Introduction: Imagination and Reality in The Odes
In showing imagination and reality in the odes, Keats has surpassed all romantics during the Romanticism — a period during which the focus of attention shifted to the individual as well as nature. Similarly, John Keats’ odes reflect the same focus. The main focus of his odes was to pay attention to an individual character, his/her inner qualities, and the nature around him/her. Imagination played an important role in adding creativity to his odes, in which truth is found and discovered through imagination.
Keats and Imagination and Reality in the Odes
Keats is one of the Romantic poets who belong to their second generation. He highlights the importance of individualism. His second focus is the role of imagination. Since he was a Romantic poet, he has the power of discussing and analyzing individuals through imagination, as if this were his profession. He also supported the use of an active mind, which is being creative and ready to accept new ideas revealed to him. In reality, as a Romantic poet, he has two different angles: one is imagination and the other is reality. Many odes of Keats explain these philosophical concepts plainly especially “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and “Ode to a Nightingale.” Other poems are also related to this phenomenon in on or the other. Yet most of his odes deal with imagination and how imagination works to achieve its ideals. In this imaginative process, the poet is satisfied and happy from the inside as long as he moves far away from reality which shows the interplay of imagination and reality in the odes.
“Ode to a Nightingale” and Imagination and Reality in the Odes
There is a struggle and conflict going on inside the poet between the ideal and reality in “Ode to a Nightingale.” This happens at the beginning of the poem when we see that the bird has been depicted as an ideal figure. He is so fond of the ideal bird that he wants to merge himself into the delight of the nightingale. All these actions were taking place in an imaginative world. This is being done in a “draught of vintage” (Ode to a Nightingale 11), which shows that he wants to get rid of the hard and harsh realities of the world. Thus, the bird symbolizes the escape of the poet from the bitter mundane realities. When someone finds himself a misfit in society and cannot withstand the problems, he tends to take intoxicants. The poet here takes the support of wine to fly higher along with the bird. It is because he wants to go to the ideal world of the bird, the nightingale, that “Singest of summer in full-throated ease” (10). It does not mean that the poet is not cognizant of the realities around him. Rather he has presented the interplay of imagination and reality in the odes.
World of Imagination and Reality in The Odes
It is also that Keats is aware of the fact that he has to face the realities as they are very bitter: “The weariness, the fever, and the fret /Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;” (23-24) and “Where youth grows pale, and specter-thin, and dies;” (26). The poet, hence, wants to face the reality and live his life but he keeps in mind that the nightingale lives an ideal life. From this conflict, the poet comes out with a solution and becomes envious of the nightingale. Hence, he desires to “fade away into the forest dim:” (20). This escape cannot be called a real one but imaginative “But on the viewless wings of Poesy” (34) which means he likes to go to that place. This is the thing that motivates him to crave death to get rid of this world, which is full of suffering: “Now more than ever seems it rich to die” (55). However, the poet suggests that the bird is immortal, and is not supposed to die. The reason, perhaps, is that it has given the poem an imaginative aura and converted this material world into an ideal realm. It has made this world a place where death, grief, pain, and other afflictions do not exist. He is involved in the conflict and struggles to differentiate if it is just a dream or something real. It appears that his inner struggle between imagination and reality in the odes has ended when he comes to realize the transcendence of immortality from mortality and his identification of the delicate boundary between the world of matter and the ideal world.
“Ode to Grecian Urn” and Imagination and Reality in the Odes
We can find the same feelings and ideas in the other an ode such as the “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” Keats artistically converts his ideals into an artistic shape. The urn, being a fine piece of art, represents the culture of antiquity. The art it depicts and the ancientness it refers to are complete in themselves. The beauty and its consciousness are also marvelous and the poet finds this beauty in the art. It is also eternal and everlasting beauty like an ideal thing “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard/ Are sweeter” (Ode on Grecian Urn 11-12). The poet starts the poem with the line “Thou still unravish’ed bride of quietness” (1) in sheer excitement of his discovery. Interestingly, this tone stays the same throughout the poem. “Unravished bride of quietness” (1) has so many connotative meanings and all have transcendental significance, giving eternal life to art and finding refuge in the beauty of that art. Then, in the third stanza, he mentions music, love, and nature in such a way that it looks as if he wants everyone to enter the world of imagination. He remains in this state for some time but soon he comes back and looks the reality, mentioning “burning forehead, and a parching tongue” (30). Soon in the next stanza, he goes back into the realm of idealism and merges himself into the realm of ideals and art. Then we see that his attitude toward art declines and an element of reality peeps into it. It appears that the poet might be losing some interest because of its transitory nature. The aura he has created around himself vanishes for some time, and it loses its value. This state persists till the ending stanza where the situation reaches its highest point. Here he returns to reality and says that it was the urn which has taken him away from the real world to the immortal and imaginative world. The piece of art says,” Beauty is truth, truth beauty – that is all/ Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know” (49-50). This is the culmination of imagination and reality in the odes.
