ID 10935

AIMAN

IMAGERY OF NATURE AND ECO-CRITICISM IN KEATS’S POETRY

Abstract
This study explores the depiction of “imagery of nature in the selected odes of John Keats”
Furthermore it presents an Eco-critical analysis of Keats’s poetry as strong mutual relationship
between imagery and love of nature in poetic expression.

Eco-criticism is a relatively new genre in criticism so an attempt has been made to assess the
poetic expression of his love of nature on the parameters of eco-criticism. Though ecological
problems are the product of 20th century onwards but romantic poetry due to its love of nature,
as its inherent characteristic, is fit subject for an evaluation on the basis of eco-criticism. The
study is carried out on the basis of available material presented by many critics as well as on the
personal subjective assessment of the topic in hand. So as per need of the thesis the main focus
will be the sensory imagery as well as the relationship of Keats love of nature keeping in
considerations the assessment criteria of eco-criticism.

Contents

S. No Title Page No.

1 Chapter One 8
1.1 Romantic era and John Keats 8
1.2 Biography of John Keats 8
1.3 John Keats Perception of Nature 10
1.4 Imagery in writing: 11
1.5 John Keats’s Eco-consciousness: 12
1.6 Research questions 13
1.7 Research objectives: 14
1.8 Significance of the study 14
14
1.1 Organization of the thesis 14
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2 Chapter Two 15
2.1 Literature Review 15
3 Chapter Three 23
3.1 Research Methodology 23
3.2 Approach to the research study: 23
3.3 Theoretical frame work 24
3.4 Comparative Analysis: 25

S. No Title Page No.

4 Chapter Four 26
4 Data, Results and discussion 26
4.1 Keats as a true representative of Romantic Period: 26
4.2 Imagery is an integral part of poetic expression: 28
4.3 Use of figurative language to amplify imagery. 29
4.4 Multidimensional Imagery in Keats Poetry. 30
4.5 Visual Images. 32
4.6 Auditory Images. 35
4.7 Olfactory imagery (odors, scents, smell) 36
5 Chapter Five 38
5.1 Eco-criticism: 38
5.2 Eco-critical analysis of Keats’s poetry: 40
6 Chapter Six 48

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Conclusion and Recommendations: 48
References: 50

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Romantic era and John Keats

John Keats is the most well-known and perhaps the 2nd or 3rd most quoted poet of romantic era.
If we look at the biography of Keats we would know that the developmental stages of his talent
are a good example of the proper combination of nature and nurture. The fusion of three
elements, his social predicament, his health problems and his brooding nature and love for nature
and related literature all contributed to the perfection of the deep melancholic nature of his
poetry. Though in majority of cases we cannot separate the writer from the social forces which
varyingly have direct or indirect impact on the art of a writer but in case of Keats we can
confidently say that his talent is the product of the ideological and social circumstances of his
age that is why he is a true representative of the romantic era (Ali, 2015)

This thesis attempts to study the use of natural imagery by Keats in selected poems and the
analysis of Keats’s poetry on the parameters of eco-criticism. So it is important to present a brief
biography of John along with his perception of nature and his philosophy of life.

Brief biography of John Keats

The great romantic poet, John Keats came to the world in Moorgate London on October 31st
1795. London at that time was a seat of thriving culture. Keats was the eldest son of the four
children of Thomas and Frances Jennings. Neither Keats himself or any of his friends or family
member has given any details of his early life but it appear to be modestly happy till the death of
his father. The fortunate meeting of him at school with two mentors carved his path to become a
poetic genius at an uncanny age. Keats, though apparently an ordinary student, was soon
discovered to be a man of exceptional talents by his headmaster, John Clarke and hence during
his school life he drew closer to the headmaster, and his son, Cowden. He soon became one of
Clarke's favorite pupils. This relationship gave impetus to Keats's love of poetry because of his
brooding nature which was in alignment with the men of literature of his time (Bridges, 2012).

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 Clarke encouraged Keats to use their library because Clark observed Keats’s passion for
books. This molded the intellectual talent of the budding poet. Sometime in 1814 Keats wrote
his first poem, "In Imitation of Spenser." It is a youthful piece but a good observer cannot miss
the originality and vigor of the up-and-coming poet in that piece of literature. It seems to follow
Spenserian rhyme scheme but the content is loaded with the privileged imaginative power of
Keats (Zigerell, 1987).

In Keats poetry we find that his emotions of pain and pleasure emerge from his perception of the
fleeting nature of every physical phenomenon and at the same time his instinctive awareness of
the permanence of everything on a spiritual scale. That is why we see him probing for something
eternal in the short-lived phenomenon of nature. It seems that perhaps all his life he was aware of
his brief stay at planet earth at some unconscious level so he vowed to attach himself with the
things which are permanent and this way made his stay permanent through his immortal odes
and sonnets. Awareness of beauty of all the things which nature in this life offers to us,
seemingly so transient, is permanent for him on a spiritual scale (Miles, 1996 (revised edition)).

So art for him is the appreciation and representation of that dimension of nature which is
eternal. Keats says in “Ode on a Grecian Urn” that art always adds something permanent to the
ever changing nature of the planet earth so his poetry will hold his idea of life and expression of
beauty eternally. When Keats brings forth the subject of death in the “Ode to nightingale” Keats
focuses on the fact that the song of nightingale is immortal and makes the readers to think about
death as a sorrowful event but nevertheless this event losses its significance as, beauty, love and
friendship prevails on the planet earth eternally. He is complaining about the human mortality
but on the other hand seems pleased because the song of nightingale is the bearer of the beauty of
nature presented to the human generations after generations, from ancient Greece to present. The
beauty of song as we perceive it, and because we are able to perceive its beauty, beauty stands
eternal and we are here to witness beauty and appreciate it, so it is not the beauty alone but the
perception of it which is the impetus of Keats’s poetic inspiration (Perkins and David, 1964).

