Name: Azra Batool
Roll# 17128
Subject: Romantic Poetry
Submitted to: Maám Sammar
Hellenism in Keats ‘Poetry
Hellenism
The word “Hellenism” is derived from the word ‘Hellene’ which means Greek. So, “Hellenism” means
Greek temperature quality, culture, manner, Greek spirit and Greek idioms.
Hellenism in Keats’ Poetry
English literature sustained its greatest loss due to the premature death of John Keats. He was not only the
last but also the most perfect of the Romantics. Keats among the Romantics was different in many ways,
especially in mood, temperature, spirit and love of Greek art, culture and mythology.
Keats “Hellenism” on his love for Greek arts, sculpture and mythology has made him distinct in the
gallery of Romantics. It was Shelley who first expressed his opinion that “Keats was a Greek”. Though,
Keats was not an English man or not an English poet. His passion of Greek ideals and idols was very
great which vividly expressed in his poems.
The Greek influence came to him through his reading of translation of Greek classics, Lempriere’s
classical dictionary and through Greek sculpture. One of his friends Lent him a copy of Champan’s
translation of Homer. He was fascinated by the new word of wonder and delight, which Homer revealed
to him. He felt as he had discovered a new planet
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies,
When a new plant swims into his ken.
Secondly, his study of Lemprier’s classical dictionary fully acquainted him with the Greek mythology; he
loved every bit of it and freely used it in his poetry.
The third source is Greek sculpture. His sonnet, On Seeing the English Marbles indicates his emotion
reaction to the sculptured “wonders” of ancient Greece.
Features of Hellenism in Keats ‘Poetry
Hellenism feature in Keats Poetry: 1. Greek instinct 2. Love for Greek culture & literature 3. Love with
Greek sculpture & art 4. Love for beauty 5. Greek temperament 6. Touch for fatalism & tragedy 7. Use of
myths & legends 8. Influence of homer in poetry 9. Melancholy attitude 10. Combined romanticism with
Greek
Love for beauty
One of the most important ingredients of romantic poetry is passionate love for beauty. Every poet in one
way or the other is lover of beauty. In fact, every writer has love for this important ingredient. John
Milton was a good lover of beauty as well as religion. William Wordsworth finds beauty only in nature.
John Keats is different among them; he does not only like beauty but also appreciates the things related to
it. In his case, everything which touches the senses is beautiful. Art, birds’ songs, forests, clouds, skies,
seasons, in fact every element either natural or unnatural, is beautiful in his eyes. Being a pure romantic
poet, he finds it in everything. If he listens the song of nightingale, he calls it ever-last beauty. If he sees a
beautiful season, he finds beauty in it.
In his earlier poems, John Keats has talked about beauty which he has found in material things; most of
them are natural elements such as clouds, skies, forests etc. In later poems, his approach is something
extraordinary. In these poems, he talks about abstract beauty. For instance, autumn season is beautiful for
him; there is an element of beauty in song of nightingale; Greek art gives him words to praise beauty. He
also mentions beauty in immortality. When other poets malign the autumn season, John Keats seeks
beauty in it. Everything is joyful for him though it depends on his mood. It is because he appreciates
beauty and finds beauty in everything even in melancholy. Thus, his approach is entirely different from
other poets of his era.
Another important thing about John Keats is that he always talks about sensuous beauty. When he
mentions an element of beauty, it touches the senses of readers. For listening, the song of nightingale is
the best thing; to watch, sculptures are great; autumn season is also awesome in this regard; to smell,
flowers are pleasant. Similarly, every other sense is touched by the beauty, which is mentioned in the
poems of John Keats. He directly hits the senses and leaves everything on the readers to watch, smell and
feel. His contribution, in this context, is remarkable. That’s why Shelly calls him best romantic poet of his
era. He is last romantic poet but best among them because of his attitude towards beauty. Though his
carrier was brief but it had left much work to brighten his name in this world.
Many examples can be found from his work, from which, readers witness his appreciation of beauty.
