"Ode on Melancholy" (1821) 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.
 

Student Essay Sample

Timothy Villa
          In the Romantic ode, “Ode on Melancholy,” John Keats employs literary devices such as metaphor, simile, personification and paradox to emphasize his message: that joy and melancholy are paradoxically intertwined; therefore, Keats urges his audience to personally recognize and seize every fleeting moment of one’s own life.

          In order to structure his argument, Keats alludes to Greek mythology, thus exalting his melancholic paradox. Keats uses a catalog of poisonous plants such as “wolfs-bane,” “nightshade,” and “ruby grape of Proserpine” to elucidate the fact that melancholy is as intoxicating as “tight-rooted poisonous wine.” By using metaphors and allusions, Keats structures his first main argument: to not get drunk on intoxicating melancholic ideas of depression and suicide for “shade to shade will come too drowsily.” Moreover, Keats alludes to Lethe, one of the five rivers of Hades, and Proserpine (Persephone) to relate his poem to death. The metaphors make his ode very noble as Keats’s own life nears its end.

          In his second stanza, Keats employs personification and simile to structure his argument: to dwell on objects of transient beauty and joy, which will medicate melancholy. Furthermore, the “weeping cloud,” “droop-headed flowers,” “April shroud,” “rainbow of the salt sand-wave,” and “wreath of globed peonies” are all used to illuminate the stanza’s argument. While Keats advises to not get drunk with the idea of suicide and dwell on the things of beauty, the remaining half of this stanza is very paradoxical because every object Keats uses to “glut” upon on is an object that provides temporary joy. As to say that joy temporal joy brings melancholy and melancholy enhances the senses of joy, Keats advises to embrace the moment to obtain the kernel of life. Moreover, this is illuminated in the last line of the second stanza, where Keats writes, “And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.” This final line elongates vowels as Keats advises to ideas of life’s carpe diem. While death (Melancholy) is woven all throughout the poem, it is contrasted with fleeting joy. In glutting his sorrow as objects of “ephemeral beauty,” Keats sets up his final stanza.

          Keats’s final stanza finally reveals the truth of the ode and his own life. In using these concepts, Keats resonates his message: personal reconciling of joy and melancholy are paradoxically intertwined. In “Melancholy’s sovereign shrine”,” [Keats’s] soul shalt taste the sadness of [Melancholy’s] might.” Bidding adieu to Melancholy will bring temporal joy (which will then fade away, thus bringing melancholy one more), which highlights the cycle of life. As Keats bursts joy’s grape, he will obtain the kernel of his own life. This ode employs sensual pain to provide clarity to Keats’s ode – to “seize the moment” of both melancholy and joy in order to truly understand one’s own life.