According to Keats nature presents us two different types of beauty: physical beauty that
is temporary confined only to the physical existence of the physical world and the other is
spiritual beauty, that is awareness and appreciation of the beauty through our senses by our
admiration of love, art, and friendship that is eternal. This kind of beauty presents him a source

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of consolation when he looks at the short-lived nature of physical beauty. So while studying the
developmental stages of the profound multidimensional imaginative power of Keats poetic
expressions it would not be out of place to discuss in few words his biography (Vendler and
Helen, 1983).

Imagery in writing:

Imagery in writing is the verbal expression of a mental creation. In the process of poetic
inspiration, poets create a world in their mind and then in the same state of mind, they reproduce
that world in a musical language in an effort to evoke the same feelings in the reader.

“Imagery, in a literary text, is an author's use of vivid and descriptive language

to add depth to their work. It appeals to human senses to deepen the reader's
understanding of the work. Powerful forms of imagery engage all of the senses
pro lenses” (Wilkinson, 2015).

John Keats’s Eco-consciousness:

Though William Wordsworth called himself a pantheist and clearly defined his philosophy of
nature but in Keats case we seldom see a clear demarcation or a definition of his philosophy on
nature. A critic has to study Keats poetry and then had to decide upon the philosophy which the
poet upholds. There are monistic traits in his poetry but still his eco-consciousness cannot be
equated to that of Coleridge or Wordsworth. As will discuss later in the thesis he is more
concerned with now and here and how a specific situation stirs his poetic inspiration rather than
brooding upon the dimensions of some specific universal spiritual approach to the nature. He
looks at nature from two angles one which is physical and the one which is permanent and
metaphysical. Every not and then we find him referring the power of art to be the expression of
eternal. Poetry to him is that artistic expression which is capable of finding the permanent, the
beautiful, and the spiritual in the nature. Though there are numerous allusions to this aspect in his
poetry but here I will quote “The Poet”

“At morn, at Noon, at Eve, and Middle Night,

He passes forth into the charmed air,

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 With talisman to call up spirits rare
From plant, cave, rock and fountain. – to his sight
The hush of natural objects open quite
To the core: and every secret essence there
Reveals the element of good and fair
Making him see where learning hath no light.”
So we see that his inspiration had always been the beauty and mystery of the nature. In nature he
finds his poetry and to that he gives expression as if the mystery of nature is the magical wand
which brings him under the spell of poetic inspiration.

This study is qualitative and interpretive in nature. The populations of this study are the odds of
John Keats. In this research purposive sampling technique have been used for data collection.

In a broader sense the purpose of this study is to examine the portrayal of nature, poetic images
and relationship between nature and poetic images in the famous odes of John Keats.
Furthermore this thesis attempt to study through theatrical framework the emergent themes in
arts about nature and assess Keats art on the parameters of eco-criticism.

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Research Questions

How is nature portrayed in the poetry of John Keats?

What are the images depicted in the poetry of john Keats?

Research Objectives

To investigate the images of nature in the poetry of john Keats.

To find out depiction of natural images in the poetry of john Keats.

Significance of the study

Many writers have examined Keats works in various ways that is the forms, themes, techniques
and use of imagery in the poetry of john Keats. After finding this study we understand the poetry
of John Keats. A literary theory Eco criticism is applied in the poetic work of John Keats. 1.10

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 CHAPTER TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW
While assessing the poetic art of John Keats, one instantly finds all the characteristic elements of
the romantic era as integral part of his poetry. Read any poem of Keats and one is right away
charmed into the healing power of nature. He is a great painter of nature, a painter whose every
stroke is filled not only with colors, but with the depth of emotions. While reading Keats one
cannot escape the alluring power of his diction and phrases. The striking feature of Keats poetry
is its intensity. He advocates that the real value of any piece of art is its intensity, how the
presenter is able to convey his or her emotional depth to the audience. He wrote in one of his
letters,

“The excellence of every art is tis intensity, capable of making all disagreeable
evaporate form the being in close relationship with beauty and truth”

John Keats Letter to Fanny Brawne (Feb 29, 1820).

Similarly he explicitly expressed his philosophy of life in Ode to Nightingale in following lines.

“Tis not through envy of thy happy lot

But being too happy in thine happiness”

Beauty is Keats religion but he saw beauty in truth and truth in beauty.

“Beauty is truth; truth is beauty… that is all”

“Ye know on earth and all ye need to know “

While writing the thesis, an adequate review of the easily available literature of critics of the
romantic period has been carried out. These have been referred to in the thesis. There is no
dearth of literature explaining the love of nature as the quintessence of Keats’s poetic expression
but to understand the ideology of Keats love of nature one should not ignore his letters. Keats
letters are very much expressive of his subjective understanding of nature so a study of these is a

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more direct, pertinent and authentic approach to understanding the philosophy which the poet
upholds in his artistic expressions. One can find many online sources to read the collection of
letter by John Keats, like following (Fogle and Richard, 1968).

