15 Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,
Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,
Or on the wealth of globed peonies;
Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,
Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,
20 And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes. 3
She7 dwells with Beauty?Beauty that must die;
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips
Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,
1. The waters of forgetfulness in Hades. like markings on its back. The 'beetle' of line 6 2. The wife of Pluto and queen of the underworld. refers to replicas of the large black beetle, the 'Nightshade' and 'wolf's-bane' (line 2) are poison-scarab, which were often placed by Egyptians in ous plants. their tombs as a symbol of resurrection. 3. A symbol of death. 5. Secret rituals. 4. In ancient times Psyche (the soul) was some-6. I.e., sorrow needs contrast to sustain its intentimes represented as a butterfly or moth, fluttering sity. out of the mouth of a dying man. The allusion may 7. Usually taken to refer to Melancholy rather also be to the death's-head moth, which has skull-than to 'thy mistress' in line 18.
.
90 8 / JOH N KEAT S 2530 Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips: Ay, in the very temple of Delight VeiI'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine, Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;8 His soul shall taste the sadness of her might, And be among her cloudy trophies hung.9 1819 1820
Ode on Indolence1
'They toil not, neither do they spin.'2
1 One morn before me were three figures seen, With bowed necks, and joined hands, side-faced; And one behind the other stepp'd serene, In placid sandals, and in white robes graced: 5 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 10 With vases, to one deep in Phidian3 lore.
2
How is it, shadows, that I knew ye not? How came ye muffled in so hush a masque? Was it a silent deep- disguised plot To steal away, and leave without a task 15 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 20 Unhaunted quite of all but?nothingness?
3
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 ached for wings, because I knew the three: 25 The first was a fair maid, and Love her name;
8. Sensitive, refined. happiness; and is a rare instance of advantage in 9. A reference to the Greek and Roman practice the body overpowering the Mind.' The ode was of hanging trophies in the temples of the gods. probably written soon after this time, but was not 1. On March 19, 1 819, Keats wrote to George and published until 1848, long after the poet's death. Georgiana Keats: 'This morning I am in a sort of 2. Matthew 6.28. Christ's comment on the lilies temper indolent and supremely careless. . . . Nei-of the field?a parable justifying those who trust ther Poetry, nor Ambition, nor Love have any alert-to God rather than worry about how they will feed ness of countenance as they pass by me: they seem or clothe themselves. rather like three figures on a greek vase?a Man 3. Phidias was the great Athenian sculptor of the and two women?whom no one but myself could 5th century B.C.E. who designed the marble sculpdistinguish in their disguisement. This is the only tures for the Parthenon.
.
LAMIA / 909
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,? 30
I knew to be my demon4 Poesy.
4 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; 35 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, 40 Or hear the voice of busy common-sense!
5 A third time 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: 45 The morn was clouded, but no shower fell, Though in her lids hung the sweet tears of May; The open casement press'd a new-leaved vine, Let in the budding warmth and throstle's lay;0 thrush's song O shadows! 'twas a time to bid farewell! 50 Upon your skirts had fallen no tears of mine.
6 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!5 55 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,0 spirit 60 Into the clouds, and never more return!
Spring 1819 1848
Lami a In a note printed at the end of the poem, Keats cited as his source the following story in Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy (1621):
4. Meaning both devil and, as in Greek myth, the from abatement of my love of fame. I hope I am a spirit that
