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1940

An analysis and interpretation of Keats' Endymion.

Lucie Lowry
University of Louisville

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Part of the Literature in English, British Isles Commons

Recommended Citation
Lowry, Lucie, "An analysis and interpretation of Keats' Endymion." (1940). Electronic Theses and
Dissertations. Paper 1835.
[Link]

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 tnfIVDBlfY OJ' liOUISVILLB

AN .lIfALYBIS .bD IBTERPRE!.l!rIOB

\
OY X&l!8' EIDYlIOB

.1 D1saertati'.
8ubll1tted to the J'acult7
Of the Graduate School of the Un1versit7 of Louisville
Ia :!&:rt1al [Link] of the
Bequ1rements for the Degre.
--~- Of . .ater of .uta

Dep&rtJl8n t of bgliah

1940
 1!!

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.......

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"t"
,

~
Jo
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,~
• ¢

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 "I have to apologize to the
lovers of 81mplicit7 for touching tAe
apell of loneline.. that hung about
Jlaclpion; if t.Xl7 of 'IQ" linea pleaA
for me with 8uch people, I shall be
prouA. "
X. .t8·. "}lirat prefaoe
to lIa!J!1oa"
[Link] OF CONfUT8
 TABLE OJ CONf.ENT8

-, CRlP9I. [Link]
PRDAOB • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 1

I. A HISTORY OF THE CRITICIS.

OJ UMKIOI • • • • • • • • • • 1

II. A HISTORY OJ THE WRITING • • • 36

III. AN AN!LYSIS OJ BOOI: OIB • • • • 4:4

IV~ AI' ANALYSIS OJ [Link] ftO • • • • '0

"-
v. AN AlULYSIS OF BOOK THREE • • • 98

VI. AB ANALYSIS 01' BOOX !POUR • • • 132

i

VII. !BE :rATE OJ ENDYlIION • • • • • 1" .~

VIII. BEOEIfT CBITICISJl Ili mE I
,I
LIGHT OJ THIS A.ItALYSI8 • • • • 18'1 I
i
i
CONCLUSIOll • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 209
BIBLIOGRAPHY • • • • • • • • • • • • • • 213
i
~
.....
, .-
 PltUACI

., lntereat ln the poet, IOU Ieate, ...

aro"8' by blta of local hlatory gathered aboat tn.
".01'7 of the poet'a brother, George Xeata, who onoe
11.,.e 4 In Louls.,.llle, xentucq.l It . .s to his brother
1& thl. olty that Xeate alire ••ed the oonfldent pro-
phe07, "I think I ahall be among the Engllah poet.
atter ., death,·2 a prophecy whlch ls now ackDowle4gei
to ha.,.e been true where.,.er Engllah poet!'7 la read. It
ls a strange refleotlon to th1uk that word. whioh ...,.el
the eaBtere orltl0, ..tthew Arnold, to proolata, "K. 1.,
he i. With [Link],"! whloh ha.,.e been repeate' to
trlteneBa, were read the flrst tlme human ey8a aaw thea
iD th18 spot of all the earth.
the prophetl0 aentenoe in the letter to hi.
brother followed a bra.,.e atatement, "!hls ls a mere

t. 11. 180m IUri of lew [Link]', tnuana, [Link] the

resulte of her reaearch lnto the llfe of George xeat.
at a meetlng ot the 'llson Club, Louls.,.11l., I8ntuok7,
r.t ~"r.J 1, 1934. !here [Link] preaent a number ot
Irea'-srandohlldren of George Xeat.. !he [Link]
at the clos. of the leoture was a deepl, lntereat1nl
: (
... experienoe when tamily traditiona were related and
reminisoenoes were exchange' by the deaoendants ot
George Xeats anI his neighbors.
I. Jorman, Durioe Buxton, !he Letters of John I;;ta,
I" York, ~ord tJDi.,.ers1'£y Press, ~Jl6, p.
I. £mold, Matthew ••• aays ln Crltl01s., Seoond leriea,
nl. II. Kacllillan and COm:p&ll7. 1893. p. 11'
 11
_tter of the 1I01I8I1t.· to 1Ddicate the writer'. ill-
4ifferenoe to oritioal attaoks on hi. poem, 1nAl!40a.
publi8hel in April. 1818. While hi. fr1ends were
endeavoring to neutrali.e the Tiolence of the bitias
oritici.m of powerful reTiewers. the poet, 8ecur. in
the oonfidenoe of greater works to 0088, had aS8UBed a
loft l attitud.. -A .are matter of the .oment,- but h.
did not survive to -glean" hi. -teemag brain,· and
Indy!don remains his most ambitious ooaplete' undertaktDs.
In ., own experienoe the first result of a oarefal
reading of Bndl!1on was an appreoiation of the poetl0
power in the desoription of soenerr. The narrative. at
fir8t obsoured b7 its intrioaoy and profu8ion. became
olearer as I read. To arrive at the poet's purpose, to
traoe the narrative with understanding, a olos. [Link]-
tioD ... neoessarr. Interest in the narrative and in
the inner meaning of thi8 poem resulted in the writi.,
of a detailel anal7sis of Endl!d0ne Interpretativ.
oo...nt. oa S1D81e lines or long pa ••age. were freelr
interlace4 With the narrative. ~s I prooeeded with the
analysis, I held ever in thought an interpretation of
the general idea, the spiritual parable. whioh the poet
held 80 olose to his heart. l I came to this taak with

1. Hewlet\. DOrothi. 110nals, IndianapOlis, the lobti.-

.errill CoJap8D.7, 1'38. p. 1 fO

us
 iii
no [Link] opinion8, and have oarried it ••
eager to read in the poetr, onll wbat the poet wrote.
fhis anal,tic eX8DdnatioD ot the narrat1ve i.
a thing which has not been done b, another 80 tar a.
I oan discover. !he lengest disouaaion ot the p.e. 1n
print ma, be read 1n the tir.t volume ot .., Lowell's
l!!! Xeata. ..ch of the apace allotted to this stuiT
ot lIn4l!1on is devoted to souroe8 of the poe., and tAe
intluenoe ot the plaoe. Xeata visited and ot hi8 triendB
upon its oomposiiion. the.e haYe 'e.n igaore' 1n .,
..al181s, of [Link], if for no other reaaoD, 8ino. the
literar, material for &n7 auch stud, i8 not available to
me. Beaide8 the most important thing i8 to learn what
the poet actuall, wrote. through hia letters we learn,
a],ao. what his opinions were at the time of wri tiq.
Another and Shorter exam1natio. of the poem is & part of
Biine, Colvin'. life of John Keata. !his aooount giYe.
eal, & broad, ver, general idea of the narratiye. Con-
[Link]" a reader oould not gain a detailed atory fro.
either of these authoritie ••
MY aecond interest in the preparation of thi. atudJ
haa been in interpretation. '0 the question, What dii
the poet B8¥? I haYe added • seoond, What did he mean?
In other words, I have had to oome to Bome concluBion on

p
 iT
.. disputed potnt, ~e subjeot of an allegor10al tnter-
pretatio.. .0 other orlt10al Interest has been OOB-
.1dere4. Choic. of subject, textual orlt101s., soaro.
mater1al, diotlon, princlple. of [Link] were
[Link]. !Wo purpo.e. onl, haTe IOTerneA this writing:
to make .. deta~le4 aBal78i. of Bn!J!1on. od 1;0 arrlTe
at an 1nterpretation of th.e poe..
the first of the two questlons oon.idere4 i.
arun,.red in the chaptera whloh &n8.l.1.e the poe.; the
[Link] i8 _awered ill put 1a tAo.e same ohapters. &Ill
to a greater degree in the chapters deToted to crltioi~

Betore beg1m1iDg . , anal78i8, I shall preaent in the

firet ohapter a history of the oritloal oplnlons which
haTe been publiahe' throughout the ,ears sinoe 1818,
ani shall deTete the --301' port10B of the spaoe to the
.o.t reoent oritioiam. I sball a180 in a seoond ohapter
preoeding ., [Link] and tnterpretation, reTiew the 011'-
oumstance. ander which Bn4z!1on was written. the next
four ohapters contain the analY81. of the tour books of
the poe~ the anal),sls of eaoh. book oonoludes With a
aamm&1'7 of the narratiTe and aa explanation of the rela-
tiOD the partioular book bears to End7m1on'a quest.
Ohapter SeTen then giTes ., interpretation of a part of
 the fourth book. and a final chapter coamenta on the
reoent critioisa. !be results of the detail.' stu"
are summari.e' briefl, iR the oonclusion.

$
 .l HISTORY OF THE CRITICISJI
OF BlmYKIOK

• 1':
 OHlPfBR I

A HISTORY 01' !BE CRI!ICISJI

OJ' BID11IIOB

Upon ita publioatiOJ'l iJ'l 1818 JlrLQ!1on _t

With ~ unfavorable reoeption by the great !or,r
,ouraa1a. :BlaoDoo4' _ and the Warterll. .llthoq)a
a deoi4e' oPPo8itiOJ'l to the poe. was found in these
important pub1ioations. it can be aaid that patient
reaearch has uneartha4 a n1lBlber of conteapor&r7 re-
vie•• ill alao r ead provincial periodioala whioh
a.s...d an enoouraging attitude. 1 yet theae obeoure
periodioals oounted for 11ttle in promoting the popu-
lari t7 of the poe.. ana. "the _in boq of the edi tiOD
langui8he' amranted and un'ound"! on the publisher' a
. . lve ••
A favorable turn in tba oritioal opinion of
lP4r!1on ooourred UpOD the publioation of Lord Houghton's
(aiohar4 lIOnokton Jrilnea) M.U!.. iettera, !!! L, terar,
.e.1Ila !1 JOD Xeata in 18d. 3 !hese T01. . _ oonteille4
a aerie. of Xeas_' familiar letters to hie frienda in
-
"'-

I. araE, George L•• and fiite. lewman J •• 'feat. iii

the periodioa1s of His !ime," IDdern Philolo«l,
12:8'·58
8. Hewlett, Dorotlq, ~ Oit., p. 198
I. Houghton, Lord (BiOhirl IrDnokton [Link]). !a!! and
Lettera of John Xeats, 2 vola., London. Georse l-utl_dB-
..,.. and 8OJl.;-r..l'iI'iei. 1ke .
Which hi. genius shinea almost aa vividly .a in hi.
yer.e. !he7 were well reoei~4; the ohara and intelli~

, .... of the letter. and the just crltiol •• of ~.

author in 1l11ne8' diatinguiahet at1le dissolv.d the

false ooneeptions that hadheanted the -_r7 of ][eata'
nrk fro. the tl_ of tAe early [Link],.... "1 thiDk
It i. i~oa81ble to 1&7 down the book [!p4l!do~.ft
wrote Lord Houghton. "Without feeling that al...t ever,
liDe of it contaiDa 80114 gold enough to be beaten out
" oommon lite,..arJ ...ataotarera. into a poe. b, itee1t.
[Link] at imager7. the hitting ott ot a piotur.
at a stroke. the clear decisive word that brins8 the
th1D8 before 1011 ant Will D~t let 7011 go, are the rareet
dist1notiona of the ear17 exeroiee at the facultie •• "
He is not onl7 8J111Pathetic. but alao illol1Ded to oontoM
][••t8' taulta: "80 _oh _re i8 uual17 mown thaD.
[Link]' b1 senattive youth. 10 .-eh .ore [Link] thea
..der8tood. so .uch more peroeived than Betholi•• '.
that dlftueion i8 fair17 permitted in the earlier stage.
of authorshtp.-l
!hese worda had their ettect. B7 1861
Joaeph Severn waa publi.a1ng in the At1antio an articl.

1. IbId •• vol. I. p. 2'

 on "The Vioisaitudes of Keata' Fame."l A different
oritical approach waa seen in F. K. OWen's, l!!! Xeata,
! Stall, published in 1880. 2 Mrs. OWen was the firat
to present an allegorical interpretation of En4l!10n.
In this original study "were laid the foundations of •
true underatanding of IadJ!4on as a parable of the ex-
perienoes of a poet's soul in its quest after Beaut,."Z
from that time eminent oritics oontinued to
publish valuable criticisms of Keats' work.
William Miohael ioaaetti aaw Xeate ae ". man of per-
... oeption rather than of contemplation or speoulation."'
Matthew Arnold wrote that "Keats was a great spirit"
•
who counted "for far more than man, eTen Of' hi. admirera
suppose."S Profeaaor de Selineourt published an edition
of Xeats' poems with a scholarly introduction, a portion
of Which is a criticism of Endl!don.o He was the first
oritio sinoe Mrs. OWen to 'eTote much space to this poe.,

'e::! 1. levern, Joseph, "the vicIssitudes of Keats' tame,·

AtlanljO, 11:401·7, 4pril. 1863
2. OWen, • 11., John Keats, !
C. Xegan Paul and Company, 1
sdsg l , London,

~~
, Z. Colvin, Sidney, 1!!! [Link], New York, Charles Soribner'.
Sona, 1926, p. 6..
4. Bossetti, William Michael, Life of John Keat., London,
lalter Scott, 1887, p. 164 ---- -- ----
i. Arnold, Bttnew, 2l1.!. Cit., p. 117
6. De Selincourt. Ernest, !!! poems !! l!!! Keata, Idite'
with an Introduction and 'ootnotes, New York, Dodt.
i8ii iiid Compan" 1906

-------------------------~~------~
and to suggest an iapli.l alleg0rJ. !heae were
Bucoe.d.' in turn by the more reoent critioB &a'
biographers of [Link] in Whom we •••• to find & oritioal
interest that is predominantly intellectual. With the
aboTe brief Sketoh of the shift in the oriticism of
I!!z!doa from the fir~t harsh [Link] ••8 at the time of
ita publioation to the stuiioUB [Link] later
aooor'e' the poem••• co.. to the recent oriticis~

Duriq the last twent7 7e&%"a the phaaes of [Link]'

work Which haT. inapired research aud critioal anal78i.
are four: (1) the souroes of the plot and the under17i.
phil080phioal thought attributed to [Link] influ-
eno •• ; (2) a probable allegorical interpretation; (3) &
psychologioal reTelatio. of the poet's ~d se.n in the
,oem itself; and (4) some oonsideration of the form, or
plan of the po•••
!his [Link] of Bn4l!1on critioi8m is
re8tricted to articles publishel Within the last tw••t7
Jears. 'or oonTenience the material i8 groupel under
the headings JU8t erUlIaeratei. OOlllD8nt upon thea.
critioal opiniona will follow a detailed analysis of
lD4z!40n. WbaneTer the work of 88Teral oritioa i8 1".-
Ti ...... their nameB are listed in the order of their
publioationa.
 &

~irst, BOdem critics oonclude that Xeat.

derived ideas for both the structure and the thought of
Bn4l!10n from Eliza'ethan wrlters: Spenser. sandJ-.
Shakespeare, and Drayton. the plot. according to
8ic1ne7 ColVin,
1
Claude Lee JinneJ.
2
and A1q Lowell,
a
who reoorded that she had had access to an unpublishe4
thesis of Claude Lee Jinnel',· containa s1a1lar1tle. to
the structure of »raJton' s poems, !!! !!!. .!!!. ...
Ko...,o_n.... and
_lbL_d..1...,mi--.-o-.n ~ Phoebe. Sldne7 colv1n and elsu"e Lee 'inne,
maintain that the poem contaias mach of the nee-Platoni ••
absorbe" from Drayton and Spenser.
8eoond. following the exallple of lIrs. OWe. 1D
18805 and Professor de Se11ncourt 1n 1905, the recent
writers on Xeats discuss the probability of an impliel
allegor7 in the story of EndJmion. Clarence De Witt Thorpe, 6
H. Clement lotcutt.'1 John ndileton JlUrr7,8 and

t. COlvIn, sIdney. John feats. 191' (fIrst edition)

2. 'innel', Claude Lee, "Dral'ton's 'bdimon and Phoebe'
and Xeats' 'EndJmion,'" publication .odern Language
3. '0.
AsSOCiation, 3':806-13, December. 1921
et1, Iii, JOhn Xeats, 2 vols. Boston. Houghto..
Kifflln OODlpaDJ', l 911
t

Ibid., vol. I, ,. 310

lee below, p. 16
Thorpe. Clarenoe De Witt. the [Link] John xeata,
London, Oxford Universitl' fress;-!9!( ----
7. lotcutt, H. Clement, End!ii0n, • Poetic Romance !l
lO. Xeats, !!!! .!!!. IntrFiciion!!!! lote., London,
OXford University Press,
8. ~rJ. I. Mlddleton, Studies in Xeats. London.
1'2'
OXford universit, presB, tllO--
 ,
Claude Lee Finne71 follow this earlier lead in tracing
allegorioal signifioance in JDdl!1on. ~ Lowell in
her biography published in 1926 utter17 re3ect. thia
proposition.
third, seTeral critics baTe shown a kee. apprecia-
tioD. .f the psychological 8ignificanoe of partioular
,.••agea or line. in BD4z!4oa. Those who._ oo ....t. Will
2
be Bote' are AJQ' Lowell, Olarence De Witt Thor,., an4
J. Middleton MDrr,r. Exoerpts from Xeats' letters are
frequently used, als., by [Link] Lowell, Clarenoe De Witt Thorpe,
..
w

an4 Claud. Lee Pinney in psyohologioal explanati... . f

hdp1on.

Fourth. an op1J:lion that bat. had .. more oareful.

arrangement of material than was at first peroeiTed.
auggested by Sidney Oolvin (191'). was opposed b7
~ Lowell (1926). and supported by 01aud. Lee Jinne7
(lila) •
Oertain faots about the souroes of Xeats' material
and his st71e haTe been agreed upon by criti08 fro. the
time any .erioua study was made of Bndp!1oa. It is
[Link] that Xeats was intensely interested tB
.,tholoS7, that he waa charmed by the Jlnd7Ddon story.

f •.•iiiieJ. Cliade Lee, !lie Evolution Of [Link].' loeti'

2 vola., Cambridge, !arvarl UD1veriIty pre.s. I.
8. !~rp., Olarenoe De Witt, RXeats- Intere.t in Politic.
and World Affairs," Plblioatlon ~'ern Lanf!age
••• ooia tioa, ,,: 1128-C, Dec ••lier, 1911. a n ·
ml ---
- ---
!he of John Xeats, 1'86
--...--
 'I
that hia poetic talenta were aroused by reading Spenser,
and that he devoted intense stllcQr to the works of Bli.a·
bethan poeta. According to Profeeaor 'iDner. ~eata'

knowledge of Blilabethan literature was not onll exte.-

sive. but also reoondite.- l In the poe. (I. 3&-8'1)
Xeate affirmei he had alw&7S )een obarmei by the BndlWdcn
stor,. It ie known from the testimoD7 of Cowden Clarke
that Xeats "memorised" Lempriere'8 Classioal Diotion!!l
durlng his school 487s. Lempriere used onl7 two huadrel
worde to tell the stor7 of Bn4JBdoa; this [Link] 1.
supposed to be the original sourc. through ~l.h Xeat.
b....e acquainted with the .,th. In point of fact it i.
general17 conceded bl critics that Xeata derived the
substance of his poetry more fro. the Elizabethan .astere
than from other sources. Sinoe he oould not absorb
01as8ica1 culture in ite pur. form, and soorned to fora
his conception of the antique world by [Link] Dr74en
and pope, he was compelled to use the 01assioa1 al1u8ion8.
adeptatioD8, and imitations of the ancient cu1tur. whioh
he found in the pOetry of the Blizabethane: Spenser,
",rlowe. [Link] t Chapman. Drayton, and sanqs. 2

I. 'inney. Claude Lee, "Dri7ton'a '1D41i1on and Phoebe'

8.
an'
Xeats' 'BndJlla101l.' "».801
Oolvin. Sidney t ~~. p. 206
::

w. hay. evidence that besides Leapri~re there

.ere other Elizabethan writers Whose influenoe may be
aeen in BndJ!1o.. Prom early youth the poet had been
intereated in the Elizabethan poets. Cowden Clarke
introduced him to the ornate verse of the faerie Queen•
• ith ita allegorical intrioacies, the reading of which
bas been credited with awakening ~eats to his own poetio
endowment. Lord Houghton declared that "the effect of
this great work of literature was eleotrical."l Still
another Eliaabethan work, Bandys' translation of Ovid'.
M8tamo;'hoaea, made him familiar With cla~sic fable.
Sidney Colvin, for one, considers it important that
"SanQys in the fine Oxford foliO edition of his book
which .e kDow ~eats used, must needs conform to a fixel
me4iaeval ... 4 Renaissanoe tradition by 'mythologizing' hia
text with a commentar7"2 of highly moral purpose. !hus,
the reading of Spenser a.~ened his talent. Reading
Leapri~e furnished a most meager skeleton of the story;
antl saniys, fableS and allegoriling elementa.
Jor 8 further measure of hi a interest in Eliza-
bethan poetry we have Keats' own testimony in hia lettera
of the influence hie reading of Shakespeare was exertiDl

i. Lord Houghton, ~ Cit., Tol. I, p. ,

2. Colvin, Bidney. Ope ~, p. 1'1

-------------------------------
 9
OYer hi. mind and apirit during the composition of
__il!4on. 1 The oritics aay that in this close reading
of Shakespeare may be discerned the souroe of the
charaeteriatic diction of J94l!ion. According to
Professor de Selincourt the influenoe of this studJ
_, be seen i. "the Tocabulary and phraseology of
BD!r!10., in the influx of Shakespearean words,
allusions, and reminisoenoes, drawn from a large number
of pla,s."2 One of the most interesting of recent TolUDeS
of xeats' critiois. is MiSs Caroline r. E. Spurgeon'.
I
, ••ta' IhateaReare. 118s Spurgeon. enj01ing an Ootober
holiday not far from I.- York, heard inoidentally of . .
edition of Shakespeare that had belonged to Xeats who, it
appears, gaTe the volumes to his friend. Joseph SeTern.
fhe books which were then in a Princeton library, nearb"
are the very volumes the poet was reading during the coa-
p08ition of Bn4l!1on, and they show his habit of underlinins
phraaes which struck him. The markinga and wear teatlt,
that the playa moat read were !!! [Link] and ! M1dsumaer
Bight's Dresa. Instanoes in IPdrmion of a similarlty to
the model's diotion and phraseolo., are analytleall,
exallined in Kiss Spurgeon' a book.