Over two hundred and forty of Keats letters survived. The striking quality of these letters is that
they bring the write to life and one feels communicating with him face to face. Most of the time
one is taken into the place he is talking about. One can see his characteristic photographical
recounting of the events or of the place he is talking about (Scott, 2009)

The letters to Fanny Browne are full of passionate passages of lover to his beloved but
nevertheless very mature for his age. The more interesting are his deep philosophical approach
toward poetry. In a letter to John Taylor on 27 th February 1818 writing on the subject of “On
Axioms and the surprise of poetry” he expresses his ideas about poetry in the following words,

“I think poetry should surprise by a fine excess not by singularity. It should strike
the reader as a wording of his own highest thoughts, and appear as almost a
remembrance…. The rise, the progress the setting of imagery should like the sum
come natural...”

Naturally these statements at very young age brings the fact that Keats was a born genius and
always ahead of his time. No doubt poetry is a fine art of the finest words and it should stimulate
our emotions in a modest manner and should avoid slogans and excessive play over our emotions
by using language suitable for rhetoric. So while exploring beauty an appropriate language as
beautiful and as befitting as the beauty it describe should be used.

A poet should not force his language and his imaginations to merge into each other rather he
should let both of these to go happily hand in hand like the natural flow of water from a spring.
He should let his poetic inspiration, the spring of his imaginations, and give shape to his thoughts
as naturally as the sun rises on its own from the east in the morning. That why Keats further
points out in very clear language that “If poetry does not come out as the leave to a tree it had
better not come out” John Keats letter to John Taylor (Feb 27, 1818).

On his philosophy of human psychology he writes to J.H Reynolds May3rd 1818 on a life
as “A large mansion of many apartments”

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 “I compare human life to a large mansion of many apartments. Two of which I
can only describe, the doors the rest as yet shut upon me. The first …………the
thoughtless chamber… we remain there for a long while…… The second I will
call the chamber of maiden thought…. There we become intoxicated... And feel
the burden of misery” John Keats letter to J.H. Reynolds (May 3, 1818).

So to address the topic of natural imagery and eco-critical assessment of the selected poems, here
it is necessary to understand the poet as a person so a study of his letters is very important as in
these the writer directly gives us a piece of his mind. While reading his letters one is left
wondering that how was he able to conceive such deep philosophical question which many of his
contemporary and predecessors were not able to attend to at a mature age. The maturity of his
expression compels the most skeptics of the intellectual depth of his art to get convinced that
Keats was a genius of romantic era (Lucas, 1996).

Keats’s love of nature and the discussion with the notion of Keats attempt to escape the
hardships and pain of life through his indulgence in elaborate imaginative flights. This research
also discusses with some detail Keats’s distinct love of nature based on his individual
philosophy. It explores the sensuousness of his expressions and the vivid description of his
imaginations which are so representative characteristics of romantic period poets (M. Zia ul
Haque and Nazneen, 2014).

This is a collaborative study of two authors and starts (2 nd Para) with the lines from the
“Ode to nightingale “fade fare away and quite forget……” which represents the escape of the
writer from the dreary and painful realities of life. It explains how Keats is capable of
impregnating the nature which comes under his observation with his imaginative power. Beauty
is the touchstone of truth so the poet does not want the beauty fade away but want to turn it into
something permanent by wishing its physical non-permanent form to fade away into the realms
of peace and harmony. This paper also dwells upon the melancholic nature of Keats but points
out that his melancholy was the result of his intense love of nature. In the heart of his hearts one
can see that he wishes all beauty to be permanent and craves for an ideal state of existence. The
realities of life are at odds with his desires so he finds consolation in his spiritual approach where
he believes that the appreciation of beauty is beauty and that is something permanent (M. Zia ul
Haque and Nazneen, 2014).

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 Romantice pre-conceived ideas and ideal. All these trends provided a highly fertile land
for the imaginations of the intellectuals to flourish. We know that the literacy rate in England
was on rise and England established itself as super power. English as a nation was highly
confident of its intellectual superiority and was boldly challenging all ideologies on the basis of
logic and reason (Butler, 1981).

Romantic poetry had certain distinct features which invariably we find in Keats. Following is a
detail of the literature of romantic era.

Characteristics of Romantic poetry

Reaction against neoclassicism Neo-classicism put emphasis on perfection of form, didacticism

and propagation of morality. Romanticism promulgated freedom of thought, spontaneity of
expression.

Imagination These authors believed that imaginations are an integral part of poetry and without
imagination poetry and fiction both are bodies without soul.

Love of nature The most recurrent these in romantic era writers is the love of nature and their
efforts to present the beauty of nature and its appreciation as the most noble act of mankind.

Melancholic

Brooding upon the fleeting nature of physical world and all that it represents and a painful wish
for an ideal existence is a striking theme in the writers of romantic eras specially we find this
theme in the poetry of Keats prominent and permanent than other poets of romantic era.

Medievalism

It refers a love of the history of middle ages.It means the admiration of Greek art. Amongst all
John Keats gets more inspiration from the art, culture and literature of Greece.

Subjectivity Romantic poet turns inward for the poetic inspiration. This poetry is the
spontaneous expression of inner feelings and emotions. .

The book “The decline and Fall of Romantic Ideal” is full of quotes and some critics says that his
conclusions should also be quotes but nevertheless he is a fine judge and presents his opinions in

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an exciting manner which is logical and full of vigor. He is not in favor of too much latitude
under the garb of originality.

He explains his view in the following lines.

“Romantic literature is a dream-picture of life; providing sustenance and

fulfillment for impulses cramped by society and reality” it is clear that dream may
go wrong or go too far (Wecke, 2010).

