Ode To Psyche Essay, Research Paper
Ode to Psyche
O Goddess! hear these tuneless numbers, wrung
By sweet enforcement and remembrance dear,
And pardon that thy secrets should be sung
Even into thine own soft-conched ear:
Surely I dreamt to-day, or did I see
The winged Psyche with awaken’d eyes?
I wander’d in a forest thoughtlessly,
And, on the sudden, fainting with surprise,
Saw two fair creatures, couched side by side
In deepest grass, beneath the whisp’ring roof
Of leaves and trembled blossoms, where there ran
A brooklet, scarce espied:
Mid hush’d, cool-rooted flowers, fragrant-eyed,
Blue, silver-white, and budded Tyrian,
They lay calm-breathing, on the bedded grass;
Their arms embraced, and their pinions too;
Their lips touch’d not, but had not bade adieu,
As if disjoined by soft-handed slumber,
And ready still past kisses to outnumber
At tender eye-dawn of aurorean love:
The winged boy I knew;
But who wast thou, O happy, happy dove?
His Psyche true!
O latest born and loveliest vision far
Of all Olympus’ faded hierarchy!
Fairer than Ph{oe}be’s sapphire-region’d star,
Or Vesper, amorous glow-worm of the sky;
Fairer than these, though temple thou hast none,
Nor altar heap’d with flowers;
Nor virgin-choir to make delicious moan
Upon the midnight hours;
No voice, no lute, no pipe, no incense sweet
From chain-swung censer teeming;
No shrine, no grove, no oracle, no heat
Of pale-mouth’d prophet dreaming.
O brightest! though too late for antique vows,
Too, too late for the fond believing lyre,
When holy were the haunted forest boughs,
Holy the air, the water, and the fire;
Yet even in these days so far retir’d
From happy pieties, thy lucent fans,
Fluttering among the faint Olympians,
I see, and sing, by my own eyes inspir’d.
So let me be thy choir, and make a moan
Upon the midnight hours;
Thy voice, thy lute, thy pipe, thy incense sweet
From swinged censer teeming;
Thy shrine, thy grove, thy oracle, thy heat
Of pale-mouth’d prophet dreaming.
Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane
In some untrodden region of my mind,
Where branched thoughts, new grown with pleasant pain,
Instead of pines shall murmur in the wind:
Far, far around shall those dark-cluster’d trees
Fledge the wild-ridged mountains steep by steep;
And there by zephyrs, streams, and birds, and bees,
The moss-lain Dryads shall be lull’d to sleep;
And in the midst of this wide quietness
A rosy sanctuary will I dress
With the wreath’d trellis of a working brain,
With buds, and bells, and stars without a name,
With all the gardener Fancy e’er could feign,
Who breeding flowers, will never breed the same:
And there shall be for thee all soft delight
That shadowy thought can win,
A bright torch, and a casement ope at night,
To let the warm Love in!
The original myth of Psyche is quite a late product of Greek mythology. In the myth, Aphrodite, goddess of love, is jealous of the beautiful mortal, Psyche, and commands Eros to make her fall in love with a low creature. But Eros himself falls in love with her. But since he is a god he can only visit her unidentified at night. Finally, overwrought with loving curiosity, she identifies him with a light and he is forced to flee. She searches desperately for him but the same curiosity which lost her Eros almost causes her to be dragged into the underworld. Eros saves her and persuades Zeus to immortalize her. She gives her name to the human spirit.
‘Ode to Psyche’ is the first of Keats’s odes. He wrote it in April 1819. He had tried to write some odes before. There are for example two in Endymion (’To Pan’, and ‘To Sorrow’). The ode is a form of lyrical poem which Keats learned from Greek literature. Originally it was a poem intended to be sung, having a metrical structure and celebratory themes.
Ode to Psyche is less well known than the famous later odes. It is ofted excluded from anthologies. Maybe its varied stanza length and conversational rhythm implies casualness. But that is a quality that appeals to me. It takes place in a territory between sleep and wakefulness:
Surely I dreamt to-day, or did I see
The winged Psyche with awaken’d eyes?
