Romanticism is generally identified as a movement in 19th century by a group of poets who brought about a significant change in attitude, in art and literature. Though a precise definition of 'Romanticism’ is heard to come by, it is generally identified by a few characteristics. Surprisingly, the Romantic poets, of which prominent are Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, Byron and Keats, have few characteristics common in their poems. They vitally differ from his new another in their attitude to life, art and nature, yet they are lebelled so as their attitude showed a significant devotion from their predecessors. John Keats, one of the pioneers of romantic movement, is regarded by many as the most romantic of all romantic poets.
Dissatisfaction with life and the real world and a continuous search for an ideal are at the core of Romanticism. Hence, the tendency to seek an escape from the grim reality of life is common with all romantic poets. With a view to finding relief from 'the weariness, the fever, and the fret’ of the real world, the romantic poets have created a world of dreams and imagination in their poetry. Keats is most romantic in this regard. In his odes, Keats has created a world of imagination beyond the world of harsh realities of life the inhabitants of which are not subject to pains and sufferings, pangs and sorrows, decay and death. In “Ode to a Nightingale”, Keats keenly desires to fade far away, dissolve and quite forget what the Nightingale living among the leaves has never known. In “Ode on Grecian Urn” , the poet cretes an ideal world in which it is eternal spring and creatures here are immune from the negative aspects and of time. They are ever happy and warm as they do not undergo changes of time.
Romantics are famous for their pressimistic vision of life. They were fond of art and had establish the pre-eminence of art in their poems. The tansience of life is contrasted with the permanence of art. The real life that is presented in the odes is full of negative elements. In the real world, 'beauty must die’ and ‘Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes’, ‘new love pine at them beyond tomorrow’ and love ‘leaves a high sorrowful and cloyed,/ A burning forehead, and a parching tongue”. Life, characterised by it's 'weariness, the fever and the fret’, is short lived. In contrast, art represented by the Nightingale it the Grecian Urn is permanent. The bird is 'Immortal’ and the urn is 'unravished bride of quietness’ and 'foster child of silent and slow time’. In stark contrast to the human beings who have 'leaden eyed despairs’, the Nightingale is a happy bird and the figures on the urn are always happy and warm.
Nature is a dominant theme in romantic poetry. Keats is no exception. His poetry is replete with sensuous description of nature. In “To Autumn”, Keats enters fully into the life of nature and gives a graphically sensuous description of the season with all it's tastes, sounds and sights. “Ode to Nightingale” , “Ode on Grecian Urn” and “Ode on Melancholy” are also full of natural images which appeal to our senses.
Other characteristics of Romanticism that Keats incorporate in his poetry are his love for the past and fascination for the Classical elements, worship for beauty and subjective as well as emotional response to worldly affairs. He is a great romantic poet. His poetry bears the high stamp of Romanticism.
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