Aman Nawaz 162

John Keats as sensuous poet

John Keats(31 October 1795-23 February 1821) was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main
figures of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley,
despite his works having been in publication for only four years before his death at 25 in the year 1821.

Although his poem were not generally well received by critics during his lifetime, his reputation grew
after his death, and by the end of the 19th century, he had become one of the most beloved of all English
poets.

The poetry of Keats is characterized by ‘sensuous’ uses of language. The sensuousness of Keats is a
striking characteristic of his entire poetry. All his poems including his great odes contain rich sensuous
appeal. The odes, which represent the highest poetic achievement of Keats, are replete with sensuous
pictures. His famous odes are Ode to nightingale, Ode to Autumn, Ode to an Grecian Urn , Ode to
Melancholy

Elements of Sensuousness in Ode to a Nightingale : John Keats(31 October 1795-23 February 1821) was
an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets,
along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, despite his works having been in publication for only
four years before his death at 25 in the year 1821. Although his poem were not generally well received
by critics during his lifetime, his reputation grew after his death, and by the end of the 19 th century, he
had become one of the most beloved of all English poets.

The poetry of Keats is characterized by ‘sensuous’ uses of language. The sensuousness of Keats is a
striking characteristic of his entire poetry. All his poems including his great odes contain rich sensuous
appeal. The odes, which represent the highest poetic achievement of Keats, are replete with sensuous
pictures. Now, we will discuss his sensuousness with examples of his various Odes and poems in detail.

“Ode to Nightingale” is one of the most remarkable poems of sensuousness. In the second stanza of this
ode, there is a description of the gustatory sensation of drinking wine. There are references to the visual
and auditory senses too. The poet also paints the picture of a drunken whose mouth is purple stained
because of the red wine he has drunk :

“ With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,

And purple-stained mouth,”

The descriptions of the wine are so sensuous that we see the bubbling wine, we also hear the dance and
sun-burnt mirth; we also get an inkling of the taste of the long cooled wine. In the 5 th stanza the poet
gives a highly sensuous description of the Nightingale world.

“ I cannot see what flowers are at my feet;

Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs
The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,
The murmurous haunt of flies onsummereve “

The description of the nature alludes to the sense of sight or its absence(one cannot see); the sense of
touch and of smell(soft incense) and by the end of the verse, with the evocation of “the coming musk-
rose, full of dew wine”, the sense of taste and hearing have also been incorporated.

In the beautiful sonnet, ‘On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer’, Keats expresses the intellectual and
literary pleasures that he derived from reading of ballads and romances of the olden times.

Looking into’ gives us a feel for Keats’s sensuous interest in what he reads, hearing, (Till I heard “),
feeling (Then felt I…”), and even perhaps smell (breathe its pure serene’) all shows us the sensuous
feelings of the poet .

The Ode Is not only intensely sensuous but deeply reflective. It turns on the thought of the conflict
between the ideal and the real-between the joy beauty and apparent permanence of the nightingale’s
song, and the sorrow and transience of joy and beauty in human life, which lends a deep philosophic
interest to it.

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!

No hungry generations tread thee down;

Here, Keats suggests that through art and poetry, one can achieve a form of immortality. The
nightingale’s song has been heard by people throughout history, emphasizing the timelessness of artistic
expression.

Forlorn! The very word is like a bell

To toll me back from thee to my sole self!

Here Keats admits his failure to enjoy for long the beauty of the nightingale’s song, that has kept him
long spell-bound.

To Keats, a thing of beauty is a joy forever. The song of the nightingale, in his concept, has an immortal
beauty and so the joy given by it never ends. Nevertheless, the poet sadly perceives that this beauty
cannot be enjoyed for long by him. The spell is soon broken. The poet is brought back from his romantic
imagination to the sordid reality of his gloomy, real life.

In summary, “Ode to a Nightingale” combines sensuous descriptions of nature and the nightingale’s song
with deep philosophical and reflective elements. It invites readers to experience the beauty of the
natural world while contemplating the complex and sometimes painful aspects of human existence. This
interplay between sensory pleasure and profound reflection makes the poem a masterful exploration of
the human condition.