1. See belOW, p. 41
• l

2. De Selinoourt, Ernest, ~ Cit., p. 416

I. Spurgeon, Caroline 'ranees I!i8nor, Xeats' Shakespeare,
London, OXford UniTerslty Press, 1928
 10
A Tery definite Blilabethan influenoe 1a
Bn4z!4on m8¥ be aeen in both atruotural and deBoriptiTe
elements which haTe been traced to Drayton by
Bitney C01Tin,l ProfesBor 'inne,,! and ~ ~awell.1
the Bndl!1on -rth, "that one bare oiroumstance" of whick
xeat. was to make a long poem, had been u.e' by nearl,
all Blisabethan poets, briefly or at length. Xeat.'
predeoessor who treated the poem at lengtk waa Drayton.
Sidney C01Tin pOints out Similarities in the plot of
Bndl!:?;on to Drayton' 8 .!!!!! ~ !!! JIoOlle. Profesaor Pinne,
was the firat to [Link] in an artiole publi... , 1D.
,
1'26 Xeats' probable indebtedness not only to Drayton'.
)[aD
--- -------
111 the )(Oone but alao to his hUmon and phoebe."
the similaritie. of the xeats and Drayton poems are eX-
plalned by Plnney to be both structural and descrlptlTe •
..l1IJ ~owell in her b iograpq (1926) argue. that 1t was
pOBslble for Xeate to haTe Been the latter rare poe. b,
Drayton. 8be glTes JlUch space to quotatlons and explana-
tlon. of the analogies.
!he accepted truth that Xeat.' genlus was ..akened

1. cOlTin, 8idney, ~ cit., pp. 16' et ••••

2. linne7. Claude Lee, 'Wl>ri,ton'. 'Endlm1on and Phoebe'
and Xeats' 'Encl7m1on,'" p. 801
I. ~. .ell. '-1. ~ Cit •• Tol. It pp. 321 et Iq••
,_ Pinne,. Claude Lei7"""'Dr&yton'. 'bUllion and Phoebe'
and Ieats' 'Bnd7m1on.'" pp. 805-813
 11
b7 reading spenserl is the approaoh for a study b7
recent writers of particular elements of Xeata' Bn!f!ion;
I refer to the philosophical thought they find in the
poem. It was Lord Houghton, Keata' first biographer,
who had written that reading the ',erie sueene was "not
only hi. open presentation at the oourt of the ...e ••••
but it was the great impulse of hiB poetio life, and the
etream of his inspiration remained long ooloured b7 the
rioh soil over whioh it first had flowea."! the element
of PlatoB1 •• from Spenser's work, aidne, ColYin notel in
cOlllDeata BUoh •• thea.: ":ae was familiar enough with
[Link]'s mellifluous dilution of Platonic and neG-Platonio
dootrine in his four BlJ!1!." He also deolared that Jn4z!1on
containel, "An idea, nearer to the Platonic, of a single
principle of absolute or abstract Beaut1, the object of a
purged and perfected spiritual contemplation, from whioh
all the varieties of Beauty experienoed on earth deriYe
their quality and onenesa."3 !his element of Platonl ••
has been more fully exaained by ProfeBsor linne,. Hia
interpretation of Bn4l!4on aa a nec-Platonic quest for
immortalit7, [Link] finally through love, after traclDg

t. Ii. above, p. S
2. Lord Houghton, ~ Cit., vol. I, p. ,
3, ColYl., 81dne" .9.E.:. .2!1:., p. 23'
 18
the hero'a progress through love of nature, art. frien'·
ship, and spiritual love oorresponding 1a order to the
four books of the poem, was first explaine' in his paper,
Xeate' Philosop!y2! Beautl: !! Interpretation !!
1
BDdymion !! !!! Light!! !!! Neo-Platoniem !! !Renser.
(1126) This philosophic study establishes the 8penaerian
influenoe deftnite17. 8
Professor Jlnne7 suggesta tbat a mistake bas b••n
made in interpreting Bndz!don without referenoe to the
philosophy of Xeate' [Link], 8inoe "fro.
the.e Ieats conceived the Greek spirit and principle of
'[Link] in all thinga.-& !he essence of the neo-Platonia.
which Xeats adopted from the Elizabethan poets, apenser
•• pecial17, Profe ••or Jinney explains, was a belief i.
the prinoiple of unity that [Link] the eternal flux
of the material world. "Iinee the neo-Platonist. founi
no tranquil!ty of soul in the mutable world of sense. the7
founded their philo80phy on a denial of matter and an
.ffi~tion of the reality of spirit.- 4 In his book.

1. 'filiie7, bliide tee. "Ieaia' !hllosophi of Beaut7: I i

Interp:retatlon of End7Dl1on 1a the Light of the Neo-
Platonism of Spenser," Philolo!ical ,uarterll,
5:1-19, Janua17, 1926
8e~a180. Jinnel. Claude Lee, The Evolution of Xeats'
poetrl. Tol. I, pp. 250 et aq,:-- --
8. 'liDel. Claude Lee, "Xeats' PhilosopbJ of Beautl: AD
Interpretation of BndJaion in the Light of the .e.-
Platonism of Spenser," ,. 2
Ibid., p. 8 .
;~

11
Ihe Evolution !! Xeata' Poetrl. publishe' in 1936,
!rofeaaor Pinnel quoted from the first book of Bn!J!1o.t

••• Apollo'. upward fire

Made eTerl eastern cloud a silTer7 pJr.
Of brightness so unsullied, that thereia
• mel&ncho17 spirit well might wia
OblinoB, and melt out his easenoe fin.,
I. 96-99

&s an example of Platonio spiritualisatioD of the aoul

affected in surroundings of great beaut7 in the Latm1an
forest.
Professor Jinnel's artiole also giTes to the
reader a neo-Platonic explanation of the dre... , or
nSioDS, which oomprised the hero's tuest relate' i.
BB4l!10n. Referring to the quest of the soul for union
with God, or Original Essenoe. the oritic wrot., "It ma,
a180 be attained temporari17 b7 man during hia earthll
existence b7 means of the Deo-Platonic [Link] or atate
of prophetio Tiaion, in whioh his sensuous peroeptions
of the eTer-ohanging world of matter dissolTes awal, in
whioh the soul puta off ita garment of flesh and stands
naked in the preaence ot the beaut7 of Goa."l
fo summarise. it haa been seen that Xeata waa
first awakened to hia poetic talenta through readiDi

1.
-tbid.,· p. I

-._----- .~~~~-- --~----------

 14
Spenser. Jrom the Elisabethan poets, sand,._ in parti-
oular, he acquired his taste for allegorising. !he
resulta of his enthusiastic study of ShSkespeare are
apparent in the diction and phraseolog,. of BDdz!d0D.
Certain of the reoent critics haTe oonsidered the ai4
in plot construction which Xeats absorbed, consciouel,.
or unoonsoioual,.. trom a stud7 of the Blisabethans,
Since it appears that DraltoB'S po ... aupplie4 pOints of
struotare and description for Bndymion. Another aape.t
of thia criticism 4eals with the neo-Platon1a. of the
Elisabethan poets, apenaer eepeoiall,. reflected in
1nb'!10n.
In addition, recent oriticism often dea18 with.
queetion .nch dispute' bl studenta of Bn4l!40n, the
queation of allegorioal inierpretatioJl. It seems not
to haTe engaged the thought of anr of his earlier critios.
Ind••', Lord Houghton wrote that ·the artistic absence ot

.-
....,.
'
an7 aoral purpose ma7 offend man,. reader a , .1 and it waa
atxt7 1eare atter the poet's death before an attempt . .a
made by a oritic to trace an allegorical meaning in
Bh4l!10n. In recent critical stUdies the statement occura
that auch an interpretation of the poem was first published

1. LorI Ho~gliton. OPe 01t., Tol. I, p. ItI

..,'
 16
1
1. 1880, I,ata, ! Stlldz, by J. M. OWe••
Prof'Bsor !korpe 1n 1926 summarised irs. OW.n'.
[Link] atter this ~.r: wBn4y!1oa is the
stor, of the Spirit of an, Which beoo... awakened b,
a higher spiritual power. and thence begins a quest
for the higher spiritual state. This he eTentuall l
reachea after a series of trials through earth, air.
and water. W8
With one exception all of the critical opinion.
publish.d witbia the last twent, ,.ars haTe concurr.d in
presenting some sort of allegorical interpretation of
Bn4l!10n. I shall report briefl, the distinguishing
[Link] of these interpretationa.
Some of the most eminent critios when the, haT.
approached the subject of Enil!40~ haTe gone into this
taestion of allegor7 at length. Professor Thorp., •
[Link] of [Link] who is intereat.d in the poet'.
aesthetic ideas, bases his allegorical interpretation
upon the -wherein lieS Happiness?" paasag. (I, 7'7·8&2),
"the passage whieh aboTe all others most plainl, reTeala
al1egor7. wS Professor Thorpe examin•• [Link]' statement.

I. D. 'itt,
2. Ibtt.,
!Korpe. Clarence
p. 6
!he ilnd of John Keats. p. ,
- - - - -------
3.
-
Ib ., ,. "
 16
1
in his letter to !a,lor. According to this tater-
pretation, lbl4z!1on is the poet ill search of the IITster,..
by which he means "ultimate. ideal truth_"! He oontinae.
to think of End7mion's searching for truth. rather than
for beauty, although the latter i8 the more frequent
interpretation. He deoides that the poet in this notable
pa88age was "dimly outlining ta thie-poem the eucoeaBiv•
• tages of the poetic development towards realisation of
thia truth the final. lCvste17 • and was. moreover, 8howiag
the relatione of theee gra4ations &D4 experienoe. to e.e.
other. wa !he disoovery in the final book that Diana an4
the Indian maiden are one indicatea not only Wthe nece.8itl
of rising to a height of insight into the seoret of the
..iverse through the gradationa of sensuous and human realit,,·
bat 81110. wan easential f~ uni t7 in the three orders --
.sture, Humanity. and the higher spiritual easenc •• -'
h aneJ.78 i a of the step. de fae' in the lODl
Gradations of Happiness paseage (I, 7,,-a'2) reveals the
allegory &8 he aee8 it. fo Justify holding to an allegor,..

1. See 'e1ow. p. 61
2. ThOrp., Clarence De Witt, ~!U:l:.. ». 55
a.
,. Iii,.'_. p. 56
p. 56
 l'
Prof••••r thorp. declar.. that "[Link] all ie a Bub-
stanc. of thought, DOll. the 1.S8 [Link] b.oa1l8••o_ti._
all but [Link]."l Book on•• he [Link], [Link]
t.. first Wild [Link]. of sensuous beaut7--t.. trance-like
state; Book two. the poetic BOul under the fall doaiDioa
of .e![Link] 'eaat,; Book !hree, an adTentve in huaaa
[Link] and SJ1IlP&thJ; Book Jour. an adTenture whiok
brings about a complete union of the soul with the heart
of humanit7~ !ha. -through nat~e ani the s8nsuolls17
~eaatiful ia .... the poet l~ar.D8 to taow the h. . . . heart,
and through the h1lJll8D heart. the [Link] of all [Link]
knOWing in the ..iTers •• Ani ,in the end he find. unite'
in one ideal the Tisions that drew him on in the punit
of .ach.,,2
• not dissimilar interpretation of an allegor,
through. stud7 of this [Link] (I, 777-842) is erriTe4 at
~7 Pref••sor J1Im.,. wAtch be first publishea. in the
Ihilological [Link] in 1926. 1 !O hi. Bn4l!i0n is ..
allegorf of the neo-Platonic qaest of immortalitl through
four gradationa--nature, art. friendship, and lo.e, --
Which cODstitute the four books of ED4l!d0n. 4

1. W·.. p. it
2. . .• , p. 62
S. was tncluded, elao, in his "!he Evolution of Xeats'
poetr,," 1986
,. Pinnel, Claude Le.. .2E.:...Q.!l:., p. 298

t
..

18
!he.e interpretations of Professor Thorpe ..,
Profesaor 'inney, Which were both publishe' i. 1926,
were followed four years later by J. M1ddleton .-rr,r'8
Studies !! Xeate. In this book we find. chapter, "'ke
"&ning of 3nclJ1B1on. W J. )[idUetoa JIilrrr, too, discovers
the clue to the interpretation of En4l!4on in a long
lyrical pas8age. Oontrar), to Professor Thorpe ant
Professor 'inne)' who found in the Gradations of Happines8
[Link] CIt "'.8'2) • clue to the real meaning of the
p.e., iarrl conBilera the.e Ba.. liDS. of little [Link]-
tanoe in interpretation, for "there is • good deal of
mere wordS in that passage."l Be8ide 4eBJ1ng special
i~ort to these lines. this critic believea that Bnil!10D
i8 a "tranSition pieoe." It begins in a first period ani
ends in "seoond. As a result the most significant lin••
would b. found in the second stage of the poet's thintinc.
therefore, although he admitted that the theme of
J!4l!1on i8 the tuest of the poet for abstract Bea.t)', he
found in the fourth book of the poem the passage he use'
for interpretation. The passage ooamonl7 called the
Cave of Quietude in the fourth book (512-61) together
with Ieata' letters written during the compoaition of the

i. JlUrrl, J. ll1dc1.1eton, ~.2..!h. p. 6'

r
 19
final book, is the groand for J. Middleton MUrry's
[Link] of Endl!!10l1. His Judgment is that the CaT.
of Quietude is a psychological experience repre.ent1ng
[Link] inward oonfliot, a soul diTided, in thi,
instance between a human passion and an imaginatiTe
passion, and finding its own personalit,r destro784 in
the [Link]. JIIlrry argue. that this strange experienee
is the "psychological culmination" of the poem, and that
Bndymion aohieyed hi. final peace through a aupreme
ago., of Boul. !he shepherd prince bad beoome xeat.-
own BOul. When the poet ooma1aerated with his hero.

lIndym:1oJ11 unhappy 1 it nigh grieTea

Ke to beho14 thee thus in laBt extreme:
JnskJ'd ere thiS, but trul1 that I deem
!ruth the beat muaic in a first-born BOng,
IV, " .. '3

the conflict between the "Ideal and the Real which diyide'
the aoul of his hero waB too intimate and real to Keats
himself to be speciously resolTed by a poetiC miracle.
!l1e abstract parable had become the painful adTentare of
his own BOul. • .fo inTeke a miracle simply to tell the
legendary story was a kind of cheating. nl
fhe extreme in the matter of allegorical meanings

1. nn., p. u
 20

read into thia poem is found in an edition of Bn4ym4on.

! Poetic Romance ~ John Xeats, !!!! !! Introduction !!!
Botes by Professor H. Clement Botoutt, from Stellenbosoh
uniTersity, Cape !own, South ~ic&. Notcutt's inter-
pretation is both ingenious and aetailei. Beginning With
the essential idea that Ba!J!10B portrays the experienoes
of the poetio soul in its search for absolute Beaut,. he
prooeeds to explain to the minutest detail the significance
to the allegory of many figures. eTents, and actions in
the storye He fanCied that the poet's search for Beaut,
was a search for perfect poetry and [Link] the triumph
I

of the Romantic school. Since the author fee18 that hi.

statements of the allegory in the four books "define in
the briefest possible way, their allegorioal Significance,"
I shall quote Professor Notcutt's [Link].
"In the first book the festiTal of pan symbolises
the reTiT&l of interest in the beauty and the .,steriou8
power of Bature which had marked the opening of a new
poetic era. !he repeated appearanoes o~ the moon goddess
to Bnd7m1on represent the awakening of the man who is
destined to be a poet, to the beauty of the ideal whioh
he must striTe to attain.
"The second. book. in the story of EndJWdon's
journe, underground. gives us a picture of the course of
.
21
preparation--chief17 through the study of the great
writers of earlier timea--by which the young poet mal
fit himself for his task. It shows that even though
weariness and depression may be his lot for a time, yet
if be perseverea be may meet with a revaluation of life
and beauty which will stimalate and enoourage him.
-the third book contains a warning. Under the
guiae of the disastrous experienoes of Glaucus it tells
how in an earlier time English poetry had been led astral
by a powerful but evil influence, by which Pope stands
as the ohief representative; and how after a long perio'
of impotence and decrepitude, it was restored to life
and Vigour by the redeeming power of the spirit of the
new era.
"the fourth book tells how the poet, still in
pursuit of his ideal, is perplexed by the call of
humanity in trOUble, and i8 torn between the desire to
devote himself to the service of his suffering fellow
oreatures and the other deSire to reach the ideal after
which he has so long been striVing; until at length the
oonflict and perplexity vanish when he sees that for
him the two ideals are but one, for he can best serve
his fellow men b~ entering fully into the po~tic life.
"It may further be noted that the wi4e range of

--------~---~----~---
..

22
experience through Which Bnd1Mion is made to pas8--oa
the earth and under it, in the depths of the ooean and
in the regions of the air·.augsest that the poet mast
learn to look at life in Tarious aspects and fro.
different points of view before he iareally fitte4
to take up the task to which ~e ia calle,.·l
In this explanation Professor Notcutt fits a
biographical fact into the allegor.J, at the same time
providing an explanation for the action and oharacter.
Jor instance, the sacrifice to pan according to
Professor lfotcutt' a anal18ia. indicate. an ••atening
to the beauty of nature Which the Romanticists expresse4.
!he young poet then feels the oall in dreams to devote
his life to portraying his Vision of ideal beaut,.
When he comes down to earth, be is [Link]. and endures
alternate .oOdS of depression and hope which symboli.e
lAats' I1fficultie8 in deciding whether to praotice
8urger" or to devote his life to poetry. Peona. too,
thi8 oritio conSiders, is a dramatisation of Xeats'
sister, P&nn7, Who voiced the objeotions whioh she had
. heard in her guardian'. home to ][eats' abandonment of
the profe8sion of surgery. 'urther to complete this
biographical allegory, the oritic believes that one man

i. lfotcutt, H. ciement, ~ CIt., pp. %Vlil-%i%

...

21
is more deeply touohed than the rest of the nation b, a
fresh oonsciousness of the beauty of the world, ani
thenoe that one pursues a lonely way in search of hi.
ideal.
Continuing with his analysis of the allegory.
Professor Notcutt finds tbat the second book is a parab1.
ef the earnest and painstaking study which a poet must
undertake before he has fully learned hia oraft. Since
Xeats had written in "Sleep and Poetry" (1.96) that h.
needed ten years BO that he JIlight overwhelm himself in
poet17, his Journey into "the sparry hollows" of the
world (II .. 20.) meant that be had entered upon a olos.
study of the great masters of poetry of earlier ages.
!he riohneBs and beauty of the underground aoene repre-
sent the same qualities in the works of great poets.
!hat extraordinary ocoasion when flowers sprang up through
the marble pavement (II, 341-43) represents the beauty of
old literature, as it oocasiona11y revealB itself to the
young stuient.

• • • An orbed diamond, set to fray

Old darkness from his throne: 'twas like the SUD
Uprisen over ohaos, • • •

i8 Homer, whose poems "stand out for U8 with all the

greater brilltanoe against the darknes8 of the previous
 2.
a8eo·l !he temple whioh lnd7m1on examine' so minute17
(II, 26'.'6) represents the patient study the school
b07 Xeats had giTen to the Aeneid. Another notion is
to identify the water phantasmagoria (II. 606-32) With
Ovid's "Ketamorphoaes," an identifioation baaed upon
the phrases "ohanged magic" f6lS) and "founts protean,·
(62') ani the faot that Xeats drew upon the "Ketamorphosea"
for stories used in the seoond and third books.
Professor Botcutt says that the obscure intro-
duotion to the third book, instead of being a diatribe
against politioians, ia as eTidence of Xeata' antipathf
to the Augustan poets. Bndymion's laTe for the moon
expresses his lOTe for "the beauty of rhytha ani fora
in poetr.r," ([Link]) and his lOTe for the goddesa "the
.ore intense beauty that belongs to emotion and pas8ioa."
He argue8 that Circe is Pope satirizing minor poeta of
his day, and that the magio 8oroll (III. 6'0) i8 Percy's
"Relique8," whioh were powerful enough in a new era to
redeem poetry from the curse that had so long blighted
it. !he pageantry in the remainder of the third book
typifie8 the joy and delight whioh followed the reTiT&l
of poetry.

