01,05,2020

Julianne Tagg

ODE ON MELANCHOLY
‘Ode on Melancholy’ written by the romantic poet
John Keats, was a poem about true grief and sadness.
Keats seemed to be a pessimistic writer judging by the
reoccurrence of the dejected and forlorn choices of
speech. Through the poem we grasp the life about which
he faces and the candor and truth of his writing. We grow
to see the veracity of Keats words, along with the despair
of losing loved ones and the ideas in which he proposes to
overcome the abundance of emotions; grief and sadness.
In this essay, I will explore the transience of beauty and
pleasure in ‘Ode on Melancholy.

Firstly, Keats explores the transience of beauty and

pleasure in the poem through the essence of nature. This
is made apparent when Keats states “ glut thy sorrow on a
morning rose”. The writer is urging us to distract
ourselves in the beauty of nature and embrace what’s
around us. We are indirectly being encouraged to let our
emotions out and not trap them in, as if you never try to
escape the situation you have put yourself in, you will
never find yourself out of it. The moment you give
yourself up you have surrendered, total abandonment.
You have given yourself up to someone or something, but
the strange reality is that in every madness there is always
a form of sanity. Letting yourself go to any form of life
whether its a person or nature you are letting yourself go,
and allowing yourself to let all that’s inside you free.
 You are abandoning your sorrow bit by bit until
there is nothing left. That’s the power of nature in which
Keats saw. He saw that there’s always a curious tie at
some point between the fall and the creation, and
sometimes one needs to fall to allow them to get back on
their feet.

Secondly, Keats portrayed the transience of sadness

and how it will hit you as hard as falling hail. This is
brought to life when he claims “But when the Melancholy
fit shall fall. Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud”.
This refers to sadness, sorrow and suffering, and can be
related to how the lightning strikes hard leaving no time
for the thunder. This could be in great relation to sadness,
and how it strikes you hard and only after time will
anyone notice, in the case of lightning, being the thunder.
You only hear the thunder after the strike, which can
hugely be in common with depression, and how you only
hear the sound or the voice after the strike or the
repercussions. I referred lightning to the cloud, as the
cloud is the beginning of it all, and if too much pressure
fulls it up, a strike shall be the aftermath.

Lastly, Keats uses imagery to further the point of

transience of beauty. This has been made clear when said
“ She dwells with Beauty – Beauty that must die.” This
ties back to the extreme fundamentals of a person and
what makes them, them. As if beauty fades, what will be
left when its gone. He shows how there is more to life than
the appearance, and how true beauty is what’s with in. As
the look of unpleasant sugar cane, but sweetening all it
touches. The power is with in, needing to be let out to see
ones true self, because with all the sorrow and
embarrassment one sees, there will always be a light and a
love. There’s always light at the end of a tunnel, but if you
don’t allow yourself to take the journey you must accept
the life of sadness, as you haven’t unlocked what’s inside,
you’ve simply decided not to take the journey.
 With every journey there is always a risk, but that’s
the condition of life. You take your step not knowing if the
floor will cave, leaving you at the bottom, or if it will lead
you to where your life can be fulfilled. You have to live in
faith, freedom and fearlessness to allow you to live, not
just to be alive.

In conclusion, the poem ‘Ode on melancholy,

describes the transience of beauty and pleasure and how
to truly unlock it. How to over come sadness, sorrow and
suffering and how to live your life to the fullest. He
explains how to let go of sadness, you have to let yourself
go first; you must open up to continue moving forward.