1. PART 1
● Short biography: Born in London, England, on October 31, 1795, John Keats
devoted his short life to the perfection of poetry marked by vivid imagery, great
sensuous appeal and an attempt to express a philosophy through classical legend. In
1818 he went on a walking tour in the Lake District. His exposure and overexertion
on that trip brought on the first symptoms of the tuberculosis, which ended his life.
Romantic features.
2. ● Nature: In nature, the Romantics found inspiration for their poetry, wisdom, and
straight-up happiness. If we went to the Romantics with a diagnosis of depression,
they'd tell us: "Forget meds; take a walk in the park. Hug a tree. Talk to a bird. All you
need is a little green." Part of the Romantics' obsession with nature had to do with the
fact that they were living and writing at the time of the Industrial Revolution.
● Spiritual/Supernatural Elements
● Idealized Women
● Interest in Past History/Ancient Greek and Roman Elements
● Individuality/Democracy/Personal Freedom
PART 2
Stanza 1: What not to do
● Do not forget / Do not suffer -> enjoy
● Don’t let anyone / anywho to tell you melancholy is negative, because it is not.
● Repetition of negative pronouns to emphasize melancholy. Melancholy is not bad
● “Lethe”: river of forgetfulness
● “Proserpine”: queen of the underworld (hell)
● “Drown the wakeful anguish of the soul”
Death is not an option, do not forget!
Opposite stanzas
Stanza 2: what to do (positive) embrace life
● Melancholy will hit you
● -> what to do when it happens
● “Like a weeping cloud” -> simile
● Accept melancholy -> go through it -> (do not avoid it) -> this is the only way to feel
joy
● Positive nature : full of color and life
○ “April” -> spring
○ “Rainbow”
○ “Droop-headed flowers”
○ “Green hill”
● “Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose” —> metaphor portraying the fact that even
in all the melancholy aspects of life, positiveness can be found
● “Peerless eyes” —> metaphor to express how lonely someone can be when that
persona is sad. But we have to accept melancholy in order to be happy
Stanza 3: how melancholy and joy are connected
3. ● You can not enjoy happiness and joy if you haven’t understood melancholy first
● One need to fully understand and accept melancholy to be able to enjoy the positive
aspects of life.
● One cannot exist without the other
● Very positive stanza
● Enjoy life —> good and bad
● “Beauty that must die” -> related with nature -> when spring is over it will start later
again. Ironic since it won’t die
● “Joy” is personified
● Turn depresión into creation