I. ..........
f'tl., p. iilx
...

88
!he allegory in ihe fourth book, Kotoutt 8aY8,
expresses the siruggle Ieats underwent when he was
ooapelled to ohooae between the practioe of a profeasioa
by which he oould benefit humanity. and the deaire to be
a poet. The Indian maid is the oall of humanity; the
goddeas, the oall of poetry. As his ohoioe be~een the
two fluctuates, so do ihe protagonists. !he final
disappearance of Bndymion and Cynthia is the deci8ion of
the poet to deTote himself to poetry.
!hie ie the DlGsi elaborate explanation of b.

allegory yet adTanoed. Ai the opposite pole is

~ Lowell's opinion. She a88erts, WAs to allegor7 ihat
was completely foreign to Ieats' nature. There is no
irace of allegor,J to be found anywhere in his worka."l
She thinks that, "Keats' ~d was not of the kind that
2
works 1Jl parables. W .AJq Lowell, in oompan;y with
Professor Thorpe and professor 'inne;y whose oonclusions
haTe been ,noied, analYles the famous Gradations of
Happine88 paaaage. S In her opinion it ia "the mosi moTing
bit ot personal revelation in ihe whole book. Rere ia
-:
Xeais' oreed, his longing, hi8 hope, and hi8 dedication. ""

t. Loweil, Iii. ~ CIt., Toi. I, p. 318

I. Ib1d.,p. 456 -
a.
,,- reel ,770-843
Lowell. .Alq, .2l:..£!i.:.. Tol. I, p • 36"1
. '
 26
.ore than onoe reference is made to this [Link] aa the
woreed pa8.&ge. w !rue to her contention that there is
no allegory, imJ Lowell comments on Keats' atatement in
his letter of Jenuer" 30. 1818, to his publisher. Tallor.
In the letter to !aylor which was written after the oo~

pletion of EnclJ!!1oa t Keste wrote, "!fbi. [Link] was a

regalar stepping of the Imagination towards a truth."l
Ignoring this statement of the poet of his intention to
explain the symbolism of Bndl!10n, she writes that,
"Xeats had armed himself throagh the above statement
with a good dramatic reaaon for the poem in general and
this [Link] in particular. The only trouble is that it
fits nothing and nowhere and must therefore b. regard.'
2
as a oamouflage. w !hus she declares that the pa ••a,.
in which Professor linney and Professor Thorpe found a
statement of an intended allegor7 has no relation with
the poem. Again in objection to an allegorioal inter-
pretation, she makes & positive statement that, "Xeata was
...>.
concerned with poetry as aD art. not as a tract. w3 In
short. because she was oonvinoed that allegorr was foreign
to Xeats' nature, she disputes the pOSition of

1. 'orlD&ll. Eurice ~uxton. ~ 01t •• p. 01

2. :Ln.11. .[Link] t .2E.:. Cit., vor. y;-p. 361
I. Jbicl.. p. 456
 ..

2'
Professor Finney and Professor ~horpe that the Gradations
of Happine.s pa888ge outlines an allegory, oalling it
instea' "Xeats' oreed." Lik.-ise she questions the poet'.
ainoerit7 in his statement upon the disputed passage, and
deolarea Xaats' ohief concern was with art, and not witk
atkica.
fo Baa tp the thought of the most soholarlJ oritics,
I find all, with one aXception, agree tbat there is an
underlying, general allegorioal meaning. Professor Thorpe,
ProfeSSor ~inn.y, and J. Middleton -.rry agree on this.
that eaoh of the four books represents a stage in the
poet's search for Beauty, LOTe, or !ruth--the Ideal. One
oritic, profeslor Notcutt, writes an industrious anA
[Link] eXposition which identifies •!BstY'1o;n with the
re-awakening of poetry in the Romantic Period. !he
exoeption to those who agree on an allegorioal inter-
pretation, i8 ~ Lowell, who writes, "Bndymion i8 no
1
allegory."
When wa 00 me to the third point in the recent
oritioism of ln4l!1on, the psyohological significance of
partioular lines Or passagea, we find that ~ Lowell i.
inconsistent in stataments on this question. In her
3udgment the poem is significant as a study 1n the

I .. -
1. Ibid •• p. 4r56
 28

development of the mind of a poet: "One man began it.

1
and another ended it." Prom a general viewpoint, ehe
writes that in Bndy!1on xeats composed na psyohologioal
piece of no mean 8ignificanoe."2 However, in reference
to a partioular portion, ahe atates that, -!here ia no,
the slightest hint of psychology in the Third Book. nS
!he PS7ohologioal importanoe .., Lawell finds in BDdym10a
is the evidenoe of Xeats' maturing mind. She does net
see psyohological significance in either particular linea
or paa."gea.
I aext report Professor !horpe'a .tu~ of BRdl!don,
published in 1926. • atrong point in hia allegorioal
interpretation is the attention devoted to occasional
lines of psychological value which he feels are self-
revelator,; for an example, Bnd1D1on'. despairing cr,r
for the renewed consclousness of his spiritual itentlt,:

• • .What is this soul then? .[Link]

Came it? It doe8 not seem., cwn, and I
Kave no self-paSSion, or identit7.
IV, "'5-'1'1

This critic has studied the mind of John Keats, rather

than the oharaoter of En~on.

the P8Fohologioal nature of J. Middleton MUrr,'8

I. Ibid., p. '1o
2. Jift-, p. 38'
3.
- •• p. 41..
 29
explanation of the allegory has been note,.l fhi. t ••-
dency tc reflect on the psyohological aspects of the
character of En4Jm1on i8 yet another indication of the
intellectual interest which Endym10n now arouse. in
oritio.. One oan not refer tc this psyohologica1 phaa.
of the oritioia. of Bn4z!4on Without noticing the impor-
tanoe attaohed by all the critios to a earetul atudy 01
xeats' letters for olues to the atate of his thought
during the year April. 1817 to April. 1818. Kot a single
critic haa writ'en of !!4z!don Without ,uotina portiona
of the lettera. Lord Houghtoa [Link] their Tal.e.
"It i8 difficult to add anything to the paBaagea i.
these letters whioh ahow the spirit in whioh Indl!don . .s
written and pUblishe,."1 8idney Oolvin in 191' asoribel
the search for the [Link] of JIldDl10n lito the sorutiDJ
of students reading and re-reading the poem by the light
of incidental utterances in his earlier and later poetr,r
and in hia misoellaneous letters."Z Again we may read.
atatement in )linneJ's !!!. bo1ution .2! Xe.t.' Poetrl of
reoent dat., "fha lettera which ...ta wrote in the fall
and winter of 1817 reveal the philosoph7 of life and of
poetrJ which he had thought out during the seven montha

t. a.e aboTe, p. 11
2. Lord Houghton, ~ Cit •• vol. I, p. ,.
3. ColVin, Bidnet, .2.l!.lli.:., p. 172
 10
in which he had worked on the composition of ID4lJdO•• wl
An article by Thorpe contains this emphatio stat.-
ment. ·Such outbursts,· writes Professor Thorpe refe~i.,

to the poet's inTectiTe against rulera in the linea intro-

ducing the third book of Eniy!don, "reTeal the intensit,
With which Xeata thought and felt OB auch aub3ects: the
instinct and fire were there, 8S the letters show, but
8ublimated, the poet habitually suppressing the reformer.· 2
!hUB the tenor of Xeats' criticism is eTidentl,
directed more to the intellectual or philosophical aapects
of Bndl!40n. IndiTidu81 oritio. are eTincing in their
publications an increasing interest in this phase of
oriticiam. In the article from which I haTe Just quoted,
printed in 1931, Professor thorpe deolarea. ·Xeat. had a
philosophy of poetl7 • • • He kne. that poetry had a higller
mission than to reform: its business is to interpret the
human heart, to [Link] life with ite uniTereal
aspecta.· 3 As may be seen through these ,notationa, a
oritioal interest. psychological in oharacter, i. aeen
not only in the study of linea and oertain paaaagee fro.
kclymon, bu. also in .. study of the poet· s lettera. 'or
.at oritic. the psychology of the letters in so far .a

1. :rilme,. ClaUde Lee, ~ Oit., p. 23'

a. thorpe. Olarence De ~t~c. Cit •• p.·18~
a. Ibld., p. 124:3 -

,.
 31
they relate to Bn4l!10n. now aids ill understanding the
poem.
MOrphological analyses of BD!J!ion haTe also beea
made by recent critics. Sidney ColTin writes that whe.
Xeats retired to the country in April, 1817. "to get firmly
to work on his new task, it i8 olear that he bad itB mai.
outlines and dimensions .ettle4 in his mind,W l and that
"he adhered alaost exactly to hiB original purpose,
dividing it into four books and finding in himself
resources [Link]. to c:[Link] the. out, all except the firet,
to a little OTer a thousand linea each. n ! On the other
hand. ~ ~owell a8sert8 that the poem 1s ohaotio beoause,
"Xeats was ohaotic at the time. WS Definitely ahe deolare.
that if one judged
-
End~on was a long poem with a
beginning, a middle, and e.n end, it was a failure."
4:

Purthermore t ahe oondeJlll8 as oareles8 the structure at

the end of the poem, when she writea, ·Xeats laid philo·
sophl aside and ended with & pure story.·i
However, there are indications that the morphology
of En!Jm1on is being giTen more respectful regard by
oritics. In hie latest work, Claude Lee Finney writes

r. do1iln, sidney, ~ cit., ,. 16'

2.
a.
,.
-
Ibid., p. 166 ---
Lowell, ADr. ~ Cit., Tol. It p. 45'
Ibid., p. "0
5. Ibid., p. 458

..
 81
WEeata did not compose I!!lmion at random. ae worked
out the whole plan of the poem before he compoaed a
single verse. ae invented the epiBodes. arranged thea
into four groups, and thought out the allegory. !he
whole poem he deoided should oonsist of '000 veraea.
Be set for himself a sohedule of composition. By oom-
[Link] 50 versea a da,. he estimated he oould complete
the poe. by autumn.- l
!he exposition o~ the four phasea into whioh
reoent Bn4l!don critioism divide. itself ha. been com-
plete'.
!he history of the criticism of ln4y!don beginning.
as it did, With disdain and ridicule in high circle ••
evolved from that pOint through increasing esteem to the
present high appreciation of the intellectual qualities
of the poe.. !he journals of 1818. powerful in politieal
an' aooial cirele., would aee neither beauty nor reaaon in
ihe verse. Lord Houghton first gave it unstinied prai ••
in hia biography ofXeata (1848). then about 1880 a 4.e,
interest in the poetry of Xeats was manifested in a number
of publioations by renowned oritioa. Thi. interest ba.
not decreaaed. It appears that for the past twenty year.
the oonoern of the critios has been maiDly with

. 1. 'lnney Oliude Lee. 2E.!. Oit., p. 209

t

..
.,.

iatellectual phasea of Bndl!i0n critici •••

~ch ba8 been written about the influence of the
Blisabethan poets: Spen8er, Shakespeare, and Drayton,
upon the diction, structure, and thought of Bndp1on.
MiS8 SpurgeoR wa8 able to show through an analysis of
the markings in the copy of Shakespeare belonging to
xeats, the effect upon the diction of Indlmi0n of the
poet'8 study of certain plays. Bidney ColVin, [Link] Lowell,
and Olaude Lee Finney demonstrated Xeats' indebtedness to
Drayton by polnt1ng out analogies in plot and scenea of
Eeate' poe. to Drayton' a poe .. on the same 8ubJect.
Profesaor Colvin and Professor ~inne7 di80u8ae' the effeot
of neo-Platonic philosophy upon the thought of Bn4l!do~ •

• early all reoent critics haTe agreed that Xeat8

was writing an allegory in Bn4y!1on. Professor Thorpe,
Profesaor Fluney, and J. I1ddleton MUrry find the olues
to the allegory in,a long lyrio pas8age of the poe••
jnother orit10, H. Clement lotcutt, interprets 1adl!10D
a8 an allegory portraying the re-awakening of English
poetry in the early [Link] Century under the geni..
of the Romantio school. AaJ Lowell, alone of those oritio.
who oonsider the question, finda no suggestion of allegory
ill Xeata' poeL
Oritics llke Professor Thorpe and J. M14dleton ~rr1
.
 H
haTe been [Link]' in the self-reTe lations of P.,che-
logioal ItD.s or pa88age8. ~ Lowell thinks the
pBJchological signifioance i8 general. rather than p~­

tioular. Without except1on, the recent criti.s, a8 well

.s those of the Bineteenth Century, haTe found xeats'
letterB during the periOd of the compositlon a keJ to
..oh of the true inner meaning of the p.e ••
:

ProfeBsor linney f1nda that Xeata' poea waa a ple.e

of oarefUl construct1on, a morphologic crlt10iam in line
with a ..ggeation of S1ane7 ColTin. On the other hand,
.., ~[Link] 'eniea that lD4l!!on giTes eTiien.e of a oareful
pl...
In all this oriticism the authorities haTe not ma'e
a detailea analysis of En4l!40n, book by book. they haTe
oited passages like I, "'-8~I, aa explanatioa for belieTiDl
l!iz!4on oontains an alle,or7. !hel haTe. aleo, statea
bri.fl1 the theme of the allelorf for each book accordtDI
to their interpretations. Jurther thea that no one of
[Link] great critio8 has gone i. respect to ~aly8i8 of the
poe••
Before I preBent an interpretatlon of BadJ!don, I
propo8e to make a detailed analysis of each of the four
book8 in turn. Primarily it will enter 1nto the narratiTe.
HOweTer. with the stOrT Will be interlarded commente,
 36
1nterpretat1Te. and PS7chologio&l. I shall .ake us.
ef Xeats' reTealiDg letters, as others haTe tone, when-
eTer the7 are helpful in understanding the poet'.
thought. In the next ohapter I shall disouss Xeata'
attitude towards his work and ita lD8plratlon.
 OHAPHR II

A HIS!ORY 01 THE WRITING

 Cll&P!.lIB II

J. HISroBY OJ' !H! WRI!Ilf(J

An inquir.r to deteraine what Xeate thought ot

lndy!1on at the time he was writing the poem and later
establishes iwo motivee of the poet a8 certain. Xeats
had deliberately 8et out in the spring ot the 7ear to
tr7 hia WiJJge iJl a great flight, and he hael cl8teraine"
to work alone, uninfluenceA. IJl regard to the latter,
atter writing the greater portion of the poe., he wrote
to hi. friend, [Link] Baile7, October. 181'. "yOU aee
how independent .,writing baa beeJl--HUnt'a dissuasion
wae of no 8vail--I refuse' to visit Shelley. that I
1
adght have ., own unfettered Bcope." .e know one
eleoision made by Xeats against which Hunt had failed to
influenoe him adver8e17. Earlier in this letter the
poet hat wrl tten, "I have heard Hut say and I may be
aaked--wb7 endeavour atter a long Poea!" In spite ot
Hunt's objection, however. he waa writing a long poe ..
Early in Dreb, 181'. John Xeats had left hi.
u8ual haunts in the London literary circle to go to the
country for quiet and solitude whieh he and hi. brothera

1. 'oraan. liurroe Buxton, Ope .2!L., p. 'SB

,.
87
felt would enable h1m to oarry out his great Tenture.
!o h1s fr1end John Ham1lton Reynolds he had oonf1de'.
"., brothers are anx10us that I should go by .,self 1nto
the oountrl--the7 haTe always been extremely fond of me,
and new that Haydon has p01nte4 out how neoessary 1t 1s
that I ahould be alone to 1mproTe .,aelf the, g1Te up the
[Link], pleasure of l1T1ng w1th me continuall, for a
1
great good wh10h I hope w1ll follow."
!he "great good" for wh10h he hoped was & lena
poem. Quot1ng fro. his OWn letter to his brother Georg.,
Keats had wr1tten Bailey, "It ~he long poe~ Will b.
a test, a tr1al of my Powers of Imagination &ad ohiefly
of my inTent10n Which 1s a rare thing indeed--by whioh
I must make ~OOO lines of one bare circumstanoe, and fill
the. With poetry; and when I oons1der that this is a great
task, and that when dOne it will take me but a dosen paoes
towards the !emple of ~ame--it makes me sa7--90d forbi'
that I should be without such a ta8k. n2 He regarded th1s
writing as hie nOT1t1ate. As Aaw Lowell obaerTes, "H1a
wr1ting Bn4J!1on was to h1m what the T1g1l of watohing hi_
arJlOur was to a young knight 1n the tiddle Ages. He _ee8

1. IbtC. p. 11
2. fill •• p. 52
}"

it aa a stupendous taak to be undertaken &8 a neoe ••ar7

part of his initiation to poethood.-l
!he young poet began his work an immature an4
inexperienoed artist. His long poem deaigned to be a
test of in'Yention, waa his pro'Y1ng groud. It waa a real
teat; he waa onen discour&8ed. and wrote in humilit7.
"!he high idea I Da'Ye of poetical fame makes me think I
aee it towering too high above me."! He wa. drawing near
the end of the third book of Bndlm40D, when he wrote,
"MJ ideaa with reapect to it Ba4(!1oa I assure you are
'YerJ low-wand I would write the subject thoroll8hl,. a,au--
but I am tired of it • • • and all the good I expeot fro.
3
~ e.pl07Jl8nt this BUmmer is the fruit of lXperience."
An ocoasional uneTenness in the quality of the line.
i8 one evidenoe of this immaturit7 of which Xeats himeelf
wa. aware. there are instances of the most beautiful
lJ'rical [Link] being followed b7 lines of dull or ohildiah
oharacter. fhere is not a fault asoribed to it which he
did not regret, "I fought under disadTantages. Before I
began I had no inward feel of being able to finish; bel.
as I prooeeded ~ steps were all unoertain. 80 thia poem

t. toweii, Iii. ~ CIt., Toi. I. p. SS8

2. [Link] . . .urice :Buton • .2!.!. £!l:.. p. 52
I. IbId •• p. 61
 8•
..st rather be consider.4 as an endeavour than as a
thlq &oeoIlp1ishe.d, a poor prologue to what if I live,
I humbly hope to do."l fhUB be wrote in a preface he
had originally preparet and then rejected.
In addition to the unevenness and unoertaint7.
Xeats' inexperience i8 Been in the oonfusion of details.
8oene •• or narratives. "I am continually running a"7
from the Bubject--sure this can not be exactly the oase
wi th a complex 1i1nd--one that is imaginative and. at the
same time carefUl of it. fruit. wl ... written to the
s~athet10 Eailel. If the poet is at times naive. senti-
mental, or unrestrained, these are faults he [Link].
To his publisher. John !aylor, he wrote, WIn EnlJm10n I
have most likely but moved into the Go-oart from the
leading strings," and, "If End7m1on serveB me as a Pioneer
perhaps I ought to be content. wa
When the time arrived that a preface for his book
must be supplied, Xeats wrote a preface of whioh hie
publisher and his friends disapproved. Reluotantly he
wrote .. seoond prefaoe whioh was used in the first printIng.
In the original prefaoe Xeats stated that he expeoted the

1. towell, Iii, Ope cIt., vol. It p. 601

2. 'orman. )laurice Buxton, .2E.!..2.!i:.. p. 68
I. Ibid •• p. 108
reader "to peroeive great inexperienoe. immaturit" ..d
ever, error denoting a fe~erish attempt rather than a
4ee' accomplish'd." Bevertheless it was a bitter oritioism
he prepared for himself when he admitted to the oritios in
the prefaoe which was used, "~h. imagination of a bOl i.
heal tb.7; and the mature imagination of a man i8 heal tlq;
but there is a space of life in between, in which the soal
is in a ferment, the charaoter undeoided, the way of life
unoertain, the ambition thiok-sighted; thence prooeed
mawkishness, and all the thousand bitters whioh these mea
I speak of ~ritio!l must neoessarily taete in going OYer
the following pages. w Here then is a young poet attempting
a task he plainly feels is beyond "hia powers, but worklng
courageously in spite of his ~ oonsoiousness of immaturity
and inexperienoe.
Btl11 Xeata had one source of great strength while
he labored during the spring, summer, ~d autumn of 1817.
Re was leaning heavily upon the influenoe of great poete
of other days. 'rom Southa~ton, hie first stop in the
30urne7 to find a congenial plaoe for writing Aia great
work, he wrote to hiB brothers, .pril 16, 181'. "I felt
rather lonely this Korning at breakfast so I went ani un-
box" a 8hakespeare--'Rere' • ., comfort.,"l In May a letter

-
!. Ibid., p. l'
 to Benjamin Haydon, the artist, conyeye' this .entiment.
"I never quite despair and I read [Link].~-indeed I
1
think I shall never read 8D7 other Book muoh." Of more
importance in Showing the dependence he plaoe4 apon hi.
reading i8 another atateBent in this letter, "I remea'er
Jour saying you had notions of a good genius presid1D8
over ,... I have of late had the same thought--for things
whioh I do half at Random are afterwards confirmed br .,
judgment in a dOlen features of propriety. IS it too
daring to ~anoy Shakespeare this Pre sidor,"
!here were other poets whoee spiritual aid he
gratefully acknowledged in thoae revealing lettera to
his absent friende. To John Hamilton Reynolds, April 18,
181', he wrote, "I find I oan not exist without poetry--
Without eternal poetry--half the day will not do--th.
whole of it--I began with a little, but habit has made me
a Leviathan--I had become all in a !remble from not baving
written anything of lata--the sonnet over leaf did me 80m.
good. I slept the better last night for It--thi. MOrning.
however, I am nearly ae bad again--Just now I opened
Spenser, and the first lines I eaw were these:

..
 '~he noble Heart that harbors virtuoua thought,
And i8 with Child of glorioua great intent,
Can neTer rest, until it forth haTe brolBht
!h' eternal Brood of Glory excellent.'·

The poet was well along in his poem. haTing worked

at it for a month, when he found himaelf ao wearie4 that
he wrote his publishera, "I hep. aoon to be able to
re8ume ., Work--I haTe endeaToured to do so onoe or twice
but to no purpose--instead of poetr7--I haTe a Bwimmins
in aw head--and feel all the effecta of & Mental Debauch--
lownesa of epirita--anxiet7 to go On without the power to
do so • • • ~h1. [Link] I go to Csnterbur7 • • • At
Canterbury I hope the remembrance ot Chaucer w1l1 .et me
forward like a Billiard-Ball.- 2
8ix months had passed sinoe he had thought to lean
on the memory of Chaucer. months of arduous labor in
writing the great poem; and he W8a in the throes of creating
the fourth and last book, when he expressed to Bailey a
3udgment which showed how much his thoughts had been
preoocupied with beauty: -1bat the Imagination Beiles aa
Beauty maat be truth.- 3 4gain a la,se of weets, and he
had coapleted the task he had set himself. In a letter

t.
I.
1m..
a. . . •
!!!!.t
t
pp. 21-22
p. N
p. 67

p
 48
addreaaed to his brothers, Deoember, 1817, is • re-
statement of his meTing prinoiple, "That With a great
poet the oause of Beauty OTeroomea eTery other combina-
tion or. rather obliterates all oonsideration_"l fh.
aearch of the poetic soul for Beauty i8 the guid1na
principle in the oompoaition of Bndl!10n. What his
imagiuation bad pioture' as beautiful ••st rest in the
story of the shepherd-prinoe, Bndymion. An analysi8 of
the story follows.

