The works of Keats and Shelley have got attracted the interest of many students of British literature. In this essay, an attempt is made to compare the literary works of John Keats and Percy Shelley. This kind of comparison is relevant due to the fact that the poets had been the contemporaries.
David Keats can be considered as belonging to the Romantic institution in English language literature as they wrote various poems regarding the importance of take pleasure in which this individual considered as the foundation of living as without love there is not any goal pertaining to human presence. This indicates the spirit for lifetime possessed simply by Keats. In some of his poems Keats expressed his love to get the lady who also becomes the central persona of his poems. However , in addition there are poems which will reflected the sadness, melancholy and complete despair and hopelessness regarding the human presence. This can be experienced by the analyze of his poem “Ode on Melancholy.
This composition demonstrates the truth the human enjoyment is temporary and it is susceptible to miseries and pain. Through this poem, Keats seems to recommend the short-term nature of happiness and this life is false impression as always it is not possible to achieve what one particular desires. On the other hand in his “Ode on a Grecian Urn there exists a different sense expressed by the poet. Through this poem Keats is full of pleasure and great feelings when he believes that life is full of happiness and it is beautiful. In this poem, many times there is the utilization of the word ‘happy’ which indicates the mood from the poet whilst writing this poem.
Actually his “Ode on Melancholy and “Ode on a Grecian Urn shows the two diverse views. However, they also reveal the reality of life. As a result, Keats indicated both confident and negative feelings in the poems. These two different poems seem to show the contrary nature of his poems. Nevertheless, despair is required to recognize the value of joy. Hence, to be able to fully enjoy happiness or perhaps joy you should be aware of melancholy as well.
You can even find the fact that melancholy is in fact necessary to take pleasure in the experience of pleasure. Hence two different poetry have been consisting by Keats to fully value joys and problems in every area of your life. The poems of Keats remind all of us that after every we are human beings and that individuals are men. Keats as well speaks regarding the inevitability of loss of life and he romanticizes the pleasure of painless fatality. (Victoria, 2000)
Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn and Shelley’s “Ode to the West Wind had been composed during the same year. Being Romantic poets the critics may possibly expect both of them to express precisely the same feelings. Nevertheless , both the poetry give different messages. Shelly seems to rely on change and hence always there is definitely hope because misery needs to be followed by joy just like there are different seasons.
Thus, Shelly is more confident and positive of the present world although he allows that there is both equally melancholy and happiness in one’s existence. Keats appears to believe in stationary life and life with little of activities while Shelly believed in life full of motion, change and dramatic improvements. The changes in nature will be represented in the poem. In charge of Shelly breeze becomes representational expression of motion and change.
The poet person is also positive of death because the moment there is death, there is beginning also. Shelly seems to believe that change can be life and life is change. Shelly echoes of the almighty of transform although this god of change may mean of god of destruction. This implies that he respects however, negative advancements in the human being life. This is certainly proved by the fact that the poet possibly welcomes death because it is accompanied by birth and so there is expect even in death. Hence, when compared with Keats, Shelley is somewhat more optimistic of life with motion and he loves both good and bad experiences anytime. He claims to become a product of autumn.
He knows the happiness and melancholy of the autumn animal. For Keats beauty is viewed in the stillness of the urn. He looks forward to the motionless life of the urn. Inside the work of Keats there is reference to the melancholy life. In spite of these types of differences, in their different poems, both Keats and Shelley discuss about the hidden that means of quiet which is defined by the use of diverse expressions. (Victoria, 2000)
Even though both Keats and Shelly belonged to the college of Romanticism in English literature and although they wrote the poems during the same year, you will find significant distinctions between all their poems “Ode on a Grecian Urn and “Ode for the West Wind. While Keats expressed his love pertaining to stillness, Shelly considered lifestyle as filled with motion and action.
Bibliography
(2000). “Discussion Questions about the Poetry of Keats and Shelley, The Victorian Web Before Victoria: Selected Authors in the eighteenth and nineteenth decades, Retrieved on the web on 30-08-2005 from http://www.victorianweb.org