Eco-criticism being a new genre of critical analysis is a favorite subject of many critics now a
day. We can find many referenced of eco-consciousness of Keats but very seldom one can find a
thorough exclusive evaluation of his poetry on the basis of eco-criticism. “The natural
environment in the selected works of John Keats and Niyi Osundare, An eco-critical
perspective” published by department of languages, covenant, Ota, university of Nigeria

Is good attempt and explore Keats poetic expression of this scale. It is a comparative
study and African poet Osundare is compared with Keats poetry and his love of nature. In this
regard the second is an online study publishes on 2008 by Charles Ngiewith Phd, senior lecturer
Department of English University of Yunde Cameron. We know that romantic poets are in
constant communication with nature so their love of nature is fit subject for critical analysis on
the bases of eco-criticism...

“Eco-criticism is the study of literature and the environment from an interdisciplinary

point of view, where literature scholars analyze texts that illustrate environmental
concerns and examine the various ways literature treats the subject of nature.”

This word first came into use aft the publication of William Reuckert’s essay entitled “Literature
and ecology; An Experiment in Eco-criticism” He was first to clearly suggest that critics of
literature should include this genre of criticism in their analysis (Ngiewith, 2008).

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CHAPTER THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter discusses the methodology adopted to carry out this study. This chapter is divided in
three parts. 1stsection describes the approach to the research study. 2nd section introduces the
theatrical framework of the study. 3rd Section presents a comparative analysis of the study.

To explore the subject a systematic approach was adopted. And following aspects related to
Keats poetry in particular and to English literature in general was studies in detail.

 History of English literature.

 Developmental stages of English poetry.
 Romantic era.
 Explanation of imagery from a psychological perspective.
 Comparative analysis of Keats poetry with other romantic poets.
 Dimensions of eco-criticism and its relationship with romantic poetry.
 Critical analysis of John Keats Poetry especially following odes.
1. Ode on a Grecian Urn.
2. Ode to a nightingale.
3. Ode to Melancholy.
4. Ode to Indolence.
5. Ode to psyche.
6. To Autumn

The study is

The concept termed as eco-consciousness is part of this thesis and the within the frame work of
this thesis Keats eco-consciousness will be discussed as pertinent genre of poetry for the eco-
critical analysis.

Research Design

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In research design, the researcher selected steps for research. Research design decides the
methodology of research, depending upon nature of research. The function of research design is
to provide for the collection of relevant evidence with minimal expenditure of effort, time and
money. The research is based on grounded qualitative. There are following steps for data
collection and analysis of grounded qualitative research.

The data is collected from primary and secondary sources

As this thesis attempts to explore the imagery of nature in Keats poetry and the assessment of his
poetic expression of the basis of eco-criticism so the researcher has to keep following questions
in mind while carrying out the research.

How is nature portrayed in the poetry of John Keats?

What are the images depicted in the poetry of john Keats?

How can Keats poetry be assessed on the basis of eco-critical analysis?

Qualitative Study: Obviously the subject in had demand a qualitative assessment so an

assessment of the selected odes will made on qualitative basis as well as on the basis of the
strength of the relevance of the selected verses with topic of essay.

Population: Population of this study is the three famous Odes of John Keats i.e. “Ode to a
Nightingale”, Ode to Autumn” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. The data has been selected from the
population through the process of purposive sampling technique. For the purpose of comparison
and clarity some purposive selection of certain verses from other poems has also been done to
elaborate the topic. For the assessment of philosophical standpoint of the writer his letters has
also been quoted to shed light on the dimensions of his art.

Theoretical frame work

As mentioned this thesis attempts to explore the imagery of nature in Keats poetry and the
assessment of his poetic expression of the basis of eco-criticism so the researcher has to present
his subjective assessment as well as has to go through the empirical data available on the subject.

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A plethora of literature is available to discuss the love of nature as the basic element of romantic
poetry but still a good observer, an aficionada of poetry will find elements to his hears delight yet
not discussed and would like to present his views on the topic. This study in hand requires an
understanding of Imagery, Its different forms and has to understand the different ways employed
by author to use imagery in an effective way. A study of the characteristics of the authors of
romantic era and their philosophy needs to study to tackle the questions of the thesis effectively.

Eco-criticism is relatively a new term and the writers of romantic era though were in love
with nature but not suffered from the perpetual fear of its destruction. Now green movement
influences our approach to nature and we are realizing that if we love art it means that our
aesthetics are alive and if our aesthetics are alive then we must feel and consciously incorporate
the love of nature in artistic expressions. Though the criteria of eco-criticism has been applied to
assess the artistic expression of many artists of the romantic era but specifically Keats art has not
been much evaluated exclusively on the basis of eco-criticism.

Comparative Analysis:

Though the love of nature is the dominant theme of critical witting on John Keats but not much
has been written exclusively addressing Keats poetic art on the basis of Eco-criticism.

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 CHAPTER FOUR

Keats as a true representative of Romantic Period

Basically romanticism was a movement in art and literature in the eighteen and nineteen century
as a revolt against neoclassicism if the previous century. Neoclassicism was characterized by
emotional restraint, order and logic because its focus was the intellect rather than emotions and it
respected and valued wit over imaginations.
While looking at the different characteristics of the romantic era to find a comprehensive
definition one can see that Wikipedia presents an exhaustive account of all the characteristic of
classical romantic era. Wikipedia describes this period as following,
“Romanticism (also the Romantic era or the Romantic period) was an artistic,
literary, musical and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the
end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak in the approximate
period from 1800 to 1850. Romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on
emotion and individualism as well as glorification of all the past and nature,
preferring the medieval rather than the classical. It was partly a reaction to the
Industrial Revolution the aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of
Enlightenment, and the scientific rationalization of nature. It was embodied most
strongly in the visual arts, music, and literature, but had a major impact on
historiography, education and the natural sciences. It had a significant and
complex effect on politics, and while for much of the Romantic period it was
associated with liberalism and radicalism, its long-term effect on the growth of
nationalism was perhaps more significant. The movement emphasized intense
emotion as an authentic source of aesthetic experience, placing new emphasis on
such emotions as apprehension, horror and terror, and awe—especially that
experienced in confronting the new aesthetic categories of the sublimity and
beauty of nature. It considered folk art and ancient custom to be noble statuses,
but also valued spontaneity, as in the musical impromptu. In contrast to the
rational and Classicist ideal models, Romanticism revived medievalism and

