ODES OF JOHN KEATS

ABSTRACT

The major six odes upon which Keats’s fame as an ode-writer rests were composed in 1810 and may be treated as almost forming a group. One meets images, emotions and ideas which occur and recur in them, echoing and enforcing one another. The three earlier odes stand separated from the 189 group of odes in time period and represent the phase of Keats’s experimentation which the odes form and style. The ’Ode to Apollo’, composed in February 1815, belongs to the pre-Endymion Phase of Keats’s career and has an ostensible immaturity of style. Homer, Virgil, Milton, Shakespeare, Spenser and Tasso are introduced one by one in succession, each singing in his characteristic vein. Homer’s song is remarkable for vigour. Virgil’s for sweetness of melody, Milton’s for Grandeur, Shakespeare’s for passion, Spenser’s for its celebration of "Spotless Chastity", i.e. ideal beauty and Tasso’s for ardour.

FULL TEXT