Analysis of Ode On Indolence
John Keats 1795 (Moorgate) – 1821 (Rome)
ONE morn before me were three figures seen,
I With bowed necks, and joined hands, side-faced;
And one behind the other stepp'd serene,
In placid sandals, and in white robes graced;
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
With vases, to one deep in Phidian lore.
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
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
Unhaunted quite of all but---nothingness?
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:
The morn was clouded, but no shower fell,
Tho' in her lids hung the sweet tears of May;
The open casement press'd a new-leav'd vine,
Let in the budding warmth and throstle's lay;
O Shadows! 'twas a time to bid farewell!
Upon your skirts had fallen no tears of mine.
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;
The first was a fair maid, and Love her name;
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,---
I knew to be my demon Poesy.
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;
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,
Or hear the voice of busy common-sense!
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!
Fade sofdy 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,
Into the clouds, and never more return!
Scheme | ABABCDECDE FGFGHIIHII EIHIJKLKJL MNMNOGXOGI IPIPQIIQII IIIIECXEBC |
---|---|
Poetic Form | Tetractys (20%) |
Metre | 1101101101 111101111 0101010101 0101000111 1111010101 1101110101 1101110111 1101011101 0101111101 110111011 111111111 1111001101 110101011 1101010101 11011101010 01011101 111111101 1111011110 1111110111 11111100 011111011 1111010111 111101110 11001010101 0111011101 1001101111 010110111 100101011 11101111 01111101111 0111110101 1101010111 1100110111 0111011101 0110110101 0101010111 010101011 0111110111 110101011 11111101 110011101 1101110111 011101011 1011011101 11111101 1111111101 0101011 1111110101 1111011101 1101110101 1111011101 11110001001 11111111 011000101 111110111 0111010101 111110101 0101110111 1011011101 0101010101 |
Closest metre | Iambic pentameter |
Characters | 2,758 |
Words | 479 |
Sentences | 24 |
Stanzas | 6 |
Stanza Lengths | 10, 10, 10, 10, 10, 10 |
Lines Amount | 60 |
Letters per line (avg) | 33 |
Words per line (avg) | 8 |
Letters per stanza (avg) | 325 |
Words per stanza (avg) | 79 |
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Submitted on May 13, 2011
Modified on March 10, 2023
- 2:28 min read
- 123 Views
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"Ode On Indolence" Poetry.com. STANDS4 LLC, 2024. Web. 26 Apr. 2024. <https://www.poetry.com/poem-analysis/23404/ode-on-indolence>.
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