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 elements of art and narrative perceived as authentically medieval in an attempt to
escape population growth, early urban sprawl, and industrialism.
Keats is by all definitions a true representative of this period especially if we look at the
definition of the German poet Friedrich Schlegel 10, who is given credit for first using the term
romantic to describe literature "literature depicting emotional matter in an imaginative form”
One would instinctively turn to the poetry of Keats at the mention of the word romanticisms. As
mentioned by Wikipedia romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and
glorification of nature as opposed to the objective rationalization of nature. This realization is at
the core of Keats poetry where he liberates it from the shackles of didactic formality and infuses
the magic of imaginations in each line of his poetic expression, so typical of romantic era writers.

“you perhaps at one time thought there was such a thing as Worldly Happiness to
be arrived at, at certain periods of time marked out—you have of necessity from
your disposition been thus led away—I scarcely remember counting upon any
Happiness—I look not for it if it be not in the present hour—nothing startles me
beyond the Moment. The setting sun always sets me to rights…he will have the
pleasure of trying the resources of his spirit.” John Keats (888)

Imagery is an integral part of poetic expression:

Imagery is the raw material of poetry and without imagery it is impossible to perceive the art of
poetry or for that matter any literary production of prominence. Imagery is the pulsating heart of
all poetic expression written or verbal as well as it is the soul and spirit of fiction.
Store of emotional imagery is the workshop through which the raw material, of what nature
offers and how the writers perceive it through the sharp lens of their acute senses, get
transformed into a beauty to be admired by readers.

As discussed in the introduction of this thesis that it is the power of vivid imagery, coupled with
sensorial data and sensations which set apart Keats poetry from his contemporary writers. It was
the philosophy of Keats that what so every beauty he can conceive, though his imaginations, he

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should present to the reader because the artistic expressions of beauty turns temporal beauty into
eternal,
“I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of the Heart's affections and the
truth of Imagination—What the imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth—
whether it existed before or not—for I have the same Idea of all our Passions as
of Love they are all in their sublime, creative of essential Beauty—… The
Imagination may be compared to Adam's dream—he awoke and found it truth.”
John Keats letter to Fanny Brawne

The seven figurative language devices are: Simile, Metaphor, Alliteration, Personification,
Onomatopoeia and Hyperbole.

Imagery is a subjective state of the writer and the purpose of using figurative language is to
gives us a picture which will evokes specific emotions in our mind akin to the imagery of the
writer. “Eyes like shining pearls” is a simile which contains imagery of light with smoothness
and beauty so the sense of sight is evoked.

Though imagery is most often used by writers of poetry and fiction, and is not entertained by
essay writers but we can find it in any form of writing. Whether fiction or nonfiction, imagery is
what adds the colors, sounds, feelings, taste and smell which a reader can see in his or her mind’s
eye about a particular written work. Figurative language depends on many types of sensory
imagery that can be used. Following is a list of commonly used imagery in figurative speech.

 Visual Imagery.
 Auditory Imagery.
 Olfactory Imagery.
 Gustatory Imagery.
So while exploring the imagery of nature of John Keats we need to look at it from the sensory
perspective as well as need to analyze it on the basis of his appropriate use of figure of speech.

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and smell of the event he describes. It is rich in visual imagery as it has been loaded up with all
the visions which a typical autumn offers to any acute observer. It is one of the last poems
written by Keats in 1819.

Here he invites the reader to see autumn as a human being and for that he uses simile of
depicting autumn as a harvester. The harvester is a female figure visiting the scene. In the first
stanza we see autumn conspiring with the sun to bring harvest to the earth “and fill all fruit with
ripeness to the core”. Step by step each word amplifies the image of autumnal beauty as the poet
takes us with him into that mental state and shows to us the changing natural scenery with
magical words of poetry.

“To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For summer has o’er-brimm’d their clammy cells.”

So the scene in the first stanza is of golden light shining through the ripening vegetation. The
clouds are hanging low, so we see everything is presented as it is but with an objective emotional
dimension which evokes emotions of the reader.

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
Drowsed with the fume of poppies, while thy hook
Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:
In the 2nd stanza the autumn is sitting on a granary floor. The poem conjures up a sense of inertia
mixed with a feelings and awareness of change where both the feelings never juxtapose each
other rather they appear integrally fused together. There is suggestion of gradual passing away of
time. Autumn moves slowly, aware of its destiny and what it is capable of, and what it must do

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in its wake. As autumn is a season of renewal so she (autumn) sleeps, “drowsed but the fume of
poppies” and without any emotional attachment she watches the change which is taking place
“thou watches the last oozing hours by hours” here we see that the fast paced change and
activity of the first stanza is slowly replaced by the motionlessness in the second stanza until the
reader is transfixed in the present and time seems no longer to move towards winter. It seems as
if the poet has encapsulated the totality of the event in a single vision and is effortlessly
describing only the many facets of the perceive vision in a chronological manner.

To look at the traits of Keats poetry I must add following lines from Hyperion which are so
remarkably expressive of his fascination of loading visual images with his perception of beauty
and mystery.

