Keats inhabits the Romantic dialectic in a perhaps different and quite striking manner. What might be Gothic about all of it? Could it be that Keats, refusing the Wordsworthian "egotistical sublime" and its recuperations, travels the unstable, metamorphic trails of the Gothic Sublime?
Consider Lamia in this light, for a start. Is it only a lesson in the dangerous feminine, or might it be a study in passion--hunting, haunted, losing every gain?
For a blog--due 4/29--consider one of the readings in light of one or more of the formulations below, drawn from Keats' letters:
The Camelion Poet
As to the poetical Character itself, (I mean that sort of which, if I am any thing, I am a Member; that sort distinguished from the wordsworthian or egotistical sublime; which is a thing per se and stands alone) it is not itself—it has no self—it is every thing and nothing—It has no character—it enjoys light and shade; it lives in gusto, be it foul or fair, high or low, right or poor, mean or elevated—It has as much delight in conceiving an Iago as an Imogen. What shocks the virtuous philosp[h]er, delights the camelion Poet. It does no harm from its relish of the dark side of things any more than from its taste for the bright one; because they both end in speculation. A Poet is the most unpoetical of any thing in existence; because he has no Identity—he is continually in for—and filling some other Body—The Sun, the Moon, the Sea, and Men and Women who are creatures of impulse are poetical and have about them an unchangeable attribute—the poet has none; no identity—he is certainly the most unpoetical of all of God's Creatures
The Sparrow
I think Jane or Marianne has a better opinion of me than I deserve - for really and truly I do not think my Brothers illness connected with mine - you know more of the real Cause than they do nor have I any chance of being rack'd as you have been - 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 for it if it be not in the present hour, - nothing startles me beyond the moment. The setting sun will always set me to rights, or if a sparrow come before my window, I take part in its existence and pick about the gravel.
Negative Capability
I had not a dispute but a disquisition, with Dilke on various subjects; several things dove-tailed in my mind, and at once it struck me what quality went to form a Man of Achievement, especially in Literature, and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously - I mean Negative Capability, that is, when a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason-Coleridge, for instance, would let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude caught from the Penetralium of mystery, from being incapable of remaining content with half-knowledge. This pursued through volumes would perhaps take us no further than this, that with a great poet the sense of Beauty overcomes every other consideration, or rather obliterates all consideration.
The Vale of Soul Making
Call the world if you Please 'The vale of Soul-making' Then you will find out the use of the world (I am speaking now in the highest terms for human nature admitting it to be immortal which I will here take for granted for the purpose of showing a thought which has struck me concerning it) I say "Soul making" Soul as distinguished from an Intelligence-- There may be intelligences or sparks of the divinity in millions--but they are not Souls till they acquire identities, till each one is personally itself. Intelligences are atoms of perception--they know and they see and they are pure, in short they are God--how then are Souls to be made? How then are these sparks which are God to have identity given them--so as ever to possess a bliss peculiar to each ones individual existence? How, but by the medium of a world like this? This point I sincerely wish to consider because I think it a grander system of salvation than the chrystain religion--or rather it is a system of Spirit-creation--This is effected by three grand materials acting the one upon the other for a series of years--These Materials are the Intelligence--the human heart (as distinguished from intelligence or Mind) and the World or Elemental space suited for the proper action of Mind and Heart on each other for the purpose of forming the Soul or Intelligence destined to possess the sense of Identity. I can scarcely express what I but dimly perceive--and yet I think I perceive it--that you may judge the more clearly I will put it in the most homely form possible--I will call the world a School instituted for the purpose of teaching little children to read--I will call the Child able to read, the Soul made from that school and its hornbook. Do you not see how necessary a World of Pains and troubles is to school an Intelligence and make it a soul? A Place where the heart must feel and suffer in a thousand diverse ways! Not merely is the Heart a Hornbook, it is the Minds Bible, it is the Minds experience, it is the teat from which the Mind or intelligence sucks its identity--As various as the Lives of Men are--so various become their Souls, and thus does God make individual beings, Souls, Identical Souls of the sparks of his own essence--"
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3 comments:
Keats' idea of "negative capability" is that a poet can explore uncertainties of life and its mysteries without actually seeking answers or solutions. One of these uncertainties is death - death and "negative capability" are both explored in "Ode to a Nightingale," where mortality and death are dealt with and accepted, but answers are not necessarily sought as to how or why this happens to humans. Rather than trying to resolve these experiences in life, we should simply go through the motions of experiencing the emotions and sensations that go along with these experiences. Another instance of this would be in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and the discussion of beauty within it. Keats writes "Beauty is truth, truth beauty – that is all
Ye know on earth and all ye need know." This is another example of negative capability. Beauty just exists. It's there and we can see it and experience it. That's all there is to it. We shouldn't question it or overanalyze it or try to figure out its purpose. It just is.
Keat’s becomes “The Camelion Poet” throughout his multiple works. In “Lamia” the speaker of the poem cycles through several different points of views. There is the beginning adventure of Hermes and his nymph, followed by the tale of Lamia watching from afar. Not only does the point of view switch, but also the special capacity of the poem. Hermes directly follows the nymph, actively chasing her down even though she is invisible. Lamia passively views Lycius from a far, only in visions in the beginning. Then her ensnarement of Lycius also takes a more passive role. She does not fight for him, but rather has him desire her. The shift between Lamia’s gaze of Lycius to Apollonius’ gaze of Lamia is also a shift in feeling. Lamia desires Lycius for physical reasons, and Apollonius despise Lamia for spiritual ones. Within in one poem Keat’s changes view points, feelings, and sights without causing one to be more favored than the other. He is a “Camelion Poet” shifting without being caught.
Keats and the Sparrow
I think Keat’s “Ode to a Nightingale” goes along with the Sparrow letter. In the letter, Keat’s writes, “I scarcely remember counting upon any happiness.” This idea is very apparent in “Ode to a Nightingale.” For example, in line 41, “I cannot see what flowers are at my feet.” Keat’s is resigning from a life of happiness, he cannot see the flowers, he cannot be happy. In “Ode to a Nightingale,” Keat’s has accepted his own loss of life. He is defeated and at a loss that he has come to accept. The sparrow and the nightingale both represent a sense of freedom and renewel. Keats writes, “if a sparrow come before my window, I take part in its existence…” Keats also exists along side the nightingale in line 31 he writes, “Away! Away! For I will fly to thee.” Keats relates to the nightingale, as he does the sparrow.
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