Keats chooses Psyche as the subject of his celebratory ode because she stands for the human soul, searching for the unknown and for a home at the same time. His first two stanzas celebrate the goddess. The movement of the verse is peaceful and gentle: the pair is seen:
Their lips touched not, but had not bade adieu
In the second stanza he catalogues with the same tenderness as before the proper dues to Psyche which she was never paid.
O latest born and loveliest vision far
Of all Olympus’ faded hierarchy
Fairer that Phoebe’s sapphire-region’d star
Or Vesper, amorous glow-worm of the sky…
In the third stanza he continues his strongly felt regret that mystery has drawn back from earth and the human spirit.
O brightest! though too late for antique vows,
Too, too late for the fond believing lyre,
When holy were the haunted forest boughs,
holy the air, the water, and the fire;
Yet even in these days so far retired
From happy pieties, thy lucent fans,
Fluttering among the faint Olympians,
I see, and sing, by my own eyes inspired
In the second part of the stanza he repeats the second half of the second stanza, contradicting the earlier negatives and repeating the list of sacred equipment. The repetition is part of the firm structure behind the soft surface. It leads into the fourth stanza:
Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane
The stanza is full of decision and confidently rises to a tender climax. The landscape is indistinct, because he is describing a landscape of the mind. Yet the result is extremely beautiful. The rich landscape is made full by the entrance of ‘warm love.’
And in the midst of this wide quietness
A rosy sanctuary will I dress
With the wreath’d trellis of a working brain,
With buds, and bells, and stars without name
In this ode Keats is defining the human qualities which he sees threatened and wishes passionately to preserve.
Другие работы по теме:
Post Modernism Essay Research Paper Essay
Post Modernism Essay, Research Paper Essay #3 Art Spiegelman’s Maus II is a book that tells more than the story of one family’s struggle to live thought the Holocaust. It gives us a look into the psyche of a survivor’s child and how the Holocaust affected him and many other generations of people who were never there at all.
Romeo An Juliet Essay Research Paper hi
Romeo An Juliet Essay, Research Paper hi i need an essay about a character in romeo and juliet that demonsrtated maturity. in a well developed multi pagraph essay and say why you think the character’s maturity was greater than the other characters in the play.
Censorship Essay Research Paper The negative messages
Censorship Essay, Research Paper The negative messages kids receive via the media have a damaging affect on their psyche and can create serious societal problems. In truth “[t]he violence to which American children are exposed in the name of
Oh Really Essay Research Paper Oh Reallyyou
Oh Really? Essay, Research Paper Oh Really, you think i am a lark, the dogs they run and bark, but when i say to them, shut up shut up shut up, you say to be nice to them,
The Player Piano Essay Research Paper Evaluate
The Player Piano Essay, Research Paper Evaluate the effectiveness of diction as an adjunct to meaning in John Updike’s “Player Piano”. In “Player Piano”, John Updike uses personification to give life to a ?unhuman’ piano. By using diction to communicate his ideas, he effectively allows the reader to explore the psyche of a “Player Piano”.
Females In The Odyssey Essay Research Paper
The Odyssey has much to teach us about the feminine psyche. The feminine psyche is the way that the female mind and soul react to and process situations. Females are generally faithful, giving, and respectful to their mates. We have an insight into the feminine psyche in several things that Penelope does. The weaving and unweaving of the shroud and the test of the bed are two examples of the way Penelope thinks.
Shane Essay Research Paper Sometimes I need
Shane Essay, Research Paper Sometimes, I need you more than I need air And sometimes I miss you more than I will forever, never forget the times that we have shaared. The are priceless
Poem Belong Essay Research Paper Where I
Poem: Belong Essay, Research Paper Where I belong I am weak, I am strong I will fit where I belong don’t know where it is for now but it will come, if I allow tomorrow, I start a brand new day
Cause Of Crime Essay Research Paper Criminals
Cause Of Crime Essay, Research Paper Criminals are born as with a different psychological scheme that persuades them to commit crime. Scientists believe that criminals develop such a complex from either a biological, however not genetic, chemicals in their body. These differences allow a psychological failure that leads the person not to develop a conscience.
Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay Research Paper Analysis
Ralph Waldo Emerson Essay, Research Paper Analysis of Genius Ralph Waldo Emerson was a brilliant man who took the meaning of self-reliance to another uniform. His convoluted conceptions on Genius and Transdentalism are more in touch with self. His inhabitants and whereabouts such as the Waldon pond were very substantial to him.
Him Essay Research Paper I think about
Him Essay, Research Paper I think about him day and night The though won’t go away And, oh, how I would hold him tight every second of the day He is perfect, that is true, not an average me or you
Stars Essay Research Paper Bright Star Would
Stars Essay, Research Paper Bright Star, Would I were Steadfast as Thou Art Endymion (excerpts) The Eve of St. Agnes Fancy The Human Seasons Hyperion If by Dull Rhymes our English must be Chain’d
Tell Tale Heart Essay Research Paper Within
Tell Tale Heart Essay, Research Paper Within the human psyche there is a small and sometimes undefined line between what drives us to do good and that which pushes towards corruption. The battle to maintain balance between the two is the theme of Edgar Allan Poe s The Tell-Tale Heart. For sane individuals it requires a traumatic or life altering event to push them across the line, however for the insane it can be a very inconsequential event that drives them completely mad.
Serial Killer Fascination Essay Research Paper Ultimate
Serial Killer Fascination Essay, Research Paper Ultimate Evil Serial killer, mass murderer, and psychopath are three words that should send people running in the other direction. Simply saying these words, people are immediately linking viscous acts with an ultimately evil person committing these crimes.
Crime And Punishment Rodya Analysis Essay Research
Paper Raskolnikov’s psyche changes in many ways throughout this novel; in the beginning he is already agitated and on edge, once he murders the pawnbroker he almost loses his mind, but then Sonia comes along and shows him the way out of the madness. Also Raskolnikov seems to have two different personalities.
Poem She Sat Essay Research Paper She
Poem: She Sat Essay, Research Paper She sat… helpless in her room praying to whatever god there may be to let her call to him. could god ignore such a painful cry?
Violence And Pornography Essay Research Paper Is
Violence And Pornography Essay, Research Paper Is pornography harmful to the human psyche? Interpretations of recent studies on violence and pornography have yielded a wide range of theories on this subject. Victor Cline asserts that there is plenty of evidence showing pornography to be harmful. He believes that it ?degrades women and desensitizes males to sexual violence? (Slife, 270).
Socrates Essay Research Paper Philosophy is a
Socrates Essay, Research Paper Philosophy is a vast field. It examines and probes many different fields. Virtue, morality, immortality, death, and the difference between the psyche (soul) and the soma (body) are just a few of the
Ode To Melancholoy Aka Sadness Essay Research
Paper Ode on Melancholy: a.k.a. Sadness From the start, it is given that this poem is going to contain depressed images, imagery of sad mythological creatures and those whose worlds were turned upside down
Ode To Boys Essay Research Paper We
Ode To Boys Essay, Research Paper We like them But do they like us The ones we do never fuss They don’t stop in And we wonder why We stress, we bitch We sometimes cry
Madness Essay Research Paper Before the module
Madness Essay, Research Paper Before the module began I had a fixed idea of what madness was. I had underestimated the complexity of the portrayal of madness and as a result of this, I was surprised by the range of texts that we explored from that particular perspective.
Dare Essay Essay Research Paper What DARE
Dare Essay Essay, Research Paper What D.A.R.E Means To Me Dare has prepared me to say no to drugs in eight different ways. If anyone asks me to do drugs I will know what to do, such as- just ignoring the person or just
Fate And Destiny Essay Research Paper Fate
Fate And Destiny Essay, Research Paper Fate and Destiny In the beginning a man and a woman were born. They married each other and lived a life that was filled with much happiness and joy. One day a terrible
The FatherChild Relationship Essay Research Paper The
The Father-Child Relationship Essay, Research Paper The Father-Child Relationship The father-child connection proves to be a very important component to a child?s psyche growing up. A child nurtured in a caring, loving and affectionate environment will most likely be provided with the physiological and emotional support needed to become a well-rounded individual.