When he depicts the young musician who is pursuing the fair maiden he depicts the
fantasy of a young musician which is all they all indulge in. It depicts the eternal failures of the
musicians to reach to their ideal. The third stanza describes a tree in the midst of an endless
spring, with the passionate musician under its boughs forever. Every scene is conceived,
impregnated with the unfathomable imaginations of Keats and recreated with unsurpassed
precession. Keats uses imagery to show the reader exactly what he is seeing throughout the
poem. His use of the phrase:

Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss,

Though winning near the goal--yet, do not grieve;
She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! (Keats, II, 17-20)
Very beautifully describe exactly what he can picture in his mind as if the events occurring were
a scene from real life.

A man is trying to kiss his beloved, depicting the desire of two lovers frozen in time eternally.
The beauty of the picture is the beauty of the desire, its passion and innocence which any
observer with adequate human emotions will appreciate. It may also depict the lack of fulfillment
which in some case two lovers eternally feel in their relationship “Bold lover, never, never canst
thou kiss, Though winning near the goal--yet, do not grieve”

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Similarly in the “ode to nightingale” in the beginning a mental picture of hemlock is depicted as
a poisonous aromatic plant. Furthermore Hippocrates is visualized as blushful to give an image
of its color. Then “beaded bubbles” is also a visual image which compels us to look into the
beaker of wine through the eye of our mind. Another image is presented to us of the red color of
the wine which stains the mouth purple.

Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,

With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
And purple-stained mouth

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 CHAPTER FIVE

Eco-criticism
Eco-criticism is a quiet new term. The industrial revolution and in its wake the destruction of
nature compel the sensitive minds of writers to address the problem of the senseless destruction
of the echo system on which the wellbeing of our life depends. Though always, the destruction of
nature was a great concern of some writhers but it is much intensely expressed in modern times
by lots of eco-conscious writers.
The term eco-criticism appeared for the first time in William Ruekert’s essay “Literature
and Ecology: An Experiment in Eco-criticism” in 1978. Later on much attention was not paid to
this genre of criticism though Ruekergave authentic reasons that eco-criticism should be an
important topic in criticism.
In 1989 in a meeting of WLA (WestrenLiteratur Association), two writers played important role
in its revival. In that meeting CheryllGlotfelty a newspaper editor and Glen Love a professor of
English at the University of Oregon highlighted the concept of eco-criticism. Since then this term
emerged as an interesting field of literature. Through this genre of literature authors started to
examine the relation between poet and his natural surroundings.

In simple words eco-criticism is the evaluation of relationship of poetry with the

ecosystem of the planet earth. It focuses on that content in writing which represents a love of
nature and the depiction of the beauty of nature. Now through this new genre of criticism the
critics evaluate the works, old and modern, to see how much an artist has been eco-conscious. It
may be noted here that eco-criticism is in fact a very broad genre of literary movement and while
exploring the relationship between an artistic expression and nature it expands its horizons into
philosophical and ontological questions related to nature and man.

As mentioned in the introduction that eco-criticism is nature centered criticism of the

literature, so it is easier to relate it with most of the literary works of romantic age. Romantic
poetry emphasizes natural, emotional and personal themes; it values intuition and spontaneous
expression through the intuitive poetic inspirations. Because of its love of nature romantic poetry

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idealizes country life. Romantic poets preferred writing in colloquial language rather than opting
for the consciously constructed poetic language of previous eras.

In "Preface to Lyrical Ballads,” published with Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1798the

prominent romantic poet William Wordsworth defined “romantic poetry” to what he called the
new style of poetry as “the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings tempered by deep
thought” .Wordsworth's poem, "I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud (Daffodils)," is a poem about a
person who is finding happiness in flowers. In fact, for all the romantic poets the greatest
inspiration is nothing but their quest to search beauty in nature. Longfellow “A psalm of life”
clearly explains the merger of poetic inspiration with the beauty of nature.

Obviously eco-criticism is not only an attempt to explore the eco-consciousness of a

piece of art but alto encourages and spreads awareness in the writers to have a blend of love for
preservation of nature in their writings. In certain aspect eco-criticism is environmental
psychology that how our environment affects our behavior and attitude and how can we strive to
preserve nature for the betterment of humanity.

Eco-criticism emerged as ecological consciousness grew because of the current

ecological problems we face today. This theory has deeper philosophical, psychological and
aesthetic implication on the development of literature of modern time. It promulgates the idea
that the love of nature should be an important consideration while a writer aims to cater for our
aesthetic satisfaction through artistic productions.
Now this literary movement has expanded the sphere of its critical approach to assess all
the poets’ modern, classic or romantics on the basis of its criterion. It studies the production of all
authors who are inspired by nature directly or have used nature as an indirect mode of expression
to show their love of nature. So logically we can assume that in future eco-criticism will be one
of the, if not predominant, a recurrent theme of poetic expression and criticism. The more we
destroy our natural environment the more intellectuals will be consciously addressing this
problem.

