Ode On Indolence
baap | 28 January 2005, 11:38pmOne morn before me were three figures seen,< ?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" />
With bowed necks, and joined hands, side-faced;
And one behind the other stepp'd serene,
In placid sandals, and in white robes graced;
They pass'd, like figures on a marble urn,
When shifted round to see the other side;
They came again; as when the urn once more
Is shifted round, the first seen shades return;
And they were strange to me, as may betide
With vases, to one deep in Phidian lore.
How is it, Shadows! that I knew ye not?
How came ye muffled in so hush a mask?
Was it a silent deep-disguised plot
To steal away, and leave without a task
My idle days? Ripe was the drowsy hour;
The blissful cloud of summer-indolence
Benumb'd my eyes; my pulse grew less and less;
Pain had no sting, and pleasure's wreath no flower:
O, why did ye not melt, and leave my sense
Unhaunted quite of all but - nothingness?
A third time pass'd they by, and passing, turn'd
Each one the face a moment whiles to me;
Then faded, and to follow them I burn'd
And ach'd for wings because I knew the three;
The first was a fair Maid, and Love her name;
The second was Ambition, pale of Cheek,
And ever watchful with fatigued eye;
The last, whom I love more, the more of blame
Is heap'd upon her, maiden most unmeek, -
I knew to be my demon Poesy.
They faded, and, forsooth! I wanted wings:
O folly! What is love! and where is it?
And for that poor Ambition! it springs
From a man's little heart's short fever-fit;
For Poesy! - no, - she has not a joy, -
At least for me, - so sweet as drowsy noons,
And evenings steep'd in honied indolence;
O, for an age so shelter'd from annoy,
That I may never know how change the moons,
Or hear the voice of busy common-sense!
And once more came they by; - alas! wherefore?
My sleep had been embroider'd with dim dreams;
My soul had been a lawn besprinkled o'er
With flowers, and stirring shades, and baffled beams:
The morn was clouded, but no shower fell,
Tho' in her lids hung the sweet tears of May;
The open casement press'd a new-leav'd vine,
Let in the budding warmth and throstle's lay;
O Shadows! 'twas a time to bid farewell!
Upon your skirts had fallen no tears of mine.
So, ye three Ghosts, adieu! Ye cannot raise
My head cool-bedded in the flowery grass;
For I would not be dieted with praise,
A pet-lamb in a sentimental farce!
Fade softly from my eyes, and be once more
In masque-like figures on the dreamy urn;
Farewell! I yet have visions for the night,
And for the day faint visions there is store;
Vanish, ye Phantoms! from my idle spright,
Into the clouds, and never more return!
This was the poem "An Ode on Indolence" by John Keats. Amazing poem to begin with. I studied a couple of Keats' poems in School, and although when they were "taught" to me, they seemed boring, but surprisingly when i studied it for my exam they became extremely interesting to the point that it used to take me a complete day to fully
grasp what was being said.
Recently though, on a more deliberate quest to learn, I chose Keats because i had discovered that he died of Manic Depression due to lack of appreciation, failed love and a host of other factors apart from the fact that the guy was also a pretty whiney character. Anyways Ode on Indolence deals with how Keats sees an apparition of 3 maidens
while he is being...well..."indolent".
Why poetry baap of all things...bolkey someone asked (actually noone did, i just did)...The answer lies in the fact that one of my earlier poems has touched a certain "darker" friend of mine..that he wants to make it a sequel to "the one" by metallica...:p . Seriously though, i always have been unusually interested in Poetry...unusual
because...sometimes i think its a bunch of crap...sometimes i think it is "Poetic Genius is....all that is needed to triumph over the destructive, impersonal forces of the modern world" (Courtesy- A commentary on "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" by T.S. Elliot). I am not doing it in the name of academic flamboyancy also, which is again
unusual because generally all of this kinda stuff was read with that motive.
This was the first poem i actually, voluntarily chose to read...and I loved it! The language is kinda Archaic, people dont speak like this anymore..but it lends to it a very antique charm (:p). I first read the poem as it was written, decipher the basic jist of it..read it again to decipher it line by line..because Keats Poetry is like that..every line
is like a whole new poem! (Reference to "Ode to a Grecian Urn..wherein last line maroes "Beauty is Truth, and Truth Beauty..." which was apparently the most debatable line in Keats poems amongst those who studied his poesy"). Anyway, after reading it again and becoming more clearer about the images, sounds, tastes, textures basically the whole media content the poem has to offer. This is very important (for me) while reading a poem, otherwise i get nowhere with it (Reference to Tintern Abbey, where W W asks his sister to come with him and experience nature....possibly the most intense force of imagination involving real senses over there!)
I move on to read a formal commentary on the poem, to fine tune my analysis of it...because some of the language used gets by you.
The poem then....
The first verse describes how Keats, on one morning (i avoid describing the morning....that shall come later)....is disturbed to see three apparitions in front of him. The visions are of three people walking, as if on an "urn"...he can see only a profile of all three figures..and describes how they come recursively, one-by-one, as if he were seeing them while rotating an urn. He also describes the figures to be complaisant. This verse apparently takes reference from the other "Great Odes"....especially "Ode to a Grecian Urn" and also Greek Mythology wherein Phidias is responsible for making the Elgin Marbles....still have to find out about that.