1. !!!!•• p. 72
-.

CHAPTER III

AN ANALYSIS 0111 :BOOlt on

 CRlPTER III

AN UALYSIS OJ' BOOK on

A thing of beauty is a joy forever.
I, 1

With this expression of his belief in the

immortality of beauty, Xeats began Bndy!10a. But that
single statement was not enough for this lover of
Beauty. He declared.

Its loveliness increases. it will never

,a.8 into nothingness; but still will keep
A bower qUiet for us, and a sleep
Jull of neet dreams, and health, and tuiet breathing.
I, 2-5

the poet expresset in these haunting lines hi. poetio

oreed. He was saying that what i8 beautiful in one ag.
remains for all ages, and that true happiness oonsists i.
[Link] able to pereeive this eternal beauty. A searah for
beauty overruled every other consideration in the mind of
Ieate. He affirmed that in meditation on thoughts of immor-
tal beauty the poetio soul might repose in tranquillity ant
well-beill8.
!herefor•• on every morrow are we wreathiq
A flowery band to bind us to the earth,
Bpite o~despondence, of the inhuman 'earth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy ana. O'er-darkened way.
Ra'e for our searchinge • • •
I, 6-11
 41
Bot all that he saw would enoourage the aerenit,
whioh the oontemplation of beauty invoked. Xeais' te~

perament had aoquainted him with despondeno,. !here

bad been faltering hours of darknes8 and self-4oubi.
When evila such a8 discouragement and the dearth of.
noble naturea upon this earih preseed upon him, he be-
lieved gloom might be driven out by beaut, •

• • • Yes, in spite of all,

80me shape of beaut, move. away the pall
'rom our dark spirits • • • •
I, 11-11

fArough "searching" he had found an esoape, and the.., of.

e80ape lay along the pathway of natural beautiea, "a flower,

!hen the poet gathered into verse a 10Tely circlei

of nature'8 beautiea.

• • • Such the sun, the moon,

!rees old and young, sprouting a shady boo.
'or aimp1e &heep; and such are daffodil.
,
"'"
With the green world they liTe ia; and olear ri1la
That for themselves a oooling oovert make
'Gainat the hot season; the mid-forest brake,
Rioh with a sprinkling of fair musk-rose bloo.. :
I, 13-19

!hese natural beauties, --SUD, ~on. treea, rills, flawera,

--all are the very texture of the poem. They are the
 46
"shape. of 'eauty" whieh dissolve the shade of glooa.
and whioh make for health and quietute.
To this oluster of nature's beauties "made for
our searching- he added another heart-stirring delight,
his love of old stories and the ohivalrous romanoe. of
great poets. The reader of this poem will find that man,
of the old storiea. fables that were the inspiration ot
poets of other and older times. were used by the poet as
he puraued hiB Bndym10n theme. We shall read of Arethuaa
&:Ild Alphens. of 9lauou8 and Soylla. of Venua and .AdoniS,
&Ild of Circe and her enchantments. During imasillarJ
~ourney8 in dreams underground and beneath the 8ea the
poetic imagination invested~he mighty dead" with new
life. A. Keats defined his purpose:

And such too i8 the grandeur of the dooma

We bive imaginet for the mighty dea4.
All 10Te17 tales that we have heard or real:
An end1es8 fountain of immortal drink.
pouring unto us tro. the heaven'a brink.
I. 20-24

!he poet haa not only atated hie poetiC oreed. but alao
has given us the souroes of his inspiration. The "flowsrJ
'bant" and -all lovely talea" are a "fountain of immortal
drink." They teed his imagination and inspire his loftieat
ide •••
 ...

--
!he i4ea of oontinueus inspiration oon~eye4 b, "
Xeata' phrase, "an endlesa fountain," is amplified 1D
BUcceeding l1nes aa he wr1tes farther of the stimuli to
hia imaginat1on.

Bor do we merely feel these ,aaencea

Jor one ahort hour; no, eTeD as the trees
!hat whisper round a temple become soon
Dear as the temple's aelf, ao doea the moon,
!he [Link] poea" glories infinite,
Haunt us till they become a cheering light
unto OlU' souls, and bound to us So fast,
That, whether there be shine, or gloe. o'ercast,
They always must be with us, or we die.
I, 21-38

Onoe again the aouroes of hia poetic inspiration are par-

tioularised. He is haunted by the moon and the ·pasaion
poe8Y," which he says are "glories infinite." In the con- .
templatioD of these magical influences his t~ought8 will
80ar. Since these neBsencee" are so dear, they cheer hi.
and sustain hi.. On their beauty he relies for life
itself. The strength of his imaginatiTe sympathies was
80 great that the mere telling of a poetio, romantio
stor, gaTe him Joy.

!herefore, 't is with full happinesethat I

W11l trace the story of Endymion.
It Nt-36

the poet had said that the whispering trees about a temple
 -
... .....

became .a dear as the temple. It followed that his sreat

lOTe of ancient stories would be poure' out in the telliDg
of the stor, of Bn47mion. He would traoe with happl.e.8
the poetio -rtb. of the lOTe story of Cynthia and Bna,.1oa.

!he Tery musio of Who.e name has gone

Into.,. bel:ag. and eaoh pleasant aoene
Is grewing freah before me as the green
Of our own Tallie.. • • •
It a'-19

xeat. had brooded on this ancient ayth until it had beoo_

a part of him. and he saw it as TiTidl, a8 the flO tual

Bagliah 8ce.e upon whioh hi. e78a reatet.

In the spring when nature waa bringing her do_ia
to life and while he wa. awaf fro. the oit" the poe•
• ould be written. then the poet did an unUBual thing;
he .et a time limit for his oomposition.

• • • And a. the ,ear

Grows lush in 3uiol stalks, I'll smoothl, steer
11 little boat. for m&n7 quiet hours,
With atreams that deepen freshly into [Link].
~ a Terse I hope to write,
Jetore the daiSies, Ter.. il rima'! and white,
Hide in deep herbage; and ere let the bees
s.. about globe. of cloTer and sweet peas,
I aUSt be near the milUe of ., stor,.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • Let Autumn boll.
With ..iTeraal tinge of sober gold,
Be all about me when I make an end.
I, '5-53, 66-5'

And now he is ready to enter upon a great adTenture.

-.
• • • I 8end
M) herald thought into a wilierneas:
~here let its trumpet blow. and quickl7 dres8
M7 uncertain path with green, that I may speed
Easi17 onward, through fiowers, and weal..
I. 58-62

Of nothing was he sure. Thus Xeats falteringl, but

Gourageous17, had prepared himself to tell the storr
that "baa gone into his Tery being."
In the proem, only stxty lines. the reader finds
all the elements of which Keats constructed the poem.
The poet 18 aglow with lOTe of beaut7. Beauty in nature
and in old stories. [Link], --"these eB.ence8"
he wri tes , --bring him compo lure. heal. th. and happiness.
He feels in his Boul the magic power of the moon to shel.
beauty over all. To esoape the meanness of the world
he aeeks the loveliness of pure nature and rejoicea in
the beautl of the great tragio stories of the world. He
proposes to himself to trace the story of EndJm10n With
full happiness, and prepares to spend many qUiet hours
in pursuit of lovelinesa.
Against the background of a moonlit Engliah lana.-
BOape the eager imagination of a loang poet re-enacted
the old myth of the loves of the moon goddess and EndJDdon.
He take. us first to a mighty Latm1an forest, a gloom,
forest shunned by shepherds. Numerous paths led to a
 60
glade in which stood a marble altar on & lawn strewn
with

• • • flowers budded newly: and the dew

Had taken fairy phantasies to strew
Daisie. upon the sacred sward last eTe.
I. 91-98

It was dawn.

All 8uddenly. with joyful cries. there sped

A troop of little children garlanded;
Who gathering round the altar, seem'd to pry
Earnestly round as Wishing to espy
SO_ folk of ho11d8.78 • • • •
I. 109-18

Heralded by faint mnaic. a prooession of white 01&4

devotees 30yously moved towards the altar. Young damsels
danced &long. carrying white Wicker baskets filled with
"April'a tender younglings." (138) !hey were followed
by a crowd of shepherds trailing sheephooka. or playins
flute.. It is seen that the poet began hiB story en a
morning in April, in the Tery season in which he starte'
the actual composition.
A Druidic priest,

His aged head crowned with beechen wreath,

It 169

adTance4 "full soberly.- !here came another crowd of

 61
shepherds singing, and then in a car drawn b7 "three
steeds of dappled brown," stood a princell louth, evidentll
a perBon of renown among ~he throng. The shepherd prince
appeared robust and accustomed to bear weapons.

A smile was on his countenance: he seem'd,

To common lookers on, like one who dream't
Of [Link] in groves Illsian. • • •
It 170-77

There were some among the multitude, however, who could

detect a hint of underlying grief, Oftentimes t~el noticed
that ~he reins slipped through his bands, Then the specta-
tors would Sigh,

And think of lellow leaves, of owlets' cry,

Of logs piled solumnll_ - Ah, well-a-d&l,
Wby should our loung Endymion pine &wal?
I, 182-8"

~h. assembled worshippers encircled the altar. The

"venerable priest" called upon the .,hepherds to pal their
TOWS ~o Pan. He also prepared ~
. '
sacrifioe of sweet8 .pon
the Shrine and poured a libation "in honour of tne shepherd
gOd." While the incense of burning spice arose, the whole
multitude sang a choral hymn to the god. This purely pagan
hymn haa been much admired as a work of art. AmJ Lowell,
for instance, says it is "one of the finest things Keats
 52

eTer wrote." 1
!he firet stans. of the hJmn singa of the seore-
tiTenesa of the forest depths wherein pan dwella. !here
are beautiful melodioua lines which represent pan aa one t

Who 10T'at to aee the hamau7a1a drea.

their ruffled locks where meeting hasels darken;
.Ani through Whole soleDill hours dost sit, and hearken
!he drear7 melody of bedde' reeds,
It 286-89

and 1thioh pra7 his pi t7 in me 110 %'7 of "fair 81l"inx." It

0108e8 with an tnTocation,

• • • Hear us, great pan.

It 2'6

fhat is the only time the god'S name is pronounoed in the

bJma.
!he moOd of the second stans. is quiet and contented.
!he woodland spirit is picture' aa • wanderer through the
meadows in the spring eTening. He is implore' to bring to
fruition all the bright promise of flowerB and fruit. !he
emotion is increasing in the third stans. in which pan is
addres8ed a8 the raler oyer eTerr faun &ad sat;yr. !he
.oTement and the thought of the lines are both liTelier.

%. towe!!, JiIij, .Q2.:. &!!.:. t Toi. I t ' • 314

 The fauns and satyrs are sent to the ocean side,

• • • !o gather up all fancitulleat she11a

lor the. to tumble into Baiads' oe11.
And, being hidden, laugh at their out-peepins;
Or to delight thee with fantastio leapinS,
!he while they pelt each other on the oroWD
With silvery oak leaves, and fir oones brown.
. I, 2'1-76

Iext the "Breat son of Dryope" is besought to

protect the worshippers themselves from harm, espeoially
from terror of the unknown.

strange ministrant of undescribed sounda,

That oome a swooning over hollow ground,
And wither drearily on barren moor••
I, 286-8'

!he thought haa been steadily mounting in intensitYe

fhe final apostrophe ends in & great shout by the singiDi
oongregation; the linea simulate .ell the volume of sounl.
The entire stanza suggests the state of mind of the dia-
ir&i.t young Endymion. Very probably it tells what is going
on in the mind of the poet. He waa alone and grappliag
with great thoughts, an effort whioh left him oold ani
despairing. The appeal was to a supernatural power to
apread over all a touch of beauty, whioh would trans for.
the earth anew. He sought to esoape into a dream world.
It was a mystioal experience, "an unknown." fhe entire

•
..

54

stanza is quoted.

Be still the unim&fiinabl! ltidse

Por SOlitarf thlni:#ga; suc as dodge
Conoepiiono the Tery bourne of heaTe.,
fhen leaTe the nat.d brain; be still the leaTen,
That !freadins in this dull and 010d4e' earth
GiTes t a toucS-elhirear-= .-new ~lrih:
Be stlll a symbol of Immensii,r--
A firmament reflecte' ln a sea;
An element fl1ling the spaee between;
.An UDlmcnm ... but no more: we humbly sor•• n
Irth uplift hands our foreheads, lowl, bending,
And giying out a shout most heaven rending,
Oonjure thee to receiTe our humble paean,
Upon thy Mount Lycaeant
I, 293-206

!pe next hundred lines are concerned mostl, with

the groups into Whioh the multitude diTided. Companies
of youths and maidens began dancing. Afterwards a8 the,
sat in weariness upon the grass, they listened to old
storiea, or watched games of quoits and archer, conteata.
All thelr play reoalled the old myths, perhaps stories of
Biobe or the Argonauts. Even in the presence of youthful
Jollit" Bndymion sat apart wlth the ancient priest ant
the aged shepherds, who soberly disooursed upon their
antiCipated heaTenly duties and pleasures. As the elders
talked of Elysium, each person told of his fond hope of a
reunion With a lost lOTe, a rosy chlld, or a friend of
long ago, -- all but Endymion. He had fallen into a
tranoe. The [Link] company were tearful or anxious and
 61
tried to arouse Bndymion, but he continued in a faint
brought on b7 reoolleotions of something in the past whioh
be had [Link] from all about him.
While Bndya10n was lost in melanoho17 dreams. he
heard the Toiee of his sister PeOna, who persuade' him
to oome with her and led him away through thiokets and
OTer rough ground

£long a path between two little streams,

I, 416

to a riTer.

_ _ .Clear, brimful, and flash

With or7stal mocking of the trees and 8&7-
I, 421-22

A small boat afloat in the stream bore them to an island.

peona induced Endymion to rest on her own couch of flower
leaTea. As he Slept, peona, holding his hand, sat quiet17

beside him.
Thia quiet scene is followed by an inToeatlon to
sleep. It is a paBsage of splendid, oonfased Tisiona
bathed in moonlight. BndJm10n awoke refreshe4; peona'a
8isterly affection had restored him. Re WaB Tery grateful .
and Towed he would grieTe no more, but would hunt apoa the
mountains a8 of old. At hia request abe aocompanied

.
 56
herself with the lute in a song,

.ore subtly oadenoed, .ore forest wild

!han Dryope' s lone lulling of her ohild;
And nothing sin.. has floated in the air
So mournful strange. • • •

Rather then sing, she resolved to question him. It is

ya,i. to hide, she 8&7S, that he knows some thing aye terious.
Baa he offended the goddesa? Has he shot a paphi&n dove.
wounded one of Diana's deer-herds, or oaught a glimpse of
Diana herself when he knew that would bring death to a
IIOr tal. ?
BndJDdon realising that peona too was troubled b7
the sudden ohange in him, assured her it was Dot UDsatis.
fied ambition Which had brought his 'pir1ts low. He made
several puer11e boasts about hi8 hunting. He could raoe
with hi8 own ateed, and with a frown oould force a lio.
to Slink backward. However, he [Link] to unburdeD
himself of his "seoret grief" to Peona. !hereupon he
told a MOSt strange story_ On an evening as he walked 1n
a forest near the river, suddenly a bed of d1 t8JQ' ancl
poppies burst into bloom beSide him. As he wondered over

this "flowery spell," he became dizzied with thought. He

was surrounde' with visions of light, very similar to the
oonfusion of images in the invocation to sleep, ant

p
------------------ -------- ---------------
OTerco.. b7 these Tisions. he had fallen asleep. It
is remarkable how mach akin to a modern deaign is thi8
Tision of Xeats. It i8 described aa.

Shaping TiBionB all about D7 aigh~

Of 0ttOurB, wings. and burets of SP~ll ligh~;
!he icK beoame more sirante, &ad s range, and di.,
And then were I!lphfi In a uaultuoua awla.
I, 568·'1

He fell unier an enchantment. Dreaming. he 1.7

watching the stars. It would be lmpoaslble for him to
expreas the beautl of 811 he "beheld and felt." ~eats'

attempt to reach the bounds of thought in these poe~io

Tisions is nearly always expressed bl a soaring into the

empyrean. 80 now as' he gased upward in this clream, the

Terl doors of heaTen s8emed to open for his flight. Aa

aooompaniment ot these .,stioal eXperienoes which he uaual17
mentions ia the pinions which aupport him;

80 kept me [Link] in that airl trance,

Spreading imaginar, pinions wide.
I, 585-86

presently in the Tision he saw that the stars be,..

to faint awa7. Asthel faded, his 81ea dropped to the
horisoa and he saw emerge from opening clouds,

!he lOTeliest moon. that e'er silTerld o'er

A shell for Beptune's goblet: she did aoar
80 passionatel, bright, . , dazzled soul
COmadngling with her argent spheres did roll
!hrough clear and cloudy t eTen when she "'Il~
 68

At la8t into a dark and vapoury tent -

Wherat. methought, the lidle8s-eyed train
Of planets all were in the blue again.
I, 6'2-99

Again he lifted his eyes, and 88W coming towards him

an apparition of incomparable beauty. It did not occur to
him to recogni.e the lBOon-goddess who came 88i11ng fro.
aboTe and pressed his hand. He related that in this
"dream within dream," as Peona described the enchantment,
he fainted. He and the goddess sailed together to aereal
height., and then awooped downward to a cavern on •
mountain side. They alighted on a bed of fragrant violeta
and blosaom1ng limes. The story beoame more coaplex, for
81eep overpowered him, and the aweet dream vanishei. He
was now in his first 81eep.
Prom that Sleep he· awoke to deep despondenc,. !be
poppiea hung wilted on their stems. The beautiful goddess
had departed. It seemed to him that the breeze at intervals
brought him

Yaint fare-thea-wella, and sigh-shrilled adieua!

I, 690

'rom this point onward Endymion was the lonely wanderer,

aeeking his h1gh vision. The poetic soul haTing taated
Beaut, for ODe brief moment will foreTer pine for beauty,
and must pursue the quest through unimaginable adventure a

~ .. -----~~-~.--------------
 59
and can not oease its search.
Peona would have oomforted End1m1on; but, her
views being human, ahe thought it would be unmanly for
him to aearch for the dream which had eluded him ant
spend his days in yearning for fitful visiona •

• • • How light
Mast dreams theme elves be; aeeing they're more slight
Than the mere nothing that engenders thea!
Then Wherefore sully the entrusted gea
Of high and noble life with thoughts so aiok?
I, '154-58

BndJDdon defended hie oourse. Had he not ever kept

before himself high goals? Nothing base oouli entioe him.
nor oould the failures of others deter him. He aaked ana
answered a qnestion.

Wherein lie. happineas, In that which beot.

Q8r ready minds to fellowship divine.
A fellowship with eseenee; till we shine
lull &lohemiz'd. and free of spaoe.
I. 7'1'-80

This is the beginning 0 ./ a philosophical di scourse 00.-

prising some two hundred linea. The entire paBaage muat

have had great importance to Xeats who oommented upon the
line. quoted above, to hie publisher. John Taylor. "Mr
baving written that Argument." wrote Xeats. "w111 perhaps
be of the greatest Service to me of anything I ever di4.
It set before me at once the gradations of Happiness even
 60
1
like a kind of Pleasure fhermometer."
BUoh of this long passage is very beautiful
poetry. Sinoe Keats thought of his explanations to
Peona as being "gradations of Happiness," it i. perhaps
beat to examine these line. in the light of the poet's
3u4gment, to seleot, as it were. the steps towards
happiness. -,ellowship d1 vine" ie synonymous with the
poetic Tieion. Referring in the Proem to the power exertel
over his dreams by the beauty he found in nature and 014
romanoes, Xeats ueed the tera "easenoes." At the moment
when he arrived at a "fellowship With essence,- he had
eacaped the world and was through the poetic Tision On.
with the spirit of beaut,. He declared his adventures in
thought ohanged him into a glorioua being who aoared to
the very heavens, "free of space." He implied that the
~nd of the poet had merged itself imaginatively with the
infinite.
Immediately the reader is told what it i8 that
"becks our ready minds" to these flights of happiness.
First, as in the Proem, nature is deolared to be the
inspiration; and next in most plaintive, haunting lines.
old songs and nyths are said to be the inspirers of poetio
dreaJlll..

I. Jorman, iliurioe Buxton, Op. llh. p. 411

 61
• •• Behold
The olear religion o~ heaTent Pold
• roee leaf round thy finger's taperne8s.
Ana-soo~thy lip8: hiat, when the airy stress
Of musio's kiss impregnates the free windS
And with a sympathetio touch unbinds
Aeolian masic ~rom their lucid Wombs:
fran old ~ w&ken ~rom enelouded tombs;
o dItiiea-ifgh aboTe their father's graTe;
Ghosts of melodious prophecyinga raTe
Round eTery spot where trod Apollo's foot;
Bronle olarions awake. and faintly bruit.
Wbere long ago a siant ).ttle was;
And from the tur~ a lullaby doth pasa
In eTery place where infant Orpheus alept.
I, 780-94:

!he argument at this point recurs to Xeats' oon-

eeption of ultimate Beauty. Here he aaka.
leel we these things? • • •

The continuation,

• • • That moment haTe we stept

Into a sort o~ oneness, and our state
IS like a floating spirit's • • • •
I, 795-97

expresses his belief that man is united with Beauty through

an eostatic appreciation of the lOTelines8 of nature mingled
with a rapturous sympathy for the beauty o~ history and
legend. This is a state of oomplete detachment from the
world o~ actuality.
Iext he at~ains "richer entanglements," whioh lead
to the "ohie~ intenSity."
 68
• • • fhe crown of theae
Is made of lOTe and friendship; and. sits high
Upon the foreheai of hamanit7-
I. 800-2

Doabtless the poet feels the need for sJmpath7 witk

hu.&nit,. But at thia time his aspiration is to attain
the sublime. Xeats affirJllS tllat the beauty of lOTe i.
the higheet good &D7 man can know •

.lll its more ponderous and bulky worth

IS frieadship, whence eTer issues forth
• atead7 splendour; bat at the tip-top,
!here hangs by unseea fila, an orbe' drop
Of light, and that i8 l2!!.•••
I. 803-'

aoon the poet returns to the thought of a unioa

with laTe, ~ieh is beauty to him. as imparting the greate.t
satisfaction.