Idealism and Imagination and Reality in the Odes
There is a conflict of imagination, idealism and reality in the poet’s mind. This conflict is clearly evident and predominant in the two odes. It does not mean that other odes deviate from the poet’s conflict and struggle. For instance, there is a brief poem “Fancy” which starts with “Ever let the Fancy roam /Pleasure never is at home” (Fancy 1-2) tells the similar thing that the poet takes pleasure in the romantic world and not the real world. The same tone continues in the other ode “Ode: ‘Bards of Passion and of Mirth’ “where he talks about two late poets and praises them from his romantic world: “Ye have left your souls on earth!”(2) And his praise continues till the last lines when he touches back and then we see that there is a repetition of the first four lines again at the end of the poem.
“Ode to Autumn” and Imagination and Reality in the Odes
Keats’ remarkable “Ode to Autumn” can be cited for the same purpose. Here his conflict emerges between idealism and reality. There are two aspects of autumn too. On the one hand it is largely a “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness”(1), on the other hand, it has its ripeness too. He then personifies the autumn as if it were a person walking but walking not in reality but in imagination speaking, “Thou watchest the last oozing hours by hours” (To Autumn 22). It indicates autumn has been molded into a life, like character and has been decorated with coloring of imagination. The poet also understands that this season takes away the spring season and later we remember spring and its songs. Though, we enjoy the memories of spring, but we also enjoy the beauty of autumn: “Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they? /Think not of them, thou hast thy music too, “(23-24) is the example of that. The poet in his imagination transcends the outer beauty of spring. In his imaginative eye, he starts visualizing the beauty of autumn, which may not be visible to others. He therefore, puts aside the songs and beauty of spring for some time and takes pleasure in the existing beauty of autumn by declaring “thou hast thy music too” (24).
Conclusion
In this short analysis, it becomes clear that the poet has dealt with imagination and reality in the odes differently. The poet has not confined himself either to imagination or reality but has gone beyond these in sheer his poetic capability. He knows that if he takes too much refuge in imagination, he might not be able to handle the affairs of the world. On the other hand, if he pays too much attention to reality, he will always be crying against its bitterness. Therefore, we find that he has given a different but equal angle to both these concepts. He makes to-and-fro movements. He moves to the world of imagination and then returns to face the reality and in this way, a conflict goes on in his mind regarding which way to go and which side is better. His imagination works as something, which acts to reduce the pain and suffering of this bitter world. Therefore, he takes a flight for some time to get away from the pains and pangs. The poet has been successful in taking refuge in his imagination, but he might not have been successful in his attempt to get rid of suffering while living a real life in the world. Consequently, the poet’s poetical career suggests that the poet’s world of imagination starts its development from “Ode to a Nightingale” and “Ode to a Grecian Urn,” which comes through some other poems such as the longer one, Endymion, and returns to the real world in “Ode to Autumn.” Here, the poet realizes that the autumn season also has also its beauty, music, and glamour. Thus, he thinks this beauty needs to be enjoyed. He is a poet who enjoys beauty during suffering and pain. This quality makes him different and prominent from other Romantic poets.
There is a slight difference in imagination that others think and Keats uses in his poetry. The imagination used by Keats has two major shapes. The first is that the world of poetry is very much before the poet, and it is an artificial world that is removed from reality. It is the world that he imagines instead of reflecting on after experiencing it. This is his romantic fondness for the exotic and unusual that made him bring these exotic elements in his poems and odes. The second shape is that he envisions how human life should be which is different from the stark reality in which he lives which is full of misery, suffering, and pain and these two types of imagination became the foundation of his poetry. It is also that what struck his imagination was what should be called a moment of felicity that is to enjoy the moment you exist whether it is the song of the nightingale or the beauty of the urn or the fruitfulness of the autumn. ‘You must enjoy the present moment’ was the major creed of his imagination. Otherwise, as stated earlier, he was fully aware of the stark realities staring in his face and the world of imagination which was full of luxurious pleasure.
Works Cited
- Keats, John. “Fancy.” Representative Poetry Online. The University of Toronto., 20 Dec. 2001. Web. Accessed 25 Mar. 2018.
- Keats, John. John Keats: Selected Poems. London: Penguin Books Limited, 1999.Selected Poems and Letters of Keats. Ed. Sandra Anstey Robert Gittings. Heinemann, 1995.
- Turley, Richard Marggarf. Keats’s Boyish Imagination. Routledge. 2012. Print
Relevant Questions About Imagination And Reality In The Odes Of John Keats
- How does Keats’ skillful manipulation of the intersection between imagination and reality in the odes contribute to the overarching themes and messages within his poetry, and what can we learn from this dynamic interplay of imagination and reality in the odes?
- Within the odes, how does Keats employ the contrast between his dreamlike, imaginative realms and the often harsh truth of the real world to reflect on the human experience and the fleeting nature of beauty, love, and artistic expression, emphasizing the significance of imagination and reality in the odes?
- Keats frequently uses vivid and sensory descriptions to immerse readers in the imaginative landscapes he crafts, enhancing the exploration of the interplay between the realms of fantasy and truth in his poetry. What lasting impact does this interplay of imagination and reality in the odes have on the reader’s interpretation of these themes?
