Ode on Melancholy by John Keats

Context

• Written in the spring of 1819, "Ode on Melancholy" is one of Keats' six famous odes.

• Reflects Keats' exploration of the complex relationship between joy and sorrow, a central theme in Romantic poetry.

• Keats was experiencing personal hardship, including the illness of his brother Tom and his own declining health, which influenced his contemplation of melancholy and beauty.

  

• The poem captures the Romantic fascination with intense emotions and the interplay between opposing feelings.

Structure and Form

• Ode is composed of three stanzas, each with ten lines.
• Rhyme scheme: ABABCDECDE.
• Written in iambic pentameter, maintaining a formal and reflective tone.
• The structure allows Keats to explore different aspects of melancholy and its relationship with beauty and joy.

Key Themes

Melancholy and Beauty

• "She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die;"
• Highlights the intrinsic connection between melancholy and beauty, emphasizing the transient nature of beauty.
• Reflects the Romantic ideal of finding beauty in sorrow.

Impermanence of Joy

• "And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips / Bidding adieu;"
• Suggests that joy is fleeting, always on the verge of departure.
• Emphasizes the transient nature of happiness.

Intense Emotional Experience

• "Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose, / Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,"
• Encourages embracing intense emotions and finding beauty in sorrow.
• Reflects the Romantic belief in experiencing emotions deeply and fully.

Interplay of Opposing Feelings

• "Ay, in the very temple of Delight / Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,"
• Suggests that melancholy is present even in moments of joy.
• Emphasizes the coexistence of opposing emotions.

Rejection of Escapism

• "No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist / Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;"
• Advises against seeking escape from sorrow through forgetfulness or death.
• This reflects Keats' belief in facing and embracing emotions rather than avoiding them.

Similar Poems

• "Ode to a Nightingale": Shares themes of transience, beauty, and the desire to escape from reality through art and imagination.
• "Ode on a Grecian Urn": Explores themes of beauty, art, and the transient nature of human experience, similar to the contemplation of melancholy.
• "Ode to Psyche": Reflects on imagination and the creation of an ideal world, akin to the exploration of intense emotions in "Ode on Melancholy".

Line by Line Analysis

Stanza 1

No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine; Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine; Make not your rosary of yew-berries, Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl A partner in your sorrow's mysteries; For shade to shade will come too drowsily, And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

"No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist / Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;"

• Begins with a strong prohibition against seeking forgetfulness or escape through the river Lethe (from Greek mythology) or the poison of wolf's-bane.
  • Epizeuxis of "No, no, go not" reinforces the urgency and emotional plea against seeking oblivion.
• Reflects the rejection of avoidance and the embrace of emotional experiences.

"Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd / By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;"

• Advises against the use of nightshade, associated with Proserpine (Persephone), the queen of the underworld.
• Continues the theme of avoiding escapism through death or forgetfulness.

The Story of Persephone:

• In Greek mythology, Persephone, the daughter of Demeter (goddess of the harvest), is abducted by Hades, the god of the Underworld.
• While in the Underworld, Persephone eats a few seeds of a pomegranate, which binds her to Hades because consuming food in the Underworld means she must return there.
• Consequently, a compromise is reached: Persephone spends six months of the year with Hades in the Underworld and six months with her mother on Earth. This myth explains the seasonal cycle of growth and decay; her time in the Underworld corresponds to autumn and winter when the earth is barren, and her return brings spring and summer, symbolizing renewal and fertility.

"Make not your rosary of yew-berries, / Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be"

• Warns against using symbols of death (yew-berries, beetle, death-moth) as companions in sorrow.
• Suggests a rejection of death as a solution to melancholy.

"Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl / A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;"

• Advises against adopting symbols of mourning (Psyche, owl) as partners in dealing with sorrow.
• Emphasizes the need to confront emotions directly.

"For shade to shade will come too drowsily, / And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul."

• Warns that excessive darkness or sorrow will lead to a dulling of emotional pain rather than a resolution.
• Suggests that true understanding and experience of melancholy require a wakeful, conscious engagement.

Stanza 2

But when the melancholy fit shall fall Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud, That fosters the droop-headed flowers all, And hides the green hill in an April shroud; Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose, Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave, Or on the wealth of globed peonies; Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows, Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave, And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

"But when the melancholy fit shall fall / Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,"

• The poem is written in iambic pentameter, but the word "Sudden" is in trochaic/reverse iambic pentameter.
  • This change in rhythm for one word emphasises the shift in tone.
• Describes melancholy as a sudden, divine force, akin to a weeping cloud.
• Emphasizes the natural and inevitable arrival of sorrow.

"That fosters the droop-headed flowers all, / And hides the green hill in an April shroud;"

• Compares melancholy to rain that nourishes drooping flowers and shrouds the landscape.
  • Pathetic fallacy.
• Suggests that sorrow can foster growth and transformation.

"Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose, / Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,"

• Encourages embracing and indulging in sorrow, finding beauty in transient natural phenomena.
• Reflects the Romantic ideal of finding beauty in sorrow and nature.
  • Temporal beauties of the natural world.

"Or on the wealth of globed peonies; / Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,"

• Anaphora with the repetition of "Or".
  • Abundance of natural beauty, lots that you can indulge in.
• Advises finding solace in the richness of nature (peonies) or the intensity of human emotions (anger of a loved one).
• "thy mistress" is an archaic etymology, that links to mother nature and the ideas of women in power.

"Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave, / And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes."

• Suggests engaging deeply with intense emotions, even in conflict, and finding beauty in them.
• Emphasizes the importance of fully experiencing and embracing emotions.

Stanza 3

She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die; And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh, Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips: Ay, in the very temple of Delight Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine, Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine; His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might, And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

"She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die; / And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips"

• Describes melancholy as inherently connected to beauty and joy, both of which are transient.
• Capitalised abstractions reinforce external power and deify emotions.
• Reflects the Romantic theme of the impermanence of all things.

"Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh, / Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:"

• Suggests that pleasure is always close to becoming painful or poisonous.
• Emphasizes the fleeting nature of joy and the inevitability of sorrow.

"Ay, in the very temple of Delight / Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,"

• Asserts that melancholy resides even in the heart of joy and delight.
• Reflects the idea that true appreciation of beauty includes an awareness of its transience.

"Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue / Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;"

• Implies that only those who fully experience and articulate joy can truly understand and appreciate melancholy.
• Suggests that deep emotional experience and expression are necessary to grasp the complexity of melancholy.

"His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might, / And be among her cloudy trophies hung."

• Concludes that those who understand and embrace melancholy will experience its profound power.
  • Reference to Keats' theory of the "vale of soul-making".
• Describes the lasting impact of melancholy on the soul, symbolized by being hung among her "cloudy trophies".