Melting into its radiance, we blenl

tingle. and so beeo_ a part of it. -
Bot with auglit elae can our B01il:i-interlmi t
80 WiDgedl71 • • •
I. 810-13

Be has reached the highest inspiration. Bia Ter" being.

: ;: a8 he aspired. haa seen absolute beauty in lOTe. and haa
"becoae a part of it.-
Speaking now of sensual lOTe the poet recognise'
that 1l8.Jl7 men who m1ght haTe been supremely great. haTe
 61
been oontent to "sleep in love'. el,eium." .everthele •• ,
he write ••

I have ever thought that it might ble ••

!he world with benefits unknowingl7;
A. doth the nightingale, .pperohed higk.
Jnd cloisteret ....g cool and bunchel leave. -
She sing. but to her love. nor e'er conceive.
How tiptoe Night hold. back her dark-gray Aool.
I. 826-31

!h1s passage of such impor~ce in the poet's

estimation closes with a note of the uncertainty whioh he
deplored. He doea not kaow WAat benefits love be_tow_
upon the world.

JRSt so may love. • •

• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Produce more than our searching witnesseth:
What I know not: •••
I, 832. 8M-36

Jinal17 he tueationed Peona: If a man will give up bis

dearest ambition for a mortal love, how mQoh more would he
do for an immortal love,
Bnd7mion straggled to convince the practical-mindel
Peona that his love was immortal azul his dream real. He
returned to memories of their childhood and related
experiences that he now underetood were intimations of his
poetiC ViSions. In one such memor,r he reoalled himself, a

,..
little boy in a secluded spot in a forest. playing by
the water. He was idly blowing bubble. and sailing hi.
little boats. The little boy had fancied himself Nept..e
ruling his tiD7 ocean. He grew older. Once 8S he had
eat watching the reflection of overhead clouds in the
water. there flew b7

A clOUdy Cupid with hiB bow and qui Ter

I. 889

He would haTe followed the little 10Te. but was stopped hy

the eight of a faoe reflected 1n the water. the face of
the divinity that appeared in his vision.
From ohildhood he had had moments of viSionary
delight. !he poetic vision always was followed by weary
days. !he momentary enchantment came again and again. In
the interT&ls he had sought to banish torment and had p1aye'
about like a little boy. carelessly hurling hi8 lanoe. and
once had wandered aimlessly into a oave. !here he found a
spot so secluded and so beautiful, he bad fancied it was a
"grot of pros,rpine" or~he cell of Echo.- Even there hi.
hopes of meeting his love were blasted. A voice had warned.

Bndyadonl the eave is seoreter

Than the 181e of De10.. • • •
I. 965-6
 66
Continued disappointment in his searohing caused hi.
to resolve to spend his hours in meditation. In oon-
cluding the aooount o~ hiB experienoes, lndJm10n gave
Peona a hal~-hearted promiae that he would grieve no more.
nor wander about in the blustering mountain wini.
Evenlng had ~allen. The narrative o~ an April
d~ whioh began with the sacrifioe on ~unt Latmoa and
had been oarried on against a baokground of rivers ancl
spring flowera, ended aa Peona and Indymion stepped into
the boat and launched ~rom land.
As we have aeen, Book One opena with an Introduction
of sixty-two lines which in itself summarized all the
elements of the poet's thought at the time o~ hia writing
Indl!d0n. Since the first thirty-three line8 oontaln Xeata'
analysi8 o~ Beauty formulated at the beginning of his lons
task of oomposition, that half of the Introduction i8 the
more important for a student of the poem. !he8e linea
oontain a general statement.

A thing of beauty is a joy toreTer,

I. 1

developed by partioulars; and a aecond,

Nor do we merely ~eel these essencea

lor one short hour, • • •
I, 25-6

--------- ~~~~- ------------

 66
intended to strengthen the tormer. through them we
learn that the first quality Xeats believed beauty to
possess was permanenoy_ As a oonsequenoe, appreoiation
of beauty ooal! inorease. (2) Repose was the reward won
by lovers of beaut,_ (8-6) Beauty was synonymoua with love
of flowera and all other objects of nature, with love at
lesends and "all lovely tales.- (13-24) !he love ot
beauty mnst be idealized, carried into a world of the
imagination---these essences." (26-6) The types of beaut"
therefore, from which might be invoked the hisheat inapira-
tion on account of their being more ethereal, were the moOD
and poetry, "glories infinite," which ahed "a cheeriD!
light." (2S-30) The love of beauty gaidei and cheeret;
upon it the aoul mast place its dependence for continued
lite, for immortality. (32-a3)
It is, aa I have 8aid, important to realise the
qualities whioh the poet sought in his searoh for Beaut,.
Beauty, he defined, 8S an enduring and essential principle,
produotive of repose, experienoed in degrees through love
of nature, books, ani -- mare [Link] -- the moon and
poetr,. !he poet who seems to the oasual. reader to be
enamoured of merely sensuous beauty was seeking a general
atatement of a prinoiple to guide him. What appeara at

p
 6'1
firat reading to be purely senauoua was meant a180 to
be philosophical. ~ny times in the poem may be aeen
the reaching upward for inspiration ever higher, the
longing for repose, and the retarn to the mOOD aa the
.,abol of spiritual beauty.
Book One bas preaented a full realisation of
aensuoua beauty. through bqaioll's dreamB Xeats empha-
sized the influence of the moon that shed a glory over
all. !he book. which is uneven in poetio power, containa
the BJmB to pan. the moOD [Link], and other passages of
great lyr1c beauty. !he poetio thought of beauty in qUiet,
secret plaoes in the Hymn passed into the beauty of the
mysterious and then into the beauty of thought too ethereal
to be expressed. • seooni passage of extreme 1mportance.
the Graiations of Happiness passage ("'-8.2), set forth
the deepeat thinking of Which Xeats was oapable at the
time he was writing. I shall refer again to ~ expo8it10n
of this passage. It really oontains the "argument" of the
poe., and cr1tics oan not ignore it.
!he analysis of the first book has Shown a sim1lar1t7
with the 1nterpretations of Professor Thorpe ani
profesaor :rinne,. both of wholl foand in Bn!l!1on an
allegory.l Aocording to these critics the intent of the

1. See abOVe, p. l'

 68
poet to write an allegory is explained through the
Gradations of Happiness passage. (777.8.2) These are,
alao, the lines which J. M1d41eton Inrry found "of
little importance."l The analysis agrees with the 3u4g-
ment of Professor Thorpe and Profesaor linnel 1a this
reapect. Professor Thorpe wrote that Book One "represents
the first Wild taste of sensuous beaut7--the trance-like
state.-! On pages 57 and 58 is pOinted out End7mion-s
m7atic81 e%perienee, a poetio vision, in which he waa
for an inatant one with the spirit of 'eaat7. He, alao,
explained to Peona that in foraer yeara he had hal
intimations of beauty whieh he had hoped to repeat.
Professor Pinney interprets this book 8a the first
gradation in a quest for immortality progressing through
love of nature. 8 That opinion seems too limited. It i.
Bot love of nature alone, siDee the beautiful descriptions
of natural seenes are only the background for the viaion
of the heavenly goddess. The culwination of the experiences
related in the first book must be the meeting with the
god4e8s (14.6""1), who thenceforward represented supre.
beauty to EndJa1on. I &lree with Professor Finney taat
~na,.1on'a experiences represent a quest for immortality.'

I. See above, p. 18
2. See above, p. l'
s. aee above, p. l'
4:. See above, p. 66
 69
Book One, then. represents a full rea11sation ot
aensuoua beauty. the first step 1n a quest tor immor-
tality to be won through lOTe.
Thi. book might be 3udged weak in narrative ,ower.
It w1ll be read, however, for the lovely lyrioal portion.
soattered through it. one thouaand 11nea ot ver.e. A
olear out oontrast between the praotical and helpful
Peona representing human afteotion. and the 1llusive
UBknown goddesa represent1ng poetic 1nspiration i8 felt.
It i8 to the latter Bn~on oleaves. and with whom he
hopes to be reunited. There i8 magio in the first book
of In~on; there 18 poetry. One does not for8et that
a lover of beauty had set out to prove his right to the
high name of poet.
 CBlPDR IV

A1f AULYSIS OJ BOOX flO

,<

..

--------------------_. _._-
 Ali A!ULY8IS 0' BOOX RO

A aucoinot and arresting apostrophe,

o soverelgn power of 10Yel 0 griefl 0 bala1

II. 1

acquainta •• at once wlth the theme of the aeo••d book of

IDb'!10a. It expreasee wh& t was 1B the poet· s mind at the
t i . of wrltiug, and illuminate a the Btor)'.

All recorda aavlDg taine ceae 0001 and calm,

And abad0W7 through the mist of pas.e' 7eare.
lor othere, gOOd or bad, hatred and teare
HaTe become indolent. • • •
II, 2-6

Kistor" can be read b)' thia poet Without emotion, for ti..
~ae blarre4 all feeling; bat net 80 stories of lOTe •

• • • But touohing thine,

One eigh doth eoho. one poor 80b doth ptne,
One kiss briDgs hone7-dew from burie' da7S.
II, 6·'

With its magic touoh loye bringe to life romantic tales.

Such an intuitiTe pioture ae Keat. draws of the fall of

!he woee of Trol. towera smothering o'er their bla•• ,

stiff-holden Shields. far-piercing spears, keen blade ••
struggling, and blood, and shrieks • • • •
II. 8-10
 may be erased by a sharply leflnel etohing of an lmmortal
love story whose gr1ef the poet aharea.

Yet. 1. oar very sollla ••e feel amal.

!he olo.e of !rol1ua ani Oras81d ..aat.
II. 12-11

Ha casts out of his thought hiato17. w1th all 1ta

...or1e. of proud and cruel happen1ngs. the 'eeda of oon-
querors that strode aoross the pages of time and left no
traoe.

• • • ftat oare. tllough owl d14 fl7

About the great Athen1an adDdr81's maat?
What care. though str141ng Alexander pa.t
!he Indus w1th h1s '-oedoDiaa nuabara?
II. 22-21
In what way oan these storles affect hi. now! The, are
lifeless happenlmg8 Whloh oould never provoke a s1gh nor
• 8JBPataetl0 tear.

• • • JUllet laaa188
AJI1d her Window flowers. - sigh1Dg. - weanl..
tenderly her fanc1 from lta malden snow.
Doth more ava11 than these: the Silver flow
Of Hero's tears, the swoon of Imogen.
~air pastorella 1n the ban41t's den.
Are things to brood on wlth more ardenc7
than the death 4&7 of [Link]. • • •
II. 2'·3'

In truth. Ieats had been brooding a long time on

the works of Shakespeare and Spenser. To a great extent.

p
 '2
his imagination was fired with the power of love. In
the introduction to the first book he had recited "all
love17 taleS" as a thing fittest to fill the soul and
inspire the songs of a poet. He had written in
Book I, 812-1•• of the influence of lov••

• or With aught else oan our souls interknit

80 1f1nged17: when we combine there..i tll,
Life's self is noarished b7 its proper pith.

BOw he takes up this theme of human love which

• • • brings hone,-dew from buried da7a.

II. 'I

"Xeats meant the love of man for woman, as being bothhia

ph7Bical and spiritual fulfillment."l
Although he is enraptured with his 8ubject, h.
approaches it With fear. He was Bot sure of [Link].

• • • Jearf1l.117
MUst such conviction come upon his head.
Who, thus far. discontent, has dared to tread,
Without one ause's emile, or kind behest.
fhe path of love and poes7. • • •
II, 3-4-88

. Undaunted, he continua.

1. flowell. IBi, Ope cit., vol. I. p. 366

 78
• • • But rest
In ohaffing iileneas is yet .ore 41'ear
fAan to be crush'i, in atri~1ng to uprear
Lo~.'s ataniaris on the battl ••ente of song,
80 onoe IIOre clay. and nights aid me alol1l
Lik. legion'd 80141era • • • •
II. IB-d

.e set out with the hero upon the ad~.ntures that

awaited him. In spite of En4ym1on's promise to PeODA oa
the e~ening ln April. he atill moped and wandered about
the forest. One day in summer f") -the brain-siok
shepherd priJ'1Oe" sat by a spring [Link] his f1Dgera in
the 0001 water. 1417 he pl••ke' a Wild roae &ad dipp.' ita
stalk in the water. !he flower bur8t into full bloo.. an&
there within its center neatled a golden butterfl7 .pOD
who•• Wings Bn47m1on .eemed to aee strange characters.
!he butterfly opened ita winge and flew awa7. !h. wanierer
awolte from his languid state. and eagerly follo.... d it along
dark pa~•• between cliffs and on eTen into • spring near
a oaTera's mouth.
the pursuit is described in 11Des ao lucld that the
piotara is unforgettable.

• • • One tract unseama

A wooded cleft. and, far away, the blue
Of ooean faaes upon him; then. anew,
Xe sinks adown a solitary gle.,
Whera there was n.~er sounel of mortal men,
Saving, perhaps, some snow-light oadenoea

.
 '4r
..lting to .ilenoe, When upon the bree.e
ao.. holy bark leta forth an anth.m sweet,
!o oheer itself to Delphi. • • •
II, ' ...82

Ena,.1on'. swift feet ooald aot GTerteke Aia "..rr,-wingel

guide." (83) As it reaohed the fountain, he saw it touch
the water. ead diaappear. ~ailing to find hie gaide eTe.
when he .e&rched the nowers. BDlJ1I1oll threw hi. .elf U,OIl

the gra•••
Instantly a DJDPh arose 1Jl the water. She was ,lela-
tiY8 and pitlfal. All she oculd giTe to hill who hat too 10111

• • • Staryed on the ruth,

!he bitterne.a of 10Te, •••
II, 104r-6

waa pit7. It waanot p08sible for her to oheer hia. !O

10 thi8 k1n' office she would Willingly have given all her
treaaares, her enchantments of the world under water. .e
learned that although the Baiad had guiled hia thUB far,
the .earch BlUst continue into an DJlDown world of the i_-
gination before he oould be unite' with hi. godde88. Be

i8 told b1 the water .,mph.

-!UU _8t wander far

In other ratiOns. paat the aoantl bar
!o IIIOri81 8 e", before thou oan8tDe t.'8Jl
lroa eyer7 __ 1ng 8igh, from eyer, pain,
Into the gentle boao. of tbJ 10ye.-
n, 123-2'

po
---~--------------- ----
 '6
On. _;y thiu that here he i8 glimp8trag the poet'.
IDin', and not alone "iewing the path of [Link]'a ad"...
"urea. !ha poet i. aa8uredl;y OOB80ioU8 of a [Link]•••
reaching for the stara. BndJDdon had told Peon. ~pl.e88

la;y 1.

• fellowship with a ••eno.; tll1 w. ahin. 1

'ull [Link].", &ad frea of spao•••••

And now the Baiad bad 'eolared hi8 .oul would not ,. aati.·
fie' until he had wandere' tn • world of spirit. In 8UO~ •

regio. of 4r.... h. woall 'e tak•• "tato the gentle b080.

of his 10,.•• • !h• .,ster;y, the [Link] he aought,
oould not be understood b;y ". poor l&ia4." She Bant fro.
aight into the water.
!be lon.l;y wanderer gasad upon the plaoe of the
BJIIP~'a diaappearanoe in amuement. but the water pour.'
on &8 if "neither gOOd nor ill" had happened th.r.. the
hours of 4al1ight had [Link].d ae he followed hi8 .lasi".
guile. In the twilight BndJBdon aat oonfua.d "'7 [Link]
fanoi ••• • while be pour.' out hia heart in • long .01110tU7
on the Tanit, of h~ lif., and the maltitu4. of disappointed
~op... He told hia••lf one struggle in • mortal' ••[Link]
•• re11 [Link] to &.noth.r .ffort aore arduous. !he Latll1aa

1. S•• abo,.., ,. 69

..
 76
too understood the bitterness of disappointment since he
had pursued ~ air" guide unheSitatingly, only to see it
undergo a change and vanish fro. his life. A maR

• • • enoamps
!o take a fancied oity of delight,
o what a wretoh is hel and when 'tis hiB,
After long toil and traveling, to miss
The kernel of his hopes, how more than vile:
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Another city doth he set about.
II. 14:2-46, 148

Dejeoted, he

• • • onward to another cit7 BpeedB, .

But this is human life. • ••
II. 152-68

This repetition is the ebb and flow of Xeats' own misgivings

about his poetical efforts. Yet growth, he feels, comes
through struggles Which bear in themselves,

• • • This go04
That they are still the air, the subtle fool
TO make us feel existence, and to show
ROW quiet death is. • • •
II, 166-59

It is still the poet speaking for himself who S&78 ,

• • • Where 80il is men grow,

Whether to weedS or flowers; but for .. ,
There is no depth to strike in, • • •
II, 159-61

a pathetic admiSSion of his inexperience. The succeeding

l1n•• ,
"
• • • I caan •••
• aught earthl7 worth Jq oOllpasslng; 80 .'t.I
Upon a JRiat7, 3ut't1ng head of land.
II. 161-61

are an 1nstance of Xeats' abl1it7 to impart a aenae of

yaatnea8 and Jqa'ter7.

Alone' Bo. no; and b7 the Orphean lute

nen mad Eurl'dioe i8 listening to It;
I'd raiher siand upon thia miat7 peak,
Wi'th not a thing to aigh for, or to seet
But the Bof't-8hadaw of mr thrioe-aeen 10Te.
,baa be • I oar. not what. • • •
II. 1"-69

In hie u'tmost need. lIndJm10n implore' the 110011-

goddeaa to giTe him winga to bear him to "his 10Te's far
twelling.- He pra7e4 the Tirgin godless to be propltlou••
He felt [Link] burBting 'the bars of hi8 [Link];y. and
belieye' he was saillng with the god4e8s through the air.
!o lailthrough 'the ether and .e. the world spi..ing below
was more than hia spirit could [Link]. He oalle' to t ••
got'esa to aid him. As he atood trembling, & 9Oioe fro.
the oaYe called to him to de80en4

Into the aparrl' hollow8 of the wor141

II, 804

Lesi h. heaitate, he waa told,

 ,.
t,.
• • • He ne'er ls orown;!
Wi th iDllDOrtall who fears to !o'!'!~
l&ire alrz ~{oea!!!!. • • •
II. 211-11

Keats aeemed to belieTe that a poetlc flight of the i ...

glnation lnto • dream world where be could detaoh hi..elf
from the world ot reality was neoeasary to tree hi. fro.
eartAlJ llDdtatlons. When BndJaion wa. en301ne' to
deacend into "the silent ay8terie. of the earth,- (21~)

without ~ inatant's pause for reflection. he p1UDge' [Link]

-the tearful 4eep.8
:lOW that he had net

~rom the olear moon, the trae., and ooming madne.a.

II, 218

the solitar.J prince found himself in a atrange, twilight

world faintly [Link] with millions of sparkling gema.
It la a strange and wonderfal .~.rieno. to run away tro.
the radiance of a full moon, and find in the depth. of the
earth euch a region a8 that EndJDdon aaw •

• • • Dark ••or light

the reSion; ndr brilbt. nor [Link] whollT.
lut mingle' up; a gleaming melaDebolT;
A dusky empire and its diad••a;
One faint eternal eTentide of gema.
II. 221 ... 26
•.

79
of gold studded with Jewels aerTed Bn4Jm1on for a path,
and led under arched roofs. through aapphire oolUJlIl8, ancl
acrOBS fantastio bridges to .. ridge that towereA OTer ..
hundred waterfalls. The poet i8 trying to grasp. or to
oonTey an illusiTe aense of a Tastneas which i8 a part of
the poetio Tieion when he is freed of earthl, limitationa.

• • • on .. ridge
Bow fareth he, that o'er the Tast beneath
Towers like an ocean Cliff. and whenoe he aeeth
J. hundred waterfalls; Whose Toices oome
iut aa the [Link] aurge. Chill, and nwab
Ria boso. grew, When first he, far awa,
Descried an orbed di-.o.d. • • •
II, 239-'6

Led by the diamond sun, Bndymion went on and on,

too absorbed to see eTen greater wonders:

• • • past the wit

~ spirit to tell. but one or-tftii.
Of
~~en ihls-p!anet's-spAerlng:tlme doth cloa.,
Will be its hi!! remembranoers; who thel?
the might, onea who have made eternal 4&,
'or Greeoe and England. • • •
II, 2.9-0'

He was filled with astonishment. At last he passed througk

.. marble gallery and entered a "mimio temple" eneloaina ..
shrine to Diana. He long explored these mysteries alone in

1. Claude Lee JiDriey identIfIes "The iIghty onea" wI\i

~eats' Renaissanoe master.; Spenser, Shakespeare,
Drayton, and Milton." (The BTolution of [Link].' poetrl'
,. 2.9) - - -
 80
dead 8ilenoe until weary with wandering he seated himselt
betore

• • • A Wild outlet. fathomless and di.,

!o Wild unoertainty and shadows dia.
II. 2'12·'8

Again he related the oonfusion and uncertainty of hi.

awakening from hi. dreaa. his high imaginatiTe experience.
Consoiousness brought to Endfmion the sting of
solitude. He asked himself w~ he should grieTe in BOli-
tude depriTed of the beauties of eart~. He was Dot sati8-
fied to draw, in disoontent, "fantastic figures with hi.
spear." (29.) He retraced his way to the temple, and there
at the shrine besought Diana to return him to the earth.

