Discuss Keats as a writer of Odes.

Ans.

Keats, the Writer of Odes

Keats attempted various forms of poetical compositions as sonnets and lyrics, and wrote some longer poems also but he found his true genius in odes. He put the best of his poetic talents, his thoughts and feelings in one ode after the other. His odes are replete with wisdom and feeling. It would be true to say that the odes of Keats are the product of certain inner struggles or conflicts. The principal stress in the most important of these odes is a struggle between ideal and actual.

The Structure of Keats’ Odes

Keats did not follow any particular modal, so his odes may be properly called as irregular odes or English Odes. He deviated from the classical tradition and followed his own stanza structures. He did not feel happy with the classical model or with the odes of Wordsworth and Collins or Gray. He developed his own structure. He developed a new and longer form of lyric which afforded him a larger scope. He varied the rhyme scheme as well as the stanza structure according to his requirements. Ode To A Nightingale, Ode On a Grecian Urn and Ode On Melancholy are written in ten-line stanzas and To Autumn is written in eleven-line stanzas.

The Subject Matter of Keats’ Odes

His odes deal with the themes of the sculptural beauty and grace of a Greek urn, the charming myths of Hellas, the changing seasons and joys of the earth, the painful craving of the soul to find a beauty which endures, the fascination of death, and the bitter-sweet voluptuousness with which the poet meditates upon it. His odes are universal in their appeal. In the Ode To A Nightingale, the world is analyzed as a miserable place where people sit and hear each others’ groan. Ode On a Grecian Urn presents the permanence of beauty through art. Ode On Melancholy presents the identity of beauty and melancholy, joy and sorrow.

His Intense Love for Nature and Simple Life

In Ode To Autumn, he presents a beautiful description of the blessings of this season. He takes interest in simple life of poor farmers. He describes the farmer who sits carelessly on a granary floor, his hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind. In Ode To A Nightingale, he stresses the idea that Nature is perfect. It is ultimate source of joy for all since the ancient times. In the same poem he paints the miseries of a common man in this world.

His Love for the Middle Ages

In Ode To A Nightingale, he refers to the emperor and his countrymen, Ruth and princes imprisoned in a magic castle. In Ode To Autumn, he describes the rural life of the Middle Ages.

“Thy hair soft lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half reaped furrow sound asleep.

Drowsed with the fume of poppies while thy hook

Spares the next awath and all its twined flowers.”

Rich in Philosophic Content

It cannot be said that Keats writes just for the sake of writing. He writes because there is an urge in his soul. He writes because he has felt and thought and his feelings and thoughts must come out. ‘Sweet-lipped ladies’ and ‘purple stained mouth’ have their own beauty and significance but there is something deeper. In his Ode on a Grecian Urn, he equated Beauty with Truth:

“Beauty is truth, truth beauty-that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”

In his Ode to a Nightingale, Keats analyses the miserable world with all its fever and fret, disease and death, attempt at escape and the final gloom through forlorn effects.

Poetic Qualities

Keats’ odes are rich in sensuous perception, pictorial quality, medievalism, Hellenism, lyrical splendour and romantic touch. In Ode to a Nightingale, the light winged drayed of the trees singing at full throated ease can be seen. The blushful Hippocrene, the Queen-Moon and her starry Fays, Bacchus and his pards all remind us of the Greek touch in the poem. In Ode on a Grecian Urn, Keats’ Hellenism is found everywhere. In the Ode to Psyche, Keats creates a myth of his own where he must have a temple for psyche.

The Use of Words and Phrases

Keats is an artist in words, a painter in phrases and a designer in syntax. A lyrical power, lucidity of expression, felicity of phrasing and an apt use of language and imagery can be found. Keats is fond of fine phrases and coins new combinations to add rich luxuriousness to the beauty of his odes. At times, there is an abundance of ornamentation. There are some compound adjectives which convey more than the appearance of words.