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 Eco-critical analysis of Keats’s poetry
This part of the thesis is concerned with the concepts of eco-criticism based on the unconscious
attempt of Keats to inspire a desire us to preserve the beauty of nature. He realizes that humans
are and must remain in constant communication with the nature. Communication with nature
infuses love of nature and that is the basic premise of eco-critical approach.
Here specifically three of his poems will be discussed in detail to bring forth the eco-
consciousness of the poet. That is extreme love of nature that we find in Keats poetry at one level
a feelings of dissatisfaction, that why the word is not in an ideal state so he juxtaposes the darker
aspects of nature, the real, the drab, the fleeting, with the ideal of his imaginations. As per his
philosophy he takes his experiential data to the imaginative ideal state and then presents to us the
permanence of beauty on a spiritual level. Poet is the product of nature and nothing can inspire
him/her more than the natural world surrounding him/her because it is nature which touches
him/her emotionally through life events, through its beauty and tragedy, through the insight
which within all these nature offers. Nature has always been the basic theme of literature
especially poetry. The treasure of Keats poetical inspiration is nature so Keats ideas and thoughts
can easily be related with the idea of eco-criticism.
Keats has always been captivated by the drama of nature, its vitality, its mystery, its pain
and pleasure. Each world of his poetry provokes our imagination through the loving descriptions
of nature. Wordsworth focuses on the manifestations of beauty and love in nature whereas Keats
assimilates all the forces of nature, its creative, its healing, its soothing an at times its destructive
aspects. His poems focused on the environment and his deeper awareness of the drama of nature
so he used nature as a muse to bring elements of pleasure to his pen. At the same time we find
him brooding on melancholic and sober aspects of nature in his works, which in fact, we may
dare to say, was a reflection of the struggles in his life.
As stated earlier that romanticism was characterized by its emphasis on emotion and
individualism as well as glorification of nature so the poetic expressions of all the poets of
romantic age are a fit subject for eco-criticism. Though while talking about romantic era we
cannot find any particular poet who consciously promulgates deco-consciousness but fortunately
they all especially Coleridge, Wordsworth, and Shelly were eco-consciousness as per the
definition of this term.

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Hitchhiker’s Guide to Eco-criticism” puts it,
“Eco-criticism maintains a triple-allegiance to the scientific study of nature, the
scholarly analysis of critical representations, and the political struggle for more
sustainable ways of inhabiting the natural world.”
Keats presents his philosophy of his love of nature in following words.
The husk of natural objects opens quite
To the core; and every secret essence there
Reveals the elements of good and fair;
Making him see, where Learning hath no light.
"The Poet," London Magazine (Oct 1821).
Writing to Fanny Brawne in February 1820, Keats said,
If I should die, I have left no immortal work behind me – nothing to make my
friends proud of my memory – but I have lov’d the principle of beauty in all
things, and if I had had time I would have made myself remember’d (Selected
letters, 422).
As stated, eco-criticism tries to find out the recurrent theme of love of nature,especially now a
days, in association with present ecological problems of modern industrial era. But nevertheless
it probes not only in the literature of postindustrial era but into all literary pieces worthy of
reading today. As mentioned many times, in English literature this inspiration, a deep love of
nature, can be found in abundance in romantic literature. We can confidently say that romantic
literature without doubt is a great source of promoting love of ecology for generation to come.

On the yardstick of eco-criticism we can assess any poem of Keats especially ‘Ode on a
Nightingale,’ ‘I Stood Tip-toe Upon a Little Hill,’ ‘The Poet,’ ‘Sleep and Poetry,’ ‘On the
Grasshopper and Cricket,’ ‘Bright Star, I would I were Steadfast as thou art,’ Endymion, ‘Epistle
to Dear Reynolds,’ and ‘Ode to Autumn,’ these all clearly embody in word and spirit Keats’s love
of nature, his use of nature imagery and his understanding that one can find lots of pleasure in
life if one sharpen one’s aesthetics to appreciate the beauty of nature.
Though destruction of nature was not as intense a problem of his era as it had to be faced by post
industrial revolution generation, still one finds a feeble foreboding of tempering with nature
lurking behind the imaginations he expressed in his poetry.

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Keats in his poetry always relates his deep desire to be immortal to enjoy the beauty of the world
and his poetry is expressive of the loaded pain which he feels while perceiving that he will
ultimately leave this planet. To turn away from this pain he seeks consolation in brooding upon
the spiritual aspects of life which he expresses, though in many poems, but in clear words in the
poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. He states that art has the ability to hold the time forever so his
poetry will always holds his idea of life and expression of beauty. He seems to try to strike a
balance and explain to us, assuming the reader may also go through the same pain, that there are
yet better unseen worlds.
In the poem “To Autumn” the poet is objective but one can see that he personalizes
autumn through allegorical language and described it as the most important season of human life.
Autumn is part of our ecosphere and while discussing about it, personifying it, the writer more
than anything else is talking about ecology. The poem merges the ebb and flow of nature with the
importance of the seasons in human life as well as human existence. In the time of autumn the
fruit ripens and flower blossoms. Autumn is the transition of summer to winter. Keats describes
the richness and wealth of nature during the time of autumn in such a way that it establishes the
strength of his sensuous imagination and he shows a hidden dimension of growth and renewal so
the main feature of autumn paves the way for further growth. In all his odes we find Keats as a
great lover of nature in all its manifestations. In the first stanza of the same poem the poet
describes how the sun and the autumn are useful for our ecological balance.