• • • 0 Haunter chaste
Of riTer Side., and woods, and heathy waste.
Where With thy silTer bow and arrows keen
Are thou now forested? 0 woodland Queen,
What smoothest air tby smoother forehead W008'
Wbere dost thou liB ten to the wi4e halloos
Of thy disparted nymph., Through what dark tree
Glimmers thy cresoent? Iheresoe'er it be,
'Tis in the breath of heaTen; thou dost taste
~reedo. a8 none oan taste it. nor dost waste
!hy lOTeliness in dismal [Link].;
But. finding in our green earth sweet oontents.
!here liTest blissfully. Ah, if to thee
It feels Elysian. how rich to me,
An exil'd mortal. sounds its pleasant name1
Within ~ breast there liTes a choking flame-
o let me oool't the zephyr-boughs &mong1
A homeward teTer parohes up m1 tongue-
o let me slake it at the running springe!
uPon ~ ear a nOi87 nothing rings-
o let me onoe more hear the linnet's note1
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

-------------------------------------------
 81
Youn, god4••• 1 let!!!!!!l Datiye bower,e:
»eli~er me fro. lSI. rapacious 1••,-
II. 101-21. 311-88

!here oame no aound 1. reply_ poor IDdJDdoa,

oompletely dlacouraged, bowel 11ls head. It was !lot for
long. '1 owe 1'8 and leaTe. burst through the marble floor
be.14e hl~ Heartenel b7 aRch a token of the ,[Link]'
fa~or. he anxlously pura.e' his "7- Ha had asked to a••
hla natlTe bowers, and her. ln thl. undergroun4 worli the
[Link]
fairJ
he yearned

~01lrll'1
to aee hai appaare4. [Link] hia.
oontlnue4. ftint asio oharma' hill, ana.
!_
.woke longilaga for hia loat lOT.. He.... led bJ a llght
to a bower of aleeping cuplds, and through & ma.a to •
"m,rtle-walle'" ob&mber in Which 1&1 the youth Adonia, ••laep,
aurooded With flower. &Aa. JI1nl.tere4 1;0 b7 a band of oupld••
lbl4.J1a1oJl wow.l.a. haTe aue4 'for _ '%planatloD. but
h. waa forestallea. b7 a cupid Who aS8ure' hi. that he hal
bee. granted the hlghest faTor of the gods, alnoe he hal
been permitted to enter a saored bower. After offering a
b&nquet to Bnd7m1on preparei for hlm alone. & cupld th••
prooeeied to relate the 8tor1 of Tenus and Adonls, addi.,
to the famlllar m;yth that ,enus had pleade' with JOTe to
[Link] Adoni8 to her arms, and that Jo~e had 4eoreed that
AdoniS' Bleep should endure onl1 through the winter.
 82
ln47a1on learned that Venus ..... moMntaril;y expect.d to
Tlal' her laTe.

• _ • J.:nd :taBt
She aouda wl th .1l8.r bree.e. t to pant 'hrouah
!h. first lens il.B, wara firstl1as. to rea.w
Babowerld aporta in OJt~r.a iale.
II • .a9-92

A BODg fro. the alr awakened the [Link] oupld8 who ro ••• '
'he.. elve. ani rubbet thelr eyea_ ,ar Gloft .ppeare' ike
ioYe-drawn oar which approaohed SWiftly. It was Venue
returning t. Tisi' Adonl ••
!he first ••brac.. were ••aroely oyer [Link].
BndJa10n sought the [Link] of the g041... in hi. ,u•• '_
Venus apok. firs' to Acloni•• and then '0 Jln4yJD1oa. She hal
known of BniJll1on' e m1.eX7. and had pitied hia.

I eaw this ;youth as he [Link] stool=

'A08e .ame tark ourls blown T&grant ia the wlad;
Thoae same full frlnged 11ds a constant bllat
Over hi. sullen eye.. • • •

In thl. deepairing ;youth Xeat. arew [Link]. HaTing heart

hi. Wild complaints, Ven•• had 811•••• 4 IIOme god4.... .he
kaew aot Wh~. had [Link] to hl.. 81noe oonoeal..a'
wa. ne ••• eary she woull not take hlm away to Olympu••
VenuB and Adoni. departed;

...

--------------------.-.~--------------
..

81
Ihan all was darkene4,with .etne.. throe
!ke earth olos", •••
II, 681-86

an4 lI14p1on was le ft alone •

• s Bn4.yJl10n wandered on he was not Ul1hapPJ. Ha'
aot Venus assurel hi. of the truth of his Tisi••! He hal
lo.a' an tmaor;a+. and ha couli look forward to future
happiness. His wandering. took him through oaYes ani
palaoe. of many colored stone.. This desoription of
-.ild magnlficenoe- (698) is dar &reaming in extreme.
!he.e palaoa. hal

Gold dome, and orfstal wall, and tartuGiae floor,

Blaok polish'd porticoes of awful SBat••
~d at the la8t, a 41 ....1 ,al•• tral.
Leading atar past Wild _gaifieano ••
II, •• a-98

there i8 an [Link] 8uoces8ioa of diaaon4 balustral.

• atretohing across a TOid· (600) and bri4,inI enor_ua
ohasms in Whioh subterranean streams foame4 anA roarel.
Playfully he dashed the waters with his spear. At onoe
the water rose in oolumna and enolose4 his path. !he,
surrounde4 him With 0001nes8 an4 anaio.
!he phantasmagoria of interlacing waters unfeltel,

..

-------------------------_._-_. -- ----.----- ------.---.--.----

 Sematime. like delioatest lattices,
COTer'd with cr,ystal vines; then [Link] trees
MOving about as in a gentle wind,
Which, in a Wink, to watery gause refin'l,
pour'd into shapes of curtain'd oanepiea,
Spangle' and rich with liquid broiderie.
Of flowers, peacocks, swans, and naiads fair.
II. 61"-20

!he waters resolved them into the form of a cathedral, ani

at last Endymion reluctantly turned away.
The solitary wanderer felt the chill of something
dreary and .,sterious. At that moment occurred one of the
strangeat inoidents in this dim underworld of the imagina-
tion. It was the sight of the earth-mother [Link], in her
somber chariot drawn by the team of 110ns, silently sailing
from "rugged arch" to another "gloomy arch" in "the ~sk

below." This seems to me to be the most dramatic, certainll

the DlOst unexpected, and startling 1ncident thus:far. It
i. a splendid description, ghostly and solemn.

10rth from a rugged arch, in the dusk below,

came mother Clbelet &lo.e - alone -
In somber chariot; dark foldinge throwa
About her majesty, and front death pale,
With turrets crowned. 'our maned lions hale
The sluggish wheels; solemn their toothed maws,
.~
Their surly eyes brow-hidden, heavy paws
Uplifted drOWSily, and nervy tails
Oowering their tawny brushes. S11ent sails
fhis Shadowy queen athwart, and faints aW&l
In another gloomy arch:- • • •
II, 639-49
 86
Surell this is the apotheosis of d8y dreaming.
The "young traTeler," wayworn and "lost in middle
air," oalled to Jupiter. And well he might, for t.e
diamond path ended abruptly i. mid-air. JoTe answerel
hiB prayer for resoue, and an eagle appeared flying towards
him. [Link] nung himself between the eagle's winge, ant
they sank down-down-down through the perfumed air to a
green nook sweet with flowers, leaves, and mosses. All thie,
remember. was underground.
!he eagle landed him in a moss-ooTered bower. !he
wanderer's every sense was attuned to pleasure. His Senses
were of more than mortal inSight. For instance, hia ears
were oapable of hearing in a period of Silence the musio
of the spheres. Nature also was in tune with him. The
flowers respon'ed to his sighs and stirred. In this mood of
pleaBant antiCipation he wandered on, disturbed by one
thought only. Will solitude snatch aW8y this inexplicable
happiness? His thought turned to his UBknown 10Te, she
whom he sought.

• • • Art 8 maid of the waters,

One of shell-winding Triton's bright-hair'd daughters'
Or art, impossible I a nymph of Dian's,
WeaTing a coronal of tender scions
For very idleness? • • •
II. 690-94:
,.
86
He would force his way to her, if it were possible to
fiud her. 8iuce this oould uot be, he [Link] to .e.k
her in a dre. . .
'orthwith searohing through a dia passage, he fOUD'
Wthe smootheat DOSSy bed,- ('10) and threw himself dowa.
BnclJlaiou stretched his arms iuto the air. &114

• • • took, 0 blissl
A naked waist: ·Fair Cupid, whence is this?"
A well-known Toice sighed, "SWeetest, here am II-
II, '12-1'

Here follows a desoription of the impassioned lOTe anioa

with Cy,nthi8. in disguiBe. !he young poet reali •• d it
would take a master hand to write such .. pasaage. but iB·
e%perience in writing did not restrain his pen. He sail
as lIuch;

• • • HelioonS
o fountain'd hill! Old Hoser's Heliconl
that thou wouldst spout a little streamlet o'er
fhese sorry pages. then the Terse would aoar
.&nd sing aboTe this gentle pair. like lark
OTer his nested young; 'ut all is dark
Around thine aged to, • • •
• • • Aye, the oount
Of llighty poe is i8 made up; the Bcroll
IS folded by the ~e.. • • •
II. '16-22, '2~26

A8 described by the poet this is a soene of .ensull

 8'
love. fhough lacking -a quill immortal" for whioh he
eigh.... Xeate related the enlearments of lblQlaion and lU.
1UiJUlown loya.

fhese loyers did .mbrace. and we II118t ...e,

!bat there i8 no .14 power left to atee,
" quill iJDllOrtal. ill their 307011s teara.
LOng time ere [Link]. lid ,[Link] allZi0118 feare
,_8tion that thue it was' 10118 time they lQ
J'on411q and kia8ing ever7 iDubt .....7;
~ong time ere soft oares8iDg 80b8 began
fo mellow into words. and then there rb
!WO bubbling springe of talk from their 8weet lip ••
"0 known Ul1ltnowal froll Whom IV being slp.
B. ey.r ill theaear.,
luoh clarllBg [Link], Wherefore 11&7 I not
111 thi8 ...at ape,
Pillow ., ohin foraYer! eTer pr.a.
these toring handa and kiss their a.. oth ezoe.8! .
Wh7 not for ever and for ever feel
!hat [Link] about ., e;yee, £h. thou Wilt 8t.a1
Awar from me again, indeed, indeed -
thou wilt be gone aW&7, and Wilt not heed
., 10n.17 main.... Speak. delioious falrl
Is - la it to b. so! :101 who Will dare
to pluck th•• from •• , Jnd of thine own will.
lall [Link] I [Link] thou wouldst not leave me. • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • B1781ual who art thou,
lbo, that thou oanet not be forev.r here,
Or lift me with thee to 80me starr;y sphere."
II. '10-11, '63-56

In thiB way Keats is symbolising for himself the UBio. of

the poetlc soul with sensuous beaut7.
In answer to his pleas the goddess would not reveal
her i4entit7. but would only a&7.
 88
••• "Yet maat I henoe:
Y.t oan I not to atarr7 emineno.
UPlift t.e.; nor for very shaDe can owa
llBelf to th••• • •••
II. '176-79

In spite of her [Link] of discovery on "Ol~.a' 801ema

height.· (78") With a kiss she .. owe ..

• • • ·an endle •• bli•• ,

An immortalit7 of passion'a thine;"
II, 807-8

aIli ahe promised the poe t e..en While ahe complaine' ot

the "roughne.s of mortal .,eeoA,·

"Lispinga empyrean will I aometimes teaoh

fhine honied tongae - lute-breathings. which I gaa,
fo hay. the. understand. now while I olasp
fhe. thus. and weep for fondn.s. • I am pain'd.
JlndpliOJl: woe1 .... 1 i. srief contain'a.
In the ..er7 [Link] of [Link] • ., sole life,"
.ereat With Dan7 sobs, her gentle strife
"lted into a languor. .e retarn"
Entrance! vows and teara. • • • ,I
II. 819-27 1
1
~
!be phrase, "dearth of human words." (817) indicate.
that Xeats felt his language was unequal to the strain put
it in depicting this love aoene. In line "0 oooura the
worl "[Link]," Whloh [Link] naes oDl7 of the ldeal, the
final sUblimatton. l Ris USing this word "••• eno.· is, I
think, [Link] of the poet's sincerit7 and hl. bellef

1. lOok 6ne, '7'.8, aiaie. ihai ria fellowship dlvti.* ani

·a fellowship with [Link]." are .1I10117..U8

--------------------------- -""----------------
 89
in the power of love to aet the spirit free. the
divinit7 whose ilent1ty was unrevealed once more
liaappeared. !o m&n7 readers thia long aoene will appear
in poor taate. His very youth and inezperience are
probabll responatble for what may be objeotionable. If
writing thia aoene were a flaw in hia art, aa orities
'eolare it ia, the poe t redeemel hi. .elf 1J1 the ~o&l

line. Whioh followed:

• • • Ye who have yearnel .

With too maoh paaaion, will here at&7 and pitl.
~or the mere aake of trath; aa It i . a dltt7
Bot of the.e daya, but lo.g ago It was toll
Ey a oavern Wind unto & forest 014;
J.D.d then the forest told it in a dr. . .
fo a aleeping Iite. WliOieeoOf ind level glea.
A poe t caught &s he waa journeyiq
to Phoebus' shriJ:le; and in it he dld fiillS
Bis weary llabs. ba thing ... hoU" 8 space,
~i after. atralght in that in:tire, apace,
ae Bang the story up 1nto the a r,
GivtDg it universal freedo •••••
II, 8a'.89

Onoe more Endymion alept. He awoke io lonelinesa ani

resumed with languid atep. hia wanderinga. He "atrayed
aboaift until he entered a great, Taalted grotto fall of aea
treaaures. !here he aat down in "thiS cool wonder,- (885)
and began to go over in memor.J hia paat life. He reviewel
hla youth, the -look of his White palaoe," revels with hi.
frienda,
 90

• • • !hea the ep.r

Of the old bards to m18ht7 deel.; his pla••
fo aurse the golden ase 'moDlet shepherd 01...
that wondrous nlght s the great pan-festl...1 s
Hle sister's sorrow; and hie wanderlnge all,
until into the earth's deep maw he rueh'l:
!hen all ita buriel magiC, tl1l lt flushed
High wlth .XO.sS1Te lOT•••••
II. 8"-901

IndJadon .[Link] to reall.e nothing woald b. the

.... With him agala.

IOW I haTe tasteA her .... t 80al to the 001'.

m other a:ltha [Link] ahallow: •••enee••
Se .,iii' 1,' ai8lii. -k7 1••• ,
..ant but to fertill.e ., eart817 root,
ABI make ., branohe. lift. 101d•• truit
Into the bloom of hea~en; other llght,
!hough it be quick 8I1d sharp enough to bllght
the Olymplan eagle's vlsion, is dark.
II, 90'-11

the poet ls [Link] that from the ..ioa Wlth senauoua beaut7
haa come new Ti8ion, new in8ight, new pawer. I
I

It was a new iasight. He now felt stirring Withi.

j
him a symp&thr he had neTer known before. A distant .uraar ~
echoed his thoughts. Hia attentlon whel17 aroueed, he
l1stenel and then iwo atreame burst from the rock besil_
hla, one flOW1I1,. one pursuins. It was the fountain n7JIPh.
Arethuea, changed into a stream, fleelng the riTer-god,
Alpheu. ln4pl1on forgot hi. dream. and listened to the
[Link] of the volcea, one imploring. the other rep171n,.
 91
Arethuaa longed to yield, but feared the wrath of the
god4e88 Diana whom she served. It is irony to hear
Alpbeus plead.

• •• "Fear no more,
sweet Arethus&l Diana's self must feel
Sometimes these very pangs." • • •
II. 981-85

To all hi8 plea., She anawered

"What can I do, Alpbeus? Dian stand8

Severe before me: persecuting fatel
tJ'D,hsPP7 .lrethu.8al thou wast late
A huntress free in- - At this instant fell
!ho8e tWo 8treams adown a narrow dell.
II, 1005-9

Bndymion heard no more than the echo of "Arethu8a"

floating back to bim. lor the first time tbe Latm1aa
shawed ooapaasion for the sorrOW8 of others. He wep' in
pit,. and pra,ed to Diana to be indulgent with her nJDPh.
Again he slept. In a dream be moved in the direotion
of a cooler light

• • • And lot
.ore suddenly than doth a moment go
The visions of tbe earth were gone and fled -
He saw the giant sea above his head.
lIt 1020-23

The Second Book of EndJDdon marks an advance in

narrative oomposition. The story whioh interpret8 the

,.
 98
power of sensual loYe in the searoh for Beaut7 t.
further the artist'. growth and iD8ight beoomes more oon-
.eoutive. Briefly. the shepherd prinee was guided to •
fountain Whose preeiding lQ'aPh warned him of .. far ~ourn'7

he must take into other regiona. The beauty of the .00.

oYerpowered hi~ In obe41enoe to a heaven17 lQio. he sank

into ea underworld of masnifioenoe and of fantaatio dre....
H. was privileged to witnese the meeting of VeDUS ani
AdoniS, and was gaided to .. flowery [Link] where he wa~

yiai ted by h1a unkJlowa In.. .After her departure, loe..

in thought he eat musing OYer his paat until his abstraction
was invaded by the whi8pers of Arethuea and Alpheus. .e
turned. fell into another dream. and this time descen4e'
beneath the .8a. that thla boot [Link] oontain eo ...,
stana&e of beautiful lJrio poetry &a are found in the firat
book ia true; yet the awakening of AdoniS, and the melodla
reoltal of the ~th. Arethue& and Alpheus. are embelliah-
ments.
lOre .pecifically. lnd7a1on had aet out upon a quest
of eternal Beauty. Contentedly he had followed the lesdina
of beauty. !he bud whioh had beoome 1n turn the roae. the
butterfly. and the nyaph s,vmbolised the fleeting beauty of
the earth. !he Balad who had led him a. far &a she oould.
n. able to tell him he must

--------------------- .~------------
----"--"--~--- -- - -----
 91
••• wander far
In other retion., Rast the 8ean~ar
To .ort&l a epa. • • •
II, 123-21

Bnd7Ddon began his eeoond adventure in the oonaeio.a-

neS8 ot the futility of [Link] life.

But this i8 huaan life: the war. the 4eed8,

!:he Uea![Link], the &mii1i.
tmaglna'tioB'a 8'truglee, ~ an4 nigll,
----
nl1i1lMJ1 • • • •

Ue waa impatient with euperticialit7. 'his attitude was

voioed in the wanderer's distresaed or7 •

• •.• but tor me

There 18 no depth to strike in; I can 8.e
Kaught earthlz worth!l OO!P&881n';-----
II. 1 0-62
In [Link], he 8ent up a prarer to Oynthia. the symbol of
ideal beauty. to

• • • tie
Large Wings upon ., shouldera. • • •
II. 1"·'18

the ensuing Yi8ion lifted him above the world, and tro.
that high view he was bidden to plang. into the "ei1ent
~.teriea of the earth,- (214) into reality. !h. "airy
voio •• " whieh guid$d him in a atate of eostasy led hi.