The second verse shows, how Keats was disturbed by the fact that these shadows "creeped upon him" unawares. He asks the visions directly..why they have disturbed him from the ripeness of that lazy summer day...and accuses them of plotting silently to commit a silent task of "nothingness".....The verse also deals with his poetic description of his Indolence...and how his pulse is weakened by a mood of sobriety..etc etc. These are all superficial aspects of the poem, which are pretty good..but if the reader realises the underlying essence...its then u get a feeling of satisfaction...thats atleast what i felt...
The thrid verse is the beginning to the interesting part....Keats sees the apparitions for the third time now...and he takes serious notice of them...he describes them as a sort of evanescence...and his desire to get up from his current state of satisfying indolence to chase these visions. He then starts describing the 3 figures..for he knows them!!!!!
(Silent squeal of curiosity from the reader........)
The First is Love...The second Ambition..with a pale cheek.. The third, the one he loves the most, rather he feels extreme ambivalence toward is Poetry itself..."maiden most unmeek"...i like to think of her...as one who strides with her chin held high...
The fourth stanza is about his ultimate rejection of these three figures, to an acceptance of this indolence...he gives his justification:
"O folly! What is love! and where is it?" - He either is not in love...or is..but it is uni-directional
"And for that poor Ambition! it springs
From a man's little heart's short fever-fit;" - Ambition is mortal, it is temporary..and is more of an adrenalin rush than anything else.
"For Poesy! - no, - she has not a joy, -
At least for me, - so sweet as drowsy noons,
And evenings steep'd in honied indolence; - Poetry...he dismisses as being not as important as his "drowsy noons"..and 'evenings"
"O, for an age so shelter'd from annoy,
That I may never know how change the moons,
Or hear the voice of busy common-sense!" - " Keats was a sorta recluse
At this point i realised the essence, with a little help from the commentary...especially for Keat's rejection of the constant persistence shown byt the personifications of Love,
Ambition and Poetry. Especially in Love, I kinda figured..that Keats wants to stay away from Love....because he doesnt want to be involved in its "excitements"..because this excitement is characterized by indulging in yourself, your life intensely....I was awe-struck by that thought process...because I knew exactly what it felt like...to be
uncomforatable in getting to know yourself or psycho-analyze yourself too much while in the process of Love. A process which I myself was in , and am in right now! Love makes a person do things, he/she cant fully comprehend....and this can be either constructive..or destructive....constructive it will be...when the love is accepted
and....."they live happily ever after"...destructive it is...when this sorta shit happens...psycho-analysis of everything u did or didnt do in trying to acheive that love. Although this concept was kind of obvious to Keats, it was a revelation for me....He quickly dismisses Love, as he knows what it is capable of doing...
Keats according to the Commentary concentrates most of his "Great Odes" over "anguish of mortality"....he is obsessed by the concept of death and hence employs a theme of permanence to good things and an abrupt vanishing (in this case rejection of the three figures)...of bad ones, only to prefer better alternatives (in this
case indolence)...Its almost like an extremely depressed person deliberately looking for happiness and clinging on to it by making everything around him a source of joy, which is stuck in that joyful aura (this is seen very prominently in "Ode to a Grecian Urn").
The 5th and 6th verses describe mainly how the three visions have had only a trivial impact on him...for his indolence is far more satisfying and moist importantly more "long lasting"..than those less "time consuming" yet more exciting aspects of life. But Keats does say, that there will be a time when he will have to face these emotions, these
"voices of Busy Common Sense"....eventually, but not NOW..as " Ye cannot raise My head cool-bedded in the flowery grass;".!!! He then asks these visions to leave and assures them that he will not be bereft of mental imagery, as he has "I yet have visions for the night, And for the day faint visions there is store;"
"Vanish, ye Phantoms! from my idle spright,
Into the clouds, and never more return! " -
This command by him to those visions to vanish...was also very hard-hitting...he actually is commanding his mind to stop catching him unawares by these phantoms...a command i myself have given...for sometime...(SLEEP DISORDER...INSOMNIA..NARCOLEPTIC)
The only difference is, I cant get myself to accept something such as indolence in order to reject Love or Ambition...rather a consummation of those very Phantoms..or a distraction by other equally provocative Apparitions.
//\\ \\//
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Posted in General | Next | Previous | Comments (7) | Trackbacks (0)
1. By chotacyrus | 29 Jan 2005, 12:38am
I wish I had the time to read the whole thing!
2. By Jaszalcatraz | 29 Jan 2005, 4:19pm
**I'm Not Worthy!!! I'm Not Worthy!!!**
3. By Richa | 29 Jan 2005, 7:26pm
i wrote a poem too :p
btw, thanks for the lesson
4. By itsme | 29 Jan 2005, 11:58pm
it was a nice read! ya...the length did scare me at first but i decided to read it fully n was happy with my decision....btw at times indolence feels nice too :P n hey ur previous signature was nicer...!
5. By Itsyouknowho:roll: | 30 Jan 2005, 6:17pm
*twweeeeeeet*
6. By Itsyouknowwhobutnotitsme | 30 Jan 2005, 6:18pm
*tweet* again.
7. By baap | 31 Jan 2005, 12:21am
i shall say this, being as "poetic" as possible...here goes:
"WHAT THE FUCK"...
*takes a bow, and leaves the proscenium only to enter another one...the OUTSIDE WORLD!
**takes another bow :p