“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

The sun is hotter and full and days are still long but the sun seems yet busy in carrying out its job
toward completion. Keats writes about the greenery that surrounds us while we live near nature.
As always, he juxtaposes the fleeting with the permanent the immortality of beauty with the

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mortality of physical phenomenon. The transformation of seasons depicts the cycle of death and
birth and he is fascinated with the role of sun which conspires with the seasons of the land.
The pain which he expresses in his poetry when he observes the fleeting nature of nature is in
fact representative of his intense love of nature. So all the manifestations of nature are wonders
and object of fascination for him and his artistic expressions comes out of that fascinations.
Through this inspiration he expands the domain of transient into permanent through his poetry by
idealizing the permanence of beauty.
“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter.” “Ode on Grecian urns”
So we can see that he is one of the earliest green movement writers not consciously aware of the
fact.
In Ode “To Autumn” he describes the season of autumn from a different angle and brings forth
its hidden beauty to the reader. Referring to spring he says to autumn “think not of them, thou
hast thy music too” so it is his deeper appreciation of nature that he can look into and put word to
the beauty of autumn.
He presents autumn as a season of fruitfulness and fulfillment. It appears that nature is
speaking to us and through the poet word is forwarding to us its beauty and pleasure.
Obviously the poet is satisfied with the smooth flow of the natural events; perhaps that is why he
is so objective in this poem. He points out the beauty but remains a commentator andobserver
and this approach in this Ode is representative of Keats’s philosophy. In it he explains that nature
is an objective reality but it is the subjective part, the conceptual reality on the part of poet,
which is of great importance and the focus of the poet.
Keats has written about love of the autumnal beauty to his friend Hamilton. In this letter
he describes how the spell of autumnal beauty inspired his poetic faculties and compelled him to
write about autumn in “To Autumn”. He writes,
“How beautiful the season is now – how fine the air ….. I never lik’d stubble
fields so much as now- Aye better than the chilly green of the spring. Somehow a
stubble plain looks warm- in the same way that some pictures look warm- this
struck me so much in my Sunday’s walk that I composed upon it...”
In this Ode the poet was able to perceive three different aspect of autumn and these three aspects
have been described in three stanzas.

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The first stanza presents the beauty of its fruitfulness. It describes how the sun, earth and all the
creatures on planet earth conspire with each other. These lines are highly representative of an
eco-conscious writer, though again we must keep it in mind that Keats was never consciously
eco-conscious according to its modern definition but was a natural eco-conscious poet.

“Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For Summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.”

Summer has to over-brim the clammy cells of the formers, and it must, because a new generation
of plantations has to shoot from earth from the seed in these cells and that is the eco system we
need to preserve as we are part of it. The cycle of birth and death is function of the eco system
and through this process the planet earth, and we as part of it, evolve into better and better
beings.

The 2nd stanza describes how keenly autumn toils to change the scenery and bring about a
fundamental change. Through our senses we can only see the apparent phenomenon of the fading
away of one season and coming of the next but this is a very intricate and complex process which
is beyond our perceptions. The personification of autumn as a lady, which brings beauty and
elegance into the poetic expressions is a very good construct in this scenario. Here eco system as
an elegant phenomenon stands in front of us as a living being and carrying out its duty, one
season follow the other and through a cyclic motions life evolves on the planet earth.

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 “Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?
Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find
Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,
Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;
Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,
The third stanzadescribes the decline of autumn as there the poet discusses the events at the end
of the day. This season like previous ones has to change and in its wake has to change the
landscape.

“Where are the songs of Spring? Ay, where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,–
While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,
And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;
Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn
Among the river sallows, borne aloft
Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;
And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;
Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft
The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;
And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.”

So we can see that in this Ode Keats talks about the ecology of the earth. How a cyclic change
takes place and how a poet can find beauty in the physical phenomenon and spiritual satisfaction
in contemplating on the deeper aspects of nature.

“Ode to a nightingale” presents the melancholic meditation of Keats on nature. Most of the
critics agree that this Ode has been written in a garden. So the surroundings are natural and hence
the flow of poetic inspiration must be natural in such environment. Through the song of bird the
poet lives through, and reaches to a permanent state of existence. Somehow one feels that
perhaps the poet is presenting the idea that pleasure cannot last forever and everything has to
fade away with time and death is inevitable. But we must not forget the philosophy of Keats. He

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believes that beauty is permanent and again we must keep in mind that by beauty he means the
appreciation of beauty on a spiritual level, not the beauty itself.

“Away! away! for I will fly to thee,

Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,

But on the viewless wings of Poesy,”

Then we see Keats presenting his philosophy when after deliberating for a while on death in
following words.

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!

No hungry generations tread thee down;

The voice I hear this passing night was heard

In ancient days by emperor and clown:

CHAPTER SIX
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

Almost all the poems of Keats and specifically the most famous three Odes selected for this
thesis recognizes and adds material to Keats’s unfathomable love of nature. Though he left
planet earth at an early age but his love of nature is very much in alignment with the modern
green movement. Had Keats been a poet of the mordent era, we would have seen a great
motivator of eco-consciousness in all forms of artistic expressions.

Keats’s philosophy of life was a fusion of good and bad, of pain and pleasure so when he
says that ‘beauty is truth and truth beauty’ it is a spiritual statement. Limiting it to the physical
phenomenon will be reducing the far reaching philosophical and spiritual dimension of this
philosophy. The imagery he creates and the imagery he paints, and the exquisite art with which
he infuses his imagery into the heart and souls of the reader is in fact the culmination of his
spiritual flight. So a further study is needed to probe into the spiritual dimensions of his poetic
expression.

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 Keats poetry presents the fact that human beings and environment are connected with
each other through invisible strands that is why people can appreciate the beauty of nature. Had
there been no such tight bond then there would never have been any such strong emotions which
the beauty of nature breaths into us. This philosophy compels us not to overlook the fact that our
myopic selfishness with total disregard for the preservation of nature will ultimately rob us all of
all happiness.

REFERENCES

1. Ali, S. M. (2015). Selected Poems of John Keats. Lahore: Kitab Mahal (pvt) LTD.

2. Adnax Publications John Keats (1795-1821) Short Biography

http://www.adnax.com/biogs/jk.htm

3. http://www.biography.com/

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