Hyperion is an example of it; bundles of sad images can be found from this poem yet the poet does not
leave any chance to appreciate beauty. His famous poem “Ode to Nightingale” has been referred many
times. This poem can be used to exemplify any element of romantic poetry but for appreciation of beauty,
its significance is praiseworthy. Starting lines of “Endymion” strengthen the assertion that the poet is
passionate lover of beauty; he says “A thing of beauty is a joy forever”. In fact, every poem of John Keats
proves that he is passionate lover of beauty.
It is another capability of John Keats that he makes comparison between different things; most of the
time, his comparison remains between beauty and melancholy but at the same time he compares mortality
and immortality, life and death, art and life etc. Even when he makes comparison between mortality and
immortality, he mentions beauty and prefers it; he does not like mortality because it ends beauty. He
prefers art and song of nightingale over life and mortality because they are immortal and they will remain
forever; a bird can die but his song is immortal and it will be listened forever. Similarly, art is everlasting.
He takes example of a sculpture and proves that it will also remain forever. Thus, immortal things are
beautiful for him and they will everlastingly impress the upcoming generations. Furthermore, he is
famous for putting melancholy and beauty in juxtaposition. He says that melancholy dwells with beauty
because he knows the sufferings of life; he has felt every pain; he lived a miserable life, therefore, he is
well aware with the fact that beauty is not divorced from melancholy, thus sadness is part of life.
Comparison between beauty and other things also proves that he loves beauty.
John Keats was a pure poet; therefore, beauty was a good subject for him to write poetry. He has chosen it
because he has felt it. He has found it in everything. In his letter to Amy Lowell, he writers:-
“I am certain of nothing but of the holiness of 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….”
We are well aware with the fact that John Keats life was full of pains and worries even then he regards
life as beautiful thing. This world may not be perfect for him but the perfect world lies in his mind, which
is definitely beautiful. His strong imagination helps him to create a beautiful world, which is free from
pains and worries of life. Truth, in his eyes, is beauty and beauty is truth, which is enough for him. He
identifies beauty simultaneously truth. In his views, each object and every element as well as thought is
beautiful. Many of us cry that life is painful but Keats says; it depends on the person, how he sees the
world. It is, therefore, said that “Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder”
Indeed, John Keats has pursued beauty in his whole life. He has found it and has also shown it to the
world. His imagination helps him to underestimate the pain and overestimate beauty. It is not wrong to
say that joyful moment of John Keats’ life is that when he feels beauty and talks about it. John Keats’
whole work is based on pursuance of beauty, therefore, it can be concluded in following lines:-
“Beauty is Truth and Truth Beauty, -that is all.
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
Love for Greek culture
As is common in the poetry of John Keats, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” owes much of its subject matter to
ancient Greek culture and mythology. The titular urn is an ancient Greek artifact whose surface the
speaker studies carefully. The images painted onto the urn reflect scenes that are at once particular to
Greek culture and yet reflective of broader human experiences. The romantic chase takes place in “Tempe
or the dales of Arcady,” locations on the Greek peninsula, and yet the lover’s chase is a timeless part of
human life. As Keats envisions it, the role of art is to identify what is timeless in a particular image,
object, or scene. His use of allusion serves that very goal.
Hellenism or the Greek Spirit in his poetry
The classical traits and elements of his poetry have their chief source in Greek literature and mythology.
His classical spirit finds nourishment in the mythology & poetry of ancient Greece, Moreover, The works
of Greek art and literature serve as classical models of his own work. Keats was a Greek in the sense of
possessing a Greek spirit, a love of all that belonged to Greece-it life, legends, myth, art & literature. He
shared with them a delight in the beauty of the external world and pagan worship of nature, what in most
surprising is the fact that he imbibed this Greek spirit without ever having seen Greece or learnt the Greek
language. As a poet he has taken subjects from there and treated them in a novel manner. Several of his
longer poems such as Endymion, Hyperion and Lamia are based on Greek myths. A few of his sonnets
like 'To Homer', 'On first Looking into Chapmen's Homer' and 'On seeing the Elgin Marble's are inspired
by Greek art and literature. The great odes 'To psyche’, 'On a Grecian Urn, 'On Indolence' and 'To Maia'
also our Their origin to Greek mythology and art. There are several references to Greek mythology in
other poems as well. Endymion' deals with the legend of the love of the Moon Goddess for the shepherd
Endymion', Hyperion treats the ancient Greek legend of the Over throw of the Old gods (Titans) by the
new gods (Olympians)', Lamia Presents the story of the love of the serpent –Goddess (Lamia) and a
human being (Lycius). The "Ode on a Grecian Urn' and ode on Indolence' are inspired by pieces of Greek
sculpture, the decorated marble urn's the fragmentary 'Ode to Maia' is related to the ancient worship of the
Greek Goddess Maia', The 'Ode to psyche' is based on the legend related to the love of the Greek God
Cupid and the goddess psyche or the Human soul. All these poems show low deeply Keats imagination
was steeped in the classical mythology and art of ancient Greece.
