Ode on Melancholy - 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 kissed
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
Veiled 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 shall taste the sadness of her might,
And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

Meaning of the poem?
Themes which keats is trying to convey?
Poetic techniques which have been used?

Keats is saying 'don't kill yourself when you're depressed, but instead look on either the beauty of nature, or the beauty of the woman you love (even if she's being a bitch). That's the first two stanzas. In the third, he points out how unhappiness makes beauty and joy more worthwhile.

Poetic techniques-- look how he's using nature- flowers, berries, etc.

pam

hi.
i'm doing an analysis of this poem too. it's my anthology.pam, could you elaborate more please?
thanks loads.
qy.

Hey, the dude thinks Proserpine rhymes with wine, how much analysis need we give? And don't even get me started on rhyming yew-berries/mysteries and owl/soul. Tsk. He even forgot his own rhyme scheme in the third stanza, and misspelled sovereign. 'She dwells with Beauty' clearly was stolen from his buddy, George Gordon (she walks in beauty), how gauche.

And, the poem is filled with sexual innuendo:

ruby grape
yew berries
tight root
downy
droop headed flower
morning rose
globed peonies
(imprison) her soft hand
feed deep
aching pleasure
bee mouth sips
temple of delight
(sovereign) shrine
strenuous tongue
burst joy's grape

Plus, of course, the hung trophy at the finish.

The message is to get laid whenever you are feeling bad, nothing more. Good advice, I hafta confess though.

Hugh,

You forgot the 'aching pleasure.'

pam

qy,

Never having formally analyzed the poem, the above's pretty much what you get. Certainly you could look at rhyme scheme, choice of words- try to picture all those death scenes in stanza one, etc.

Also, in stanza 3, he's saying 'She's going to die too!'- Revenge?

pam

hey.thanks loads.because i'm only fourteen and i feel it kind of difficult.but the rhyme scheme.ya.of course i can identify a bit.but is John Keats using iambic pentameter for the second stanza?i'm not sure if pentameters need to be used throughout the poem or what.um pam, what do you mean by all those death scenes in stanza one?

qy.

If you're only fourteen you probably don't have the backgroud knowledge to spot all the death scenes in stanza one.

Lethe = River of Forgetfulness (Greek mythology)
Wolf's bane = a poisonous plant (Aconitum lycoctonum)
Nightshade = another poisonous plant (Belladonna atropina)
Proserpine = Queen of the Underworld
Yew berries = another poison.

See you need to pay attention in botany lessons to understand poetry.

hey linda,
i checked about these on wikipedia. thanks loads.:)but even though Proserpine is the Queen of the Underworld, she still goes back to heaven in Spring right?then how can treat it as a death scene?

qy.

Proserpine is the Queen of the Underworld, she still goes back to heaven in Spring

But it's only a temporary return. Plants sprout in spring and evryone things good times are here again, but it doesn't last long and she's gone again. Think of your own summer break from school. The last week of term and you're making plans for all the great things you and your friends will do and you have all summer to do them. How soon are you being dragged off to the shops to get your new kit? You feel the summer is never long enough, that's how the return of Proserpine was seen. It won't be long before the plants die and the weather turns miserable.

hmmm. oh ok. now i've thoroughly understood. thanks alot.:)

qy.