>.
 ••
iato the "8parr7 hollow. of the world." Ii wa. immortal
beaatl he was seeking. "to be orownedwith immertalit7."
( 212)

BTen there he met With cl1s1l11l.iol1Jl8nt. HaTing

traTersed wonders impossible to desoribe, he ... wearied
and rested for a apaoe. (871) ~a1n he was OTercome b7
the thought of the eTanesoenoe of be.ut7. hi. 3oarne7 beiDa
de8cribe' .s a "mad pursuing of the fOI-born elf" (276)
Whioh had oheated him of lOTe. He oalled upon o~thia to
restore to him the first ..,abol 01 beaat7. flowers, an'
then. refreshe'. resume' his 30ur.e7. Hia wanderl., atep.
pauBed when he entered the "immortal bowerB" (418) of
Adonls. Cheered b7 VenuB' asauranoe he w.a being guide'
in hiB queBt,

b4Ja1onl .2!!. ta,thou WiU be blest:

80 8tl11 ibefht e ~ng-;ana-thai fenda
!hee Bafe 1 rong these wonders for sweet enda.
II, 571·'6

He went on until he underwent the pB7Dhologioal experieno.

phrased in the HJmD to pan aB w801itar7 thlnting." (I. 294).
baffled he sank deeper lnto the earth. !he meetlng with
the goddess, his laTe. gaTe hi. no permanent happiness.
Jut it had giTen him lentleneaB.
 96
!he lne of his soul "'eo1i_ tu'A
,orfot all violenoe, and tiui 00_ _ ' 4
1\ melanoh01Y thought. • • •
II, 866-68

.... was the case in the first book, the interpretatioa

[Link] on the analyeis is similar to the allegorioal inter-
pretationa of Professor Thorpe and Profesaor FiBBe7. fhe
tfraer interprets the seoond book .a &hewing "the poetio
aoul under the full dominion of aensuous beautr."l It ia
true this was a far deeper experienoe than was narrated in
Book One. 2 Professor thorpe alao reoognisea tlat tll.
B
experience desoribed awakenei compassion in BndJm1oa.
In these reapeots this critic's interpretatioD aocorda with
the an&lysis.
I

Pro feasor linney interpreta Book !WO as the "nee-platonic I

quest for immort81ity througll the beauty of ari."' I oan not

.,re.· that the theme is the beauty of art. there i8 not
suffioient evidenoe to support suoh an opiBion. All that
oan be oited is a referenoe to great artists of the [Link]
(2"-5') Whioh ocours in the narrative at the beginning of
Baa,.1on's underground 3ournel.5 !he fact that the region

1. See above, p. 17
2 •. See above, p. 90
a. !horpe, Clarenoe De Witt, 2E.:.~, p. 59
•• See above, p. 17
5. See above, p. 79
 96
IndJDdon t~averses is a world of the imag1Bation might
be thought to indicate art. Nevertheless. the pasaage
quoted and the scene of an imaginary worlel are a very small
pa~t of the book. With half of this oritio's interpretative
statement, fta neo-Platonic ~est for immortality,· there
is agreement. !hat it W88 & quest for immortality was
pla1»..l fhus the [Link] agrees in part Wi th that of
both critios.
fhe book portrays the aeoond step in his ascent
towards an ideal state. It waa an experienoe more abeor'i.,
and IIOre profound than bd11D1on had known 'befo~e. ,he
adventure had oonsumed an evening and a night in aiel-summer.
Bn~on did not return to the earth, but wandered along a
s&ndJ path towards It. oooler light. The scene of the book
is an underworld. not terrible nor ghostly. but ~8terioua

and strange. Oontrolled by the spell of the dreaR or

vision, under which he haA fallen in obedienoe to the
heaveray voioe, BndJm10n roamed through a wor14 of incre4i'le
imaginings. He hal fled from the light of the mooD. (21'-18)
but there had been other lights to glimmer in thia stranse
underworld, the light struok fro. sparkling gems;

I. S.e above, pp. '8 and 0'

 9'
One faint eternal eventide of g....
II, 221

Onoe the light was "an orbe' 4iamond." (2'5) Exoept for
Adonis' ohamber. which was "full of light," (390) the
glow was brightened only by sparkling gems;

• • • and overhead
A.,vaulted dome like Heaven's, far besprea4
With starlight gems • • • •
II, 630-32

In this dim half-world of light his vision revealed

the union of hi. poetio aspiration with love, for the
god4es8. the beauty he sought. vi8ited him 1n this strange
region. His BlOodiness after her departure was rebuke'
wh.n h. heard the murmuring VOice. of the river god end
Arethuaa. !aeir plight aroused in him the first sympathetio
understanding of the wees of others. He was immediatel,
seize4 by an illuminating dream and transported beneath
the .ea where 8 more complete revelation of the power of
sympath7 and friendship awaite' him.
 CRAPDR v
.u AlULYBI8 OJ BOOK fHRD

•
 .u AlIJLY8IB or BOOl: !HR1D

!Ae in~rodno~ion ~o the third book expresse.

ln part (1-22) Kea~s' antipathJ to • 'ory [Link].
Bnglani in 1817 was .eething with unrest. !he 7ear before
when the disruption of eoonomio life followlng tke IapO-
leonio Wars had been at its worst, there ha4 been riot.
of farmers and miner.. !he government, however, enj07el
the a4Tantage of an overwhelming militar.J foroe of sea80nel
troops. Wbereas soldiera hat foraer17 been ,uartere! in
the ?illagea in the home. of the people, ~he7 were i.
1817 [Link] in barracks. fhis ohange in billeting hal
wi4ened the gulf between the people and the m1nis~r7, ani
had given to the ministry more power. Keata wrote to
BelBolds, his lawyer friend, .pril 18, 181', that wOn the
roal from Cowea to Newport I saw some extenaive Barraoks
whioh disgusted me extreme17 with Government for placing suoa
a Best of Debauohery 1n so beautiful a plaoe.- l
Probably the ministera who had piloted the oountr,r
to Victory in the great wars were doing their best, but
they were obseased with fear of the foreigner and With

1. 'orman, aurioe BUrton, 2iG: m..:., p. !b

..
 91
the triampa ot Jacobia prlnolpl.s. An addltloDal
lnstance of thelr exercise ln 181' ot 41otatorial powers
so obnoxious to lteats and his friends was the suspensloD
of t.e Habeas Corpus Act. Other enactments regarded b7
thousands as oppressive .ere thought to haYe been the.
work ot the miDisters, ai~uth and oastlereagA,l who
.ere detested b7 the Llberals. !he latter thought of
"the !ory ministers 8S selfish and cunning tyrants whoa.
one ob3eot was to maintain themselves in power and
lUX1117.,,1
aince [Link] seldo. expresse' in hi. 1fTi t1l188 aa
interest i. publio affair., a notation ot hi8 triend,
Bleherd Woodhouse. oommanda attention. He reoorde4 tbat
Keat. .aid. "It will be easi17 seen what I think of the
preaent ministera b1 the begielng ot the !fhird ]300k.,,1
.
,,
lotoutt who made a biographioal interpretation ot the I
j

allegory in Bndym1on. oontronted With Woodhouse'. atat.-

j
ment, actnowledged that the "political reterenoe was part

1. !hi•• were Henry 1111Dgton lidiOuti, 1.t 'iSOOUBi,

(1787-1844), and Jtobert Stewart, 2nd Drquess of
Londonderr,v (1'6'-1821), known in hlstory as Lori
oastlereegh. the meaaures in question were the Seti-
tion end !reason Aots pas8e4 orlginal17 in 1795 to
prevent the 41slo7&lt7 or treaBon of soldiers an4
. sa110r8. !he acts were revl ved in 1817 c&rr71Dg
instructiona to magistrates to apprehend ani hold to
bail persona accused on oath of seditious libel.
I. WiDefield-atr&tfori, Esme, Hietoa !! f.YS1and ••e. York,
K&reourt, Brace, and Comp&n7, I. ,vo. II. p. 890
a. :Lowell, _ . Rl.:..2!l:.. vol. I, p. S89
 - ---- -------

100
at leaat o~ the poet's meaaiBg,,,l 'ut he thought it hal
bother purpose t "to express the strong dieappronl 'that
Keate felt for the poe'tr7 of the olaasioal aohool." H.
oommented, ~en the passage (1-21) is real again i. the
light Of this faot it beco.e. evident that all the ter..
e.,107ed will serve to express the poetioal antipathle.
of Keats as well aa the politloal antlpathle. of Leigk
HU.t.,,2
A eontrar7 opinion i8 expressed)7 Profesaor !herp.
who fee18 that Keata had a real interest in politioa. H.
aeea in the same linea (1-22) certain economio and 80cial
implioations. "Bven making all reserTatioDs for the 70&DI
poet's possible deSire here for something like a rhetOrioal
oontraat • • • there i8 3.. t left iB thia passage evideno.
of vigorous, even re,.lutioaar.r indlgnation at a b1atantlJ
111ogi0 a1. sooi81, political, and eoonomio oraer. wl aaok
are the divarse opinions upon this paaeage whioh oontains
the oDl7 ooJlll.l8nt Keats made in the entire poem .pon the
li~e of his time.
!he issue, however, for the preaent-da7 reader i8
to discover how the poet made the transitlon from a denuncia-
tioD of the pol1tl0. of the da7 to the atate of hla hero

1. Botoatt, ft. [Link], !ll:. lli,:.,p. xxxiv

2. In~. t p. x:aiv
S . r p e , Olarenoe »e \fltt, Itoe. ill,:., p. 1241

- - - - --------- - ------ -- -
 101
"with the giant sea above his head," (II, 1021) where
he was lefi at the olose of the second book.
Xeais made a good stari in this book. for the firat
two linea are admirable aa poetr~:

fhere are who lord it o'er their fellow ...

With BOst prevailing tinsell who unpe.
!heir baaing vanities, to browse aw&J
the oomfortable green &ad 3_iol hal
'roa hRaan paatures; or, 0 torturing factl
Who. throagh 8ll idiot bliDlt, will aee upack'd
lire-branded foxea to sear up and singe
OUr gold and ripe-ear'd hopea. • ••
III, 1-8

fa a ae4ern reader the linea immediatel, following whioh

oontain the figures of the nibbling aheep and the fir ••
branded foxea. are d1:tfioul t. fhere is perhaps IIOre
indignation thaa alaritl in the linee. Xeata expreaeel
his aoorn of the !or" ministers with this alighting phrase,
"their baaing vanitiea." fO have one'a hope. deatro,e4 b7
those unable to appreciate them is a "torturing taot."
Keata fUrther rebelled against the rule of thoa.
men Who poseeaaed no touoh of inspiration, ,et oocupi.d the
[Link] of power. He expressed a atinging oonteapt for
:.
ro,al oppressors:

• • • With not one tinge

Of s&notuar7 splendour. not a aight
Able to faoe an owl' a, the, still are di8h;
17 the blear-e,ed DatioDs in e!purple' vee .'
.&ad crowns, and turb&ll8. • • •
III, 8-12
 102
With nothing Bave ~elf-importance to commend the., the7
matched their pettineBs only with their vain glor7,
when

• • • With unladen breast.

save of blown Belf-applause, they proudly mount
!o their spirit'. perch, their being's high account,
!heir tip-top nothings, their dull .kies, their
throne. -
Amid the fierce intoxicating tonea
Of [Link]. shoutings, and belabour'd druma,
And sudden cannon. • • •
III, 12-18

It was hollow mockery, all of it. arousing tUlpleaa8Jlt

reflections upon thoBe who rul.d and ruined in the 4&ys of
old tyrannies. To. quiokened intelligenoe, a poet's
for example, this shouting was.

• • • Like uproar past and gone -

Like thunler olouds that spake to Babylon,
~d set those old Chalde&ns to their taak. -
III, 19-21

!hi. is like Xeats; we recognise the hand that wrote tho ••

linea. Now that hls thought was turning to the past, he waa
le.s bltter.

Are then regalltles 811 g11ded masks?

III, 22

IC, replled the poet, there are genuine splrltual regalltleB.

!here are helghts of power to be reached only through exaltel
 103
thought. There are poetical regalitiee,

• • • ethereal ~hings that uneonfin'd.

Can make a ladder of the eternal wind.
And poise about in cloudy thunder-tents
fo watch the abysm birth of elementa.
III, 25-28

In addition, there are many ~sterious powers

above the earth Whioh oontrol the elements,

And. silent 8S a conseorated urn,

Hold aphery sessions for a season dUI.
III, 32-33

Although moat of these powera are beyond human knowledge,

a few

Have bared their operations to this globe -

rew who with gorgeous pageantry enrobl
Our pieee of heaveB--whose benevolenoe
Shakea handa with our own Cerea • • • •
III, 36-38

Soon the poet will show the reader a contrast between the
tyranny of the earthly regalities. and the benevolence of
the heavenly powere. Of these benevolent powers. the
Wgentlier-mightiest Wwas Diana. He had now approaohed
hie theme. Of thoae regalitie. whioh reveal themselves to
men. to Keats the most beautiful thing in nature to which
he bad ever reacted emotionally. had always been the moon.
It ia of ner gentleness he singa.
 lhe unobaerved ateals anto her ~hrone.
ADd there ahe aita .oat meek and moat alone;
1.8 if she had ~ ~ au'bservie:a.t;
r. 'R mne ef~poe'El waa not bent
!rowarda her w ~Jliiiii in thine heart;
D it the miii'l'iiering ataraKept not apart.
waiting for Silver foote' meaaagea.
III. 41-61

!he magio of moonlight mast speed him on hia ator7.

Hereupon. Xeats praiaea the moon in a strain of
splendid nature poetr7.

o lQonl the oldeat shades 'mong oldeat trees

'eel p&lpi~tioIl8 when thoa lOOkeat in:
o )10••1 014 bOllgu lisp forth a holier ti.
fhe While the, feel thine air, fellowahlp.
ho. doat ble8a everfihere With silver lip
sal~ead tH~a ~ ilfe. !he sleeping kin.
oao e ~h7 ~ghtneaa. dream of field. divine:
Iu_reble JDOtUltains rise, and riae
~itioua for the hallOWing of thine elea;
And ,et th7 benediotion passeth not
One obsoure lUding plaoe. one little apot
Ib8re pleasure m.7 be sent; the [Link]' wren
Has tb7 falr faee wlthin it. tranquil ken.
And from beneath a sheltering iT7 leaf
!akea glimpses of thee; thou art a relief
fo the poor patient o,ster. where it sleeps
Within its pear17 houae. - the might, deepa.
the mODatrous .ea ia thine -- the .,riad aea,
IV. 62-69

In the laat line ooeura a dominating ilea in the thlrl

'ook, that the moon's Silver, light revivea whatever it
touohes. it. influence being felt into the depths of the
ocean. B7 BUch a roundabout wa, has Keata arrived at his
theme. !he reader will soon find [Link] with EndJm10a
 106
under the 8ea. where the wanderer will be ennobled
through a generous aot of human sympath7.
Possibly two weeks had elapsed sinoe the L&t~aa

had ned into the depths of the earth to esoape the olear
moon from her blue throne "no. filling all the air."
(II. 171) When the story was ,res~d. the melanoholy
prinoe aearohing for his love. was ,wrapped in sorrow.

Cynthia!1here art thou now? What ,far abode

Of green or silvery bower-ioth enshrine
Suohutmost beauty? ~a •• thou dost pine
:lor one •• ,ao:r:rowfuJ.: t117 .oheek i8 pale
J'or,one ,whoae oheeki. pale: thR dost bewail
Ristears. who weeps for thee. ere doat thou Sigh?
Ah! surely !S!! light peeps ~ vesKer'a ele.
III. 72-'1

The [Link] was a thin oresoent far down in the west. Cynthia
pining no less than En~on was ,pale and ohanged.

Bhe dies at the thinnest oloud; her loveliness

Is seen on Neptune's blue: yet there's a stresa
Of love-spangles just off yon oape of trees.
Danoing upon the waves as if to pleas.
The curly foam with amorous influenoe.
III. 81-86

The poet's Vivid glanoe then followed the moonbeams in

their oourse to the very depths of the sea.

o love! how potent has thou been to teaoh

Strange journeyings! • • •
III, 92-3
 - --~ ------~~

106
Onoe .ore Ieat. deolared that love in the person of OlBthi.
was the supernatural power that had taken End7JliOIl on Aia
wonderful journeys upon earth and underground. As he ooa-
tinuel his aearohiDg, LOTe led hill. to all beauty wherever
found. and won a viotor" for the poet who followel unae.l-
tatlng17 to find at the laat that love and beauty were

• • • Wbarever beauty dwell.,

In gulph or aeri. t JIOuntaina or leep c1.el1a,
ID light, in gloom, in star or blasiDg aaD,
fllo. [Link].t 01'l.t th. way, and straight Itt. woa.
~d hi. toil thou gaT'et ~ean4er breath;
!hou ledleat Orpheu8 through the gl.... of death;
:tIl, 9&-98

It is not strange that a moon Which had guided lovere 1a

the old t&1es of ~eander and Orpheus, at this plaoe in the
storr a~ould be leading Endymion in his search for beauty.
!he poet now took up the story of En47m1on'e aearch.
the moon pining for End7m1on had eent 8 ehaft into
the sea seeking him. fae -moonbeams falling upon Bn~o.'a

faoe aa he lay aaleep .ader the water into whioh he hac1.

plunged just after the diaappearance of Jrethua8 and
.ll»heua, awoke hill.. But he again laid hie head upon a tuft
of .[Link] where the moonbeams cast their light upon hi.
and [Link] morniDg. Re was "half-entranoe'" with
10Te'. apell. nen morning 08Dl8,

p -------------~--~ ---
 10'
He rOBe in silenoe. and onoe more 'gan fare
Along his ~ted!!l. • • •
--- III, 118-19

Under the m,stic81 influence of the moon the poetio soul

.ust explore another re81m, this time an imaginal')' under-
sea world. ETen in that strange plaoe lOTe is all-powerful.
Endymion roamed about on the ocean floor among
shipwreeks, old weapons, art treasures, eTen "mouldering
scrol18" which remind us onoe again that the poet in hi.
proem had affirmed hi. deTotion to

All 10ve17 tSles that we have heard or read.

,I, 22

Sinoe the description of the ocean floor is strange, and

Shows Keats' preoocupation with old things, I quote it
entire.

• • • Jar bad he roamed

With nothing Bave the bollow va8t, that foam'd,
Above, around, and at his feet; save things
Kore dead than JIOrphe1I.8' imaginings:
. Old rusted anchors, helaets, breast-plates large
Of gone se8--.rrior8; brazen beaks and targe;
Rudders that for a hundred ,ears had lost
The sway of human hand; gold vase emboss'd
With long-forgotten story, and Wherein
Io reveller had ever dippld a ohi.
But those of saturn's vintage; mouldering sorolls,
Writ in the tongue of heaven, by those souls
Who first were on the earth; and sculptures rude
In ponderous stone; developing the .ood
Of ancient Nox; .. then Skeletons of man,
Of beast, behemoth, and leViathan,
 - - ~ - ~ - - --- -....-- -----------~

108
And elephant. and eagle t and huge Jaw
Of nameless monster. A cold leaden awe
fhes. [Link].t. struck into him. • • .---
---- -rfI. 119-1'

In the end he would have die4 awe-struok in the [Link]

of these tokens of death and [Link]. had not Diana "chac.'
away that heavin•••• " (138)
!he poet takes up the inexhaustible theme of the
moon's praise. and recites in oonvincing and eloquent line.
the story of the moon's influence over hia own early years.

What is there 1B thee. Koonl that thOll shoultst move

.., heart a, potently? When yet a child
loft have dried ~ tears .ben thOll hast smil'4.
thou aee.'dst mJ siater • • • •
III. 1"2-46

!he objects of nature which be had 8aid were "ahapea of

beauty" meant to steal away a wanderer's oare had beeo..
more be8Qtiful under the moon's rays. fhe water. the
woods. the blossoms. and airy melodies had become romantio
under the witchery of the moon. As the poet grew in years.
her glorifying power increased; she heightened the mystery
and poetry of life.

And as I grew in years. 8till didst thou blent

With all mJ ardours: thou wast the deep glen;
!hou wast the mountain top - the sage's pen -
!he poet's harp - the voice of friends - the SUD;
!ho. wast the river - thou wast glory won;
!hOll wast the olarion's blast - thou wast., steed -
M7 goblet full of wine - mJ topmost deed:-
 '~--'----- -----........-

109
!11ou .... t the oh8.l'lD of ..0.... 10",.1, .on1
o ..hat a Wild and harJlOl1i •• 4 tDe
. , spirit strack from all the b.al1ti:f1ll1
III. 162·'1

. .., not the last two line. contain the essential to Xeat8'
OWJl poetic nature' under the 1nnuen"e of the _Oil, the
poet1c 1n8p1rat1on ..... rhapsod10, and trans_tinge

On so.. 'right [Link] could I lean, and lull

. ,••If to 1mmorta11t,• • • •
III. 1'2·'13

fhaa the poet aerg.d hi8 p.rson811t, 1a tne hero's.

As lIna.,a1on roamed aboat oa the ocean floor, he pra,., t.
h1s 10Te. Bnd1m1on begged Dtana's forg1",eness for baTi.,
let another 10Te come between hi. and his former Jouthf1l1
..or8hlp of her. H••••me4 not to recognise Diana and th.-
god4.S8 whom he had embrace' on the underground 30urne7 as
i
the 8a_. It appear. he was t&llting first to Diana, I
I

• • • 0 lit. kla',
:bep back th1ne influenoe and do Bot blbll
~
I) sOTereign Tlsion; • • •
III, 181-88

and th_ to the 0 ther •

• • • Dearest 10Te, forgiT.

That loan think .waJ from thee and liT.l
III, 181-8'

A'dressing D1ana again. he pleade'

..
-------------------------- -------- ---
 - - - - -- ---~

110
parbn •• ai17 pl&J1et, that I pri.e
One thought be70nd thlne argent [Link]
I

III. 185-86

His oontus.d p~era to the moOD and hi8 10T8 were

cut 8hort 88 hi8 [Link] was sudd8a17 dlTert.t. ~

awaT in the green ....t.r he saw an 014 . . seat., -.pon a

wee4ed rook." H. preaent.d at tirst a repellent pioture.

His white hair . . awh.l, and a mat

ot weeda were cold beneath hi. oold thln teet.
Ill. 19'-98

this 014 .an was wrapp.' 1. a magic oloat of bl.e.

O'er wrought-with sJmbola b7'the 4eepe8t groans

ot amb1t10us mag1c: every ooean tor.
Was woven 1n with black d1stinctnes8; stor•
..And oal.,an4 Whispering. and Mclaoua roar,
Qa1o~aan', end Whirlpool, and deserte' 8hore,
Were emble.'d 1n the woot; w1th eVery ahape
that 8ki.. , or divea, or [Link], 'tw1xt oape and oape.
III. 198-20'

!he "a,abo18" had magio power to dWindle or dilate at will.

!he reader i8 told,

!he gulphing [Link] was 11ke a dot in the 8pell,

Yet look upon it, and 't would eize and swell
!o 1ts huge Belf; and the minlltest tiu
Woulcl [Link] the very hardeat gazer's wiah
And ahow his 11ttle el&'S &nato.,.
!hen there was plctur'd the regall t,-
Of .eptune; and the sea DJDPhs round h18 8tate,
In beauteouS vaBsalage look up and wait.
III. '201-12
 111
the old JI&ll napp.d 1JL the fold. of his .gio oloak aat
witk a pearly wand beaide him and with a book iD hi. la,.
80 absorbed was the aged man in his book that for
some time BndJm10n obaerYed [Link] amasement. !h.014
man ••• iDg the strang.r ••ros. decrepitly. and waved the
eto1e With 307. 'errified. [Link] [Link] hill announoe.

·W. art the -.1 Iow I ahall lal rq head

. pe&o'i'iPOnDif watery pillow; DOW
Sleep will oome amoothl7 to rq wear,rbrow."
III. 234:-36

Ble •• ed he wae. for now the old ... aaid h. woald regata
his 70uth. hi. 307. and his .tre.,th, 8till BRa,adoa oeal'
aot ealure the idea of being diverte' from hi. que.t fer
be.,,:t7, teaaea. aa he was Wi th memori.. of hia 10.... tr7.t
"1011e few 4&7s egolle t" (269) en' he reoollei frOIl "the
.,aterioaa old man." !h. rapturous dreams of hia 10.... were
interrupted 17 desperate [Link] while in imagiuatioD he aaw
[Link] coneigned to a horrible death by the dweller i. the
[Link]. HOW 10ung BndJaion i.l He e%pre.l.d hi. reaistano.
by looklng "high ... fi&l108." (282) but

• • • !he greJ-hair'd oreature wept.