But Keats treats these mythological figures in novel and different manner; for instance, Greek poets like
Hesiod, Homer and Orpheus have supplied pompous epithets to the Greek gods and goddesses. Presented
by them. But Keats makes the mythological figures of his poems such as Saturn, Apploo or Oceanus in
Hyperion speak like human beings.
Greek Atmosphere and Approach to nature
Through his treatment of Greek myths and allusions to Greek characters, Keats creates a Greek
atmosphere in his poetry. For this, he presents typically Greek objects, ceremonies, rentals and customs,
shrines altars, pipes, processions & sacrifices. In the very beginning of the 'Ode on a Grecian Urn', such
atmosphere in created up by his various questions related to these things:
What leaf-fringid legend haunts about the shape
Of duties or mortals, or of both.
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What man or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and tumbrels? What wild ecstasy?
Endymion contains a fine description of a Bachhic procession. And as I sat, over the light blue hills
There came a noise of revelers: the rills
Into the wide stream came of purple hue
'twas Bachhus and his crew!
Descriptions such as this combine the beauties of the scenes of Nature and the charm of Greek like of
ancient times. In fact, Keats portrays scenes from Nature in such a way as to illustrate the Greek myths
and modes of life. Though he doesn't have any spiritual approach to Nature, he discovers and presents the
relation between Greek goods and natural phenomena. He hardly finds any object of Nature unconnected,
in some way or the other, with Greek mythology. For example, when he describes the nightingale in his
'ode to a Nightingale', he refers to is as 'the light-winged Dryad of the trees.' In ' I stood tip toe' he makes
us look into the wide forest.
To catch a glimpse of fauns, and Dryads
coming with softest rustle through the trees,
Keats's treatment of Greek mythology is novel in the sense that he has maintained a close relationship
between nature and mythology and given a human significance to mythological characters and situations.
He does not attach any spiritual or intellectual significance to Nature, but revels in its external beauty.
The Greek concepts of the identify of beauty and truth appealed to him and is expressed in the 'Ode on a
Grecian Urn' through the urn's message.
Beauty is truth, truth beauty-that is all
Ye know on earth and all ye need to know.
Keats is thus a classicist because he has dealt with themes, subjects and situation related to ancient Greek
mythology and literature, The world of classical Greece has become alive in his poems. However, it
would be wrong to regard Keats manner entirely Greek. He was mainly a romantic poet and wrote in a
manner differing from that of the classical poets. The perfection of form, the beauty of shape, the purity
and preciseness of outline, a restraint and reserve in expression these qualities that are generally
associated with Greek art & poetry are found only in a few of Keats poems. In place of these traits of the
classical manner Keats poetry often exhibits romantic traits such as richness of imagination, ornateness of
design exuberance of imagery & luxuriance of style that we find in poems like Endymion and that are
opposed to the Greek qualities of restraint and discipline. In fact, he adopts a romantic style and English
manner for dealing with classical themes and legends of Greece.
Conclusion:
It may be concluded that Keats was a Greek in spirit but romantic in form. He treated the themes and
myths of Greece in the romantic manner of the Elizabethans. His early poetry employs a romantic style
and expression even in the treatment of classical Greek subjects as in Endymion, but in his mature works
like Hyperion and the odes his manner has close affinities with the classical manner. By and large,
however, he can be regarded a Greek in spirit but an Elizabethan in from, a classicist in the choice of
subjects but a romanticist in their treatment. He may be said to have thus brought a fusion of the romantic
and the classical.
