Indian traditional  rituals,  prevailing in vivid religions of having Ganga/Holi water, in muslim "Zamzam water" so the person may have easy death and leisurely quit from the world.

Furthermore we see the person's strong desire of going into forest and vaporize oneself.

Poetic beauty: To illustrate poetic beauty, we have an example from the poem, "beaded bubbles(bubbles are just a particle of water, and it forms out with the natural process of water's all under going procedure, and so it has liquified layered circle, one after another)winking at the brim(bubbles can't wink is also an understandable thing though it seems to be at surface level as winking).

Poetic truth(seriousness): It also has "seriousness" in tone, as we see here the tone of death, hidden in the last line of this particular stanza. (We can also evaluate some of the signs with code and structuralism approach) also see the tendency of "Thanatophobia" but here it is contrasting, as aged people are psycologically and mentally getting retarded and wants as soon as possible to end their life, the person presented in this poem, doesn't want to. But wants to willingly die as to have the taste of poetry.

"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;

Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey hairs".

Then it is being discussed about the worldy weariness, concurrent things those going on between people, and also about old age, that how at certain point a person is to leave the world.

Furthermore it is said as it is considered by many religiously scriptures, where after death noone is going to face the same pain as they were used to in their usual life, here especially "heaven" is considered in this terms and they will be eternally in ecstatic, hilarious, unburdened mood(criticism of life, though in terms of mythology and poetic beauty as it has two faced meaning[heaven as well as of reality of life]).

It also has "Thanatology" like psychological concept in the very last line(as the dead end of aged people is described in terms of palsy)

"Away! away! for I will fly to thee,

Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,

But on the viewless wings of Poesy,

Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:

Already with thee! tender is the night".

Here the spirituality in terms of poetry is prescribed or can say "according to Mathew Arnold(concerning future of poetry) an idea of philosophy is produced(as it is said "But on the view less wings of Poesy"). Here again it has done the same in contrasting manner with the "last" and "last second line"(dull brain perplexes and retards Vs tender is the night).

Essence of poetry:

We are to see here "the concept of easeful death" can be said in love for death, which is contrasting the idea of "Thanatology" as is concerned with aged people. But it is presented in very different people. People who were willingly committing death were considered as applying "Euthanasia device" but to get rid of their particular diseases, while here the writer wants to sacrifice his life, to be in eternal spirituality of the afterlife of death.

Conclusively in this poetry we see all ideas of Mathew Arnold, regarding "the study of the poetry essay" where seriousness, truthfulness, poetic truth, poetic beauty as well as "Freud" thanatology (psychological death concept) can be seen explicitly.

Thankyou

Samiya Kagdi

A learner at PG center

Department of English 

MKBU

SOURCE: 

https://dilipbarad.blogspot.com/2010/12/literary-criticism-in-age-of.html

https://samiyakagdi313.blogspot.com/2019/12/thinking-activity-john-keats-writers.html

FIRST SESSION : ROMATIC ERA(1798-1832)

Let's have an insight to our first lecture on "Romanticism"!

The lecture was initiated by research scholar "Vaidehi Hariyani (ma'am)".

At first she introduced a posture of autumn from her presentation, where leaves were pouring down from the tree, it was giving shadowy effect, in some manner aesthetic delight and as giving boonful effect.

She assigned us a meditative task to imagine ourselves in dense forest, where it is surrounded by orange and green trees/flowers and we must assume ourselves as sitting under a tree and try to narrate the insight of what we experienced by sitting there. One of my classmates said, he committed himself to writing, others said subsequently as singing song, while one of my classmates compared the posture with ma'am's dress's colour. But eventually we come to know these all tasks are associated with our unit's topic called "Romanticism".

Furthermore she discussed the concept of romanticism: At first she compared it with "neo-classical era's one of the characteristics". As it is the age of intellectuality and reason, it was replaced with imagination, emotions and feelings since the writers of this particular age, turned back to nature. It represents individualism rather than universalism which has connection with subjectivism. It is an age of poetry rather than prose(as is one of the characteristics of neo-classical era).

L.P. Smith in his words and idioms connoted : "false and fictitious beings and feelings, without real existence in fact and human nature".

She introduced "two generations of writers" belonging to romanticism. Which primarily focuses on William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Robert Southey. While another generation adds Walter Scott, Shelley, John Keats and Lord Byron. All have contributed adhering to the same concept, but their insights were differing in some manner, which we may come to know by referring their individual writing(poems). The former generation gain recognition and fame while the latter group wasn't so much recognized except Byron, due to their short life span. While the former group of poets were still surviving. John Keats and Shelley came to recognition in Victorian era, until then they weren't.

She also similarised aforementioned concept with "Indian writer" called 'Chetan Bhagat' who introduced in India 'Indianised English language'.

Second session: We discussed in detail about romantic era in today's session, as ma'am contrasted this particular age with its preceding and successive age to make its concept very explicit. She also gave a woman's example : though some women are free to live their life, they would cry on their sorrows, which is not at all existing. Perhaps can be said they have an adjustable tendency, according to the time they are befitting themselves into a specific design, designed by the people of society. While being a student/writer/scholar our prime task is to bring appraisal among people not getting succumb in it.

Then ma'am explained how the genre from neo-classical era called satire type in style, transformed into many poem genre forms called ballad, metrical rhyme, spenserian style etc. Which was since Shakespeare's times nowhere.

Furthermore she discussed how though being romanticists, all writers of this age were following their own tending nature rather than imitating anyone and proposed examples of Mary Shelley and Samuel Taylor Coleridge.

As wordsworth was simplistic by his language of poetry and his poems don't have rhyming scheme but they were seeming rather written in prosaic style and he was a worshiper of nature(a teacher/artist).

While Samuel Taylor Coleridge and Mary Shelley were following supernatural things, the former's poems were melodious.

The poems of this particular age were individualistic(based on subjectivism) in nature, natural, simple in didacticism and comprises one of the figure of speeches called "personification" in it. Those were also based on 'folklore tradition', Thus can be said mimetic in nature though it was given an artistic effect.

For example: William Wordsworth : Daffodil poem-a lyrical poem.

"I wandered lonely as a cloud that floats on high over vales and hills".

Here Wordsworth himself seems to be personified : he himself is described as a cloud and as clouds while hovering are lonely he felt himself to be in lonesome situation.

To be continued..