III. 283

Bru17a1on. new17..awakened to human 87mpath1es, was

•
 112
struok with remorse;

Bad be then wronged a heart where Borrow kept?

Had be. though blindly contumelious brought
Rheum to kind eyes. a sting to [Link] thought?
III. 28".. 86

Kneeling, Bndfmion tearfully eought forgiveness. We are

reminde' of the passage in Book one in which the poet
r:
explained the "gradations of Happiness." and declarei that
there were "richer entanglements" thBn nature's beauty and
legendar,r stories, Which moved him to ae.

• • • Enthralmente far
)(Ore self-destroying. • • _,
I. 798-99

by which be meant experiencea of the poetic soul which free

it of egotiea. fhe Chief of these experiencee was said to
be _de "of lOTe _d friendship."
In this e%perience, the meeting of EndyDion and the
014 man and the wanderer'S subsequent pity. we haTe the
beginning of an adVenture whose theme is "loTe and friend-
ship." fhe old man we soon learn is Glaucus. and the story
related is the fable of Glaucus and Scylla. !he inTocatioa
to the mco.l praieed the magic 8lche~ of the moon ligbt
that oould bring to life beauties of the earth and sea. Ia

1. 8ee aboTe, p. 106

 111
this 30ume, under aea Bn41Ddon's Btor, is • tale of
huaan sJapathy and the [Link] 00.,as8ion of the .ooa
pdleaa.
01&uous reassured BnlJaion and toli him that he
knew b4Jmioa 10v.4 "an unknOWll power," that he, Glauou8,
was a friend to 10.', and illat IIDdJlAion ....s

• • • Oo-.1sioned to ~ tate" a,ot

Jor gre;: enfranohisement. 0 we.p no .ora;
I sa a iend to love, \0 [Link] of ,ore:
.Qe, hadst thou never lo.e' an unknown power,
I hai \een grieving at this Jo,01l.. hour.
III, 2.a.102

[Link], the, .ent forward togeth.r [Link] [Link].,

.bda, the ooean at their baok. lteamrhile Glauou ..... .
telling hia stor,. once long ago he had [Link] a fisher....
lor a thouaan' ,ears h. had been under a spell. Re dia-
pelled a tho ..and ,ears with a backwar4 glanoe, and reoall,'
he hal been "a lonel, youth on desert ehores." (339) Lonel,
s,orts, dolphin pla,.ates, friendly monsters of the deep,
songs of the &he pherda, pipes echoins from high plaoes were
among his memoriea. In spit. of Buoh seourity and beaut, .s
.. he enJo,ed, he had been [Link] .ith unaccountable longings
to .soape Beptune's rule and to be able to live and breath,
beneath the 8ea •

.....--------------------------.-----~----
 • • • [Link] in JIli.eZ7
I wasted, ere 1n one extremest f.1t
I plunged for 11fe or death. • • •
III, a'8-80

!he plunge brought lif.. ... aoon as lae weB ao01l.sto_4 t.

the element, he maryelle4 oYer the wonders of the 00."
bel. aa BndJlliol1 had done when h. first had fiel il1to "th.
liant sea." (II, 1028)
His Wish to 11Ye in the Bea hayil1g been grantel. he
had loyed and pursued the sea-nyaph 807118 who had tear.'
him and flel him "nift aa aea-b1rd on the wins." (oW.)
Madlene' b7 loye he ask.' aid of Oiroe. Into thia 80•••
is dropped one of thoae pertect lines breathing roman,e
that eyer1 reader finds in 1!dl!10n. As he calle' oa Oirce,
Glauous raised h1s head aboye water to look for "phoebus'
4.&ughter. "
I

Ae.e.'s isle wae wondering at the moo•• j

I
III. 416
i
Words haye painted a pioture of the magic alche~ of the
aooDl.i,ht falling on a lWeiericue 1aland of Greci .. StO!7.
-. Da•• d and fainting, Glauc1l8 fell under the apell ot Oirce'.
enohaDtment.
!he story 110W t8kea 011 a familiar riag; it 18
Jn47Jl1011'8 .%perience repeated. JUst as the ];atll1&n hal
 116
fallen asleep in moonlight and in a vision had bee.
visited by a lovely gOddes8, and then had lost her. so
Glaucus in a swoon from Oirce's witchoraft bad found
[Link] in "a twilight bower" &wept by mnaio and bad
become ". tranoed Tass.l" (4iO) of a nymph who vieitea
him each eve. YorthWith he mast tell

How specious heaven was changed to real hell.

III, ''16

One morning she was gone. through dark and glooJD7

foreets Glaucus ran in seareh of her. • blue flame drew
him toward a fearful eight. and revealed the secret of hi.
love'S identity. Ciree, Whom he bad loved. was holding
court ••eated upon an "aptorn forest root." the awlne of
her oourt. once human beings. groveled about her. Soon
she cast upon them a oharm. Whereupon they all wlt_
horrible noi.e,

.ent through the dismal air like one huge python

Antagonizing Eoreas, - and 80 vanished.
Yet there was not a breath of wind: she vanish'd
!bo.e phantom. with a nod • • • •
III, 530-38

Afterwards a mad revelry of fauns, nJaphs, and

satJr_ went on until an elephant appeared and bowed before
the Witch. ~he elephant's prayer in human acceRts to Circe
,.

116
to b. [Link] ot the enchantment and allowed to dle, brough't
to GlauoUB a knowledge of [Link] h. was. and he taint.d.
Jor three 4&ys h. fled 1. terror, bd hid in the wood.
Clrc. then appeared betore hlm. !he [Link] witoh pro-
nounoed the doom ot ber toraer lov.r in dramatic and ironio
11ne.:

"81 hal 8ir Da1nt71 there BlUst b. anura.

Jad. ot rose leav•• and thistl." down. eXpr•• a,
!o cradl. thee • ., .... t. and lull the.; 7•••
r am too fl1ntJ-hard tor thy nice touch:
I) tenderest aque••e i8 but a siant'. clutok.
80. fairJ-thing. it ahall haTe lullabies
unheard ot yet: and it ahall Btl11 it. cries
Up•• [Link] breast more li17-tem1nln••
Oh, no '. it ahall not ptae. and pin•• and pin••
)(Or. than one pratt7. trifling thousand 7.ar8."
III. 5'0·"
Since he waa tmDort&l. ahe could not deatroy him; but she
ooald 'take away hia youth. 80 she droTe him into the •••
to liTe an old. old . . . thousand [Link]

• • • ~lch gone, I then [Link]

!h7 fragile bonea to UDknown burial,
~dieu . . . .et lov., [Link]" •••
II I. 198-600

Despairing Glau0118 was toro.' to wade lnto the ace..

wavea. With his last strength before feebleness could
OTercome hi. entirely, he was SWimming through the billows.
Jrom this point Xeats departs from the traditional mwth.

----------------
 11'
800n the s.a-god [Link].d that Ciro. had t~en an .T••
JIlOr. [Link]. [Link]. thau '.pr! Ting hi. ot [Link] ant
Tlgor. As he strugg1.' in the waves. he touohed the t ...
tac. ot 80,11&. Glaucus bore the boq ot the [Link]:tul
••a-DJmPh to a grotto

libb'd and inlald with ooral. pebble. and pearl.

III. 619

Wlth a SWitt, Tivid touch ot poetio '.scription he i8 made

to relate

Headlong I dart.d; atone .ager 81I'ir1

Gain'd its bright portal. enter'l &D4 '.holl'
'!Was Tast, and [Link], and i07-0014.
III. 680-32

:a:e [Link] the bo~ in a Dioh. in the under-••a temple. tor

&11'.&47 his limbs were b.oom1ng,

Gaunt. Wither'd, saple8s. [Link]. oramp'd, and 1.... ,

111,·688
i
!here passed witho.t hope for h1lB a oruel space ot
oenturies betore his redemption began, and one halt of the
witch'S spell was destrol'ed. One dal' Glaucus, Sitting upoa
•• rook aboTe the spra,.· Baw coming over the horizon a
8allant T•••• l. It fouder.d ln a storm, whil•

...

-----------------_.- ---- - --~-- - -~---~--

 118
• • • All the billowa green
!088'd ap the silTer spume agalnat the 0101148.
III, 6M-51

Ilaucu8 cursed hie [Link],. to saTe the struggling orew.

!he Tes8.1 and the orew gone, he eat mournfully regardi.,
with tear-fill'd eyes the now empty ooean. All at onoe
there emerged trom the water beneath him an old mea's hanl
bearing a soroll and a wand. 'eebll Glauous reaohed for
the hand, but the weight of the bo~ drew it baok into tke
.ea; and Glaucus foUd hi..elf left with the wand and the
soroll whioh t.e old .an had hell.
In the warm air he read the ..gie aoroll whioh •• eme4
to refer to him. !he soroll told of a forlorn wretoh who
would liTe a thousand years and then die alone. Yet it
Aid he should not die, if he woald read and stud7 all _gio
[Link], if he would atu47 the secreta of nature, an4
ohien". if he would place the bodiea of all drowne' lo.,era
side bl side in a sanctu&rJ under sea. !heee thinge he
must do until finalll there would come to him a louth,
hea.,en-sent, to effect his deli.,eranoe. Should the 10U~

refuse "to oonsummate 811," thel would both be destre,.e'.

Bote that it was through an act of merc,., an attempted
reacae, that the spell of hatred and revenge laid upon
Glaucua began to be destroled. Jndymion ha4 found himself 1.

-----------------~-- - -~~~~-~~~---- - -~- ------

 119
the aea while his tears for the sorrow ot .irethua. ant
~pheu8 were wet upon his tace. lympathJ waa leading both
Glaucus and Bn~on in their search.

"Then," cried the 70ang Bat7Ddon. oTer30,'t,

-We are twin brothers in thia destiD7!"
III, '112-11

!hue the Latm1&n 307fulll aecepted hi. share in the pre-

soribed dut7, and the wanderer and the old man, or rather
"the ;young soul in age's mast.· (310) hurrie' on to the
hall, "sleaming through the tide." Within the cr7stal
palac. l8;Y enshrine' the thous..ds ot lovers, ...t ant
patient dead.
At onoe Glauoua beSaD to fulfill the deoree ao that
he might break the spell under which he and the dea4 1.7.
With mumbled words he tore the Bcroll to bits. Iext he
wrapped ln47m1on in the blue oloak, struok the air nine
ti... with his wand, and then bade the LatBdan oarefull,
unwind .. tangled thread and read an invisible .. [Link] on
a abell. Last, in obedienoe to ;laaeu.' oommand, BalJm10D
brote the wand against a lne which waa standing on •
:
pe'[Link]. !he wand broten, _ outburst of ravishing musio
oame softl;y to their ears.
EndJm10n evidentl;y had powers superior to those of
 120
GlanO.8. !he latter had aoquire' hi. Wi840. throuSh
••ntui.B of stu41'; BnQaion wae

• louth '7 heaTeDly power 10T'd and led

III. '08

!hrouSh intuition and inapiration the poetio soal kne. the

.ecreta of nature and the ~sterie. of life and death.
Glaucus recognise' one more divinely faTore4thaa himself.
Henoe he oast his magio mantle about Endym1on, thus
endowing the poet with all hi8 'earll-bought wiadoll. All
the intricaoie. of the ohara were as Bothing in compari8oa
With the power of poetic insight. Gla&OU8 8xclai.., •

• power oTerlhadows theel 0 braT.l

!he BP te .1 [Link] .!! t1lllbli, to its grav••
II. '69-60

&8 fUrther proof of poetic [Link]. the seoreta of Batare

.ere laid bare to Ena,.1on, who read the ahell "pearl, blankw
to Glaucus. Who was OT.r Joye' with the message thereoll. and
immediately declared they were both aat••
!he wanderer, moTing to the ravishing music eToked
by the broken lyre. soattere' as directed bits of the tor.
soroll over Glaucus •. In the poet's worda,
 121
• • • 'l1d ihe •• an4
Of fluiea and Tiols. raTiahing hi. heart.
End7a1on from Glaucua stood apari.
And soaiiered in his face eome fragmenis lighi.
How lighiniq-swift the change! a 10uthful wight
Smiling beneath a coral diade.,
Out-sparkling audten like an upium'd g••,
'&ppearei.. • • •
III. "1-'18

lie waa. in faot, a ;youthful god.

Glauous mOTel to ihe 8ide of the beautiful 801lla.
lblqaion applied the charm. hd 80ylla renTed. One b1 one,
a. he aoaiiered pieee. of the torn aoroll, BndJm10B
-reanimaie'- the dead lOTer. who lifted up their head.,

.&a doth a flower ai '&pollo's touoh.

III, '186
..
Bounda of gladnese fillet ihe air. !~e7 gazed upon In~on

&a their deliTerer, While

Delicious symphonies. like air1 flower.,

Budde'. and swell'd, and full-blown, shed fall showera
Of light, soft, uneeen leaTe. of sounds diTt.e.
III, '98-800

'&t last the two deliTerers had tasted real happiness,

Distracted with ihe richest oTerflow

Of 301 ihai eTer peur'd from heaTen.
III, 801-6

LOTe and friendship had conquered malioe and death.

---------------------------------
 122
When all hal risen up, Glauc1l8 shouted to the 001l-

gregated lovers to follow hi. and Scylla, that the, might

all

• •• "P&J'
Our piety to Beptunus supreme!"
III, 80'·8

then with 8cylla and Glauous leading, that great companr

peased through giant columna into the "boundleas emerald"
of the sea and flowed joyously down marble atepa,

• • • pouring aa eaai17
~ hour-glass s&&d, - and fast, aa lOU might ae.
Swallowa obeying the soath summer's call,
Or swans upon a gentle waterfall.
III, 81'-1'
.
£long a path was seen another multitude approaohing. !he7
met Oil the sand, and some in either crowd reoognised their
loat love. restored to life. Old loves were happill reunited.
!he poe t wrote t

• • • 'f18 disslnes. to think on It.

III, 82'

In thls manner the pageant pictured in the real. of

the Bea god began with the reunion of lovers. fhe host
BOved forward man, leagues until dawn found them in Tiew
of Ifeptun.'s palace, another marvel of vast and vague
 123
archi teo tura]. aplendora. It was lIOrn1ng when lInclp10n
began his 30urney in the s •• (113); a da7 had passed.
fhe poet reTels in his color description of the palao.
touohed by the sunrise.

Rioh opal dome. were seen, on high upheld·

By 3aaper pillars, letting through their shafte
A blush of coral. • • •

Through a rainbow aroh the "paphian &raJ" marohed into the

outer oourte of the palace and thence through a golden
gate to behold Ieptune on his emerald throne between Venue
an4 Oupid, a sight so majestic their eye8 could not ga.e
upon its beauty.
fhe waters arched OTer Neptune's great palace (870)
made a Taalt in which

• • • flashed sudden eTer,rwhere,

Ioisele8s, 8ub-marine cloudlets, glittertng
Death to a human eye. • • •

..
Cloudlets in the ocean are a startling imagining, but not
.ore striking thaa the source of the submarine light ••
desoribed.

• • • for there did spring

'rom natural west, and east, and Boath, and north,
A light as of four Bunsets, blaZing forth
A geld-green senith 'bOTe the Sea-God's head.
III, 876-"
 124
£Daled and motionless the great oompan,

• • • stood in dreams
Till Triton blew bis horn. fhe palace rang;
The mereils danced; the SJrenB faintly sans;
And the great Sea-Xing bow'd hia dripping heal.
!hen Love took Wing, and from his pinions shed
On all the multitude a neotarous dew.
III, 887-92

Rere is invention, indeed. oloudlets in an ooean SEl and

"nectarous dew" distilled in the sea depths.
Glaucus and 80ylla reoeived the bleSSing of Venua
and .ep~e reapectlvely. Venu. wa. surprised to find
Bnd7m1on "atillwander1ng in the banda of love." for,
ahe told him.

• • • "Since the hour

I .. t thee in earth's bosoll. all J1I1 power
RaTe I put forth to serve thee." •••
III, 894-96

She promised that he would soon eaoape "from dull mortalit7'a

harsh net." (907) She advised hlm.

• • • Love will have his d&J.

So wait awhile 8%pectant • • • •
III, 915-16

Durlng thls colloquy of Venus and Endymion, a glorious

revelr, of "dance and song, and garlanding" delighted the
throng. Xeats confesses (937-40) he felt unequal through

- - - - - ------
 126
weakne •• to finishing the story and hurried to the en4.
the p&seantry was now expressed in musio and a hJmn to
.eptune. Venus, and Oupid, whioh i8 not comparable with
the h1mn to pan in apontaneity of expression or depth of
thought. !he olamor oeased, being interrupted by the
eniranoe of Ooeanus and a train of ~ereids. SUoh magnifi-
cenoe was more than a DlOrt81 oould bear. .&lain XeaiB use'
the devioe of having his hero lose consoiouanesa when he
wanted to terminate a Boene. Bow the palace whirled aboui
:lnApiOD.; he g:re. 41s.,. He oalled io Tenus,

"0 I shall die 1 ..e.t Tenua. be my sta,l

Where is mw lOTely mistress, Well-• ..,1
I die - I hear her voice - I ~eel ~ wing-"
III. 1010..12

and then fell insensible at Beptane'. feet.

As the pitying Bereida were oarrying him to "a orystal
bower," his inward sensea heard a oa11 from his unknown 10Te,

-. Written in atarlight on the lark abOTe.

III. 1021

!rhe writing on the sk7, Whioh BndJll10n alone oould read,

promised him happiness whioh he had sought far and deep.
 126
Dearest bdJraionl . , entire lOTe!
How haTe I dwelt in fear of fate, 't18 .... -
Immortal b1iaa for me too baat thou ... .
~ise then! • • •
• • • .lwake 1 .Awake!
III. 1021-21, 102'

When he oame to hi ••elf, he was 171na on the grasB

beaide a ~oreBt pool in hi. natiTe Oaria. He waa at ho..
on earth, baPP7 again, and there the thlrd book oloae ••
fbi. book ia 9Onoerned less with the hero than
it ia with oharaoters who haTe no oonneotion with the
.tor, e%oep" that the poet claliberatel, inolu"'d thea.
there i. less origin&llt,r than in preTioua 'ooks, and .or.
a.e of old materialB. the m,th of GlauouB and 80711a,
reTia.' b7 the poet, has been interpolated in the stor,
of Bna,.10D'. queBt for beautl to awaken the poetio soul
to a sJmPathT with human Borr... Itea8 from folk tal.s
are abund..t. the band rising from the .ea, the .prinklins
of bit8 of torn paper to annul enchantment in lieu of water
cuato..ril, uaed in falr, lore, the philoaopher'a acroll,
..
the magl0 robe, the exeroiae of a charm bl .aTing the wand
nine timeB in the air, the deciphering of seoret mesaages
on the shell '7 the one predeatined to interpret the .,ater,
are interwoven with the olaasio -rth. the magioal trans-
formation of aea-kings and .ea-queena meTing under the aea
 12'1
.a easily as men moTe in air. have passed through ihe
alohem, of the poet's mind from their source in "ihai
old tale Arabian." (I. '06)
A change in Bnd7Ddon had developed throagh
assooiation with Glauoua. MUch of the wisdom which
Glauous had learned from a captivit, of five hundred
yeara, Endym10n grasped intuitivel,. G181lCllS' punishaeni
of inaotivity had begun to relax when he felt syapath, for
ihe drowing sailors. He had been miraculously promise'
co~lete release from the CUrse of helplessness restiDi
upon him when one more diTinely gifted than be Bhoul' pas.
that wal. Although In~m1on had been repelled at first,
as soon as he recognized the grief of Glaucus, the Latmian
had felt his heart go out to the Bea-god curaed by Circe's
spell. Thence En4Jm1on followed eagerly and qaickly the
directions Glaucus had acquired through the wis40m ao slowl,
and painfully learnet. Together the, restored to activity
great numbers of lovers "whoa storma have doom'd to die,"
('122) and who had been preserved in death b, Glaucua' pio••
care.
As the poet's musio "breath'd her soul aw~." ('16')
Glaucua and Scylla were restored to youth and happinesB.
Afterwards the thousands of lovers revived aDdd inezpressible
 188

Joy- SJIlPatlq [Link].d by Glaucua through a long &Ill

painful [Link], but instantly arou•• d in EndyDdon'.
heart, had [Link], aad worked great wondera.
It was late aummer when the adveniure relate! i.
Book Three befell Bnd7Ddon. the tall moon from Whoa.
brightn•• s he had fled in Book !WO (21'-18) had fat.d ani
wae only a thin oresoent in the •• st,

Aht Bllrely that light [Link]. from Vesper'. eye,

III, '18

.hen ita b.....8 sought out EndyaioJl ill the underwor14.

under its kindly ministrations he slept until morning.
fh.n began the Journey during which he explored the [Link]
floor, and visite' Ieptune's oourt in the [Link]. of the
•• a-go'. HiS adventure .nd.d on the seoond morning with
hi8 awakening in his nativ. land.
!h. most famous poetical beautiea of the thirt book
are the moon passagea. the, are, alao, the paBsages i.
Which the poet wrote with the greatest inspiration. Ieat.
reveals the secret of hia inspiration to be the moon, Wth.
,entlier-mightieet" (43) in a couplet.

As if thin••ye, high Poet! waa not beat

towards her with the unaes in thine heart.
III. "-9
 129
~rom thia point onwards he praiaed the power of the
.oon'a beauty to revive whatever her be&ms shone upon.
In suoh a manner great numbers were enabled to live again
by Endymion. diTinely inspired to recogni.e beaut, whereTer
found. His quest for immortal Beauty had fitted him for
the taSk of bestoWing,upon all the other lOTers a share ia
the benefioence of Beauty