Ode on Melancholy

BY JOHN KEATS

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.
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.
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.

Stanza one

Both pictures are rather dark, the first impression of the poem is melancholy,  and to show this feeling I choose obscure pictures.

 No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist.

•    River of unmindfulness.
•  Where all those who drank from it experienced complete forgetfulness.

Your  mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl

•    Mourn
•    Wanted to express the pain with this picture.

Stanza two

 Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,

And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

Hypnotic, you feed on her eyes.

Stanza three

 And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips

Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips

Task 1

My “critical” friend states that our urn is very complete. Yhaaaay ! ! !

Never the less, some elements are missing, some of those include:

• The river: and the corresponding town, in the poem Mr. Keats wrote "What little town by river or sea shore", my partner pointed out this was missing.
•  Mountains and little town: this peaceful images are missing too, our urn is limited to other appearances and there is less nature, this means that we added less of the elements of nature present in the poem.
• Flowers: we only had leafs, that was basically the only signs of nature we had, the flowers are missing too.

a)  I believe the element that was easier for me to understood, and therefor y understand the most were all the images, poetry is hard for me to understand, and when images are given, such as in this case, visual and auditory.

For example the sweet melodies that the pipes produce.

The metaphors as well, metaphors are great resources, for example the two lovers that can never be together, is a metaphor of Mr. Keats an Fanny relationship.

b)  

STANZA ONE
(We will look at this one together before I leave you to work unaided)

Why is the urn compared to a " still unravish'd bride"?

• "still" has two meanings - "motionless" or "remaining in time". Time and motion are two concepts that the poem explores throughout.

• "unravish'd" means unspoiled - a bride yet to lose her virginity; similarly, the urn and the scenes it represents are "unspoiled" by the passage of time.

Explain the term "sylvan historian"(l.3)

• The urn is a "Sylvan historian" because it records scenes from a culture lived long ago (ancient greeks); and because it is bordered with leaves, as well as having scenes of the countryside within.

• Is it paradoxical that the urn, a "bride of quietness", can tell its stories "more sweetly than our rhyme" (meaning the poem itself)?

• The gentleness of the term "sylvan historian" and his "flowery tale" told "sweetly" do not prepare us for the wild sexuality of lines 8-10. (Another contrast!)

What change in viewpoint occurs in lines 8-10?

• The short questions and frequent repetitions inject pace into the poem. Notice how the speaker moves from contemplative observer to emotionally-involved participant with these breathless questions. (We have another contrast - that of the participant vs the observer). You may want to think about how I develop this idea throughout, and what it might suggest about the audience's relationship with "Art" in general...

Stanza Two   ====>   ON MELANCHOLY

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;

Not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared,

Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:

Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave

Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;

Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,

Though winning near the goal — yet, do not grieve;

She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,

Forever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

- MORE CALM ATMOSPHERE.

-REALITY IS SUPERFICIAL, HE LIKES HOWEVER THE FELINGS HE GETS FROM THAT URN

-Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter  -- PARADOX

-HE HAS PREFERENTIAL FELINGS TOWARDS A FANTASY WORLD

A Naiad by John William Waterhouse, 1893

Something particular of this painting: the artist is the same one as the other painting, both were painted by John William Waterhouse, although they came from the same brush if we contrast both we can find various differences, the most visible one is the lighting on the painting, the colors on this one are brighter than in the "belle same sans merci" the setting is the  same, we can even see the river  in the background.

Another interesting fact about this painting is the attitude of each character represented in the painting, while in the first one the woman is attracting the knight and he is unconsciously, hypnotized by her beauty, in this one the man, who doesn't seem to be a knight is unconscious, sleeping under a tree, while the fem-fatal is approaching him,never the less she still seems to be merging with the nature and surroundings.

The Painting

  This painting shows a mighty knight in the middle of the forest,with a lake in the background. This knight is being seduced by a woman who seems to be forming part of the nature and the environment that surrounds her.

"I saw palekingsandprincestoo

Palewarrior,death-paleweretheyall;

They cried-"LaBelleDame Sans Merci" "

The scent of death, related to this beautiful woman is present in this ballad, what this painting shows is the beautiful lady the "belle dame sans merci", and she is about to take him.

The painting does play with the setting and the mood, although the setting is a forest, with trees, flowers and lots of vegetation, the mood does represent some darkness, this could be because the setting is rather dark, this is related to the melancholic mood the ballad had at some points.

"La Belle Dame Sans Merci"
 Painting by John William Waterhouse, 1893

La Belle Dame Sans Merci

    J.W. Waterhouse was an English painter, born in Italy.

   He was mostly known for his participation in the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood, a group of poets, painters and critics, who wanted to reform art, by rejecting what they considered mechanistic approach.

Waterpainting of Fanny Brawne

Fanny was Mr. Keats one true love until the day he died, she went with him to Rome, the place where Mr. Keats died.

Mr. Keats himself wrote in one of his love letters to Fanny Brawne:

"My love has made me selfish. I cannot exist without you – I am forgetful of every thing but seeing you again – my Life seems to stop there – I see no further. You have absorb'd me. I have a sensation at the present moment as though I was dissolving – I should be exquisitely miserable without the hope of soon seeing you ... I have been astonished that Men could die Martyrs for religion – I have shudder'd at it – I shudder no more – I could be martyr'd for my Religion – Love is my religion – I could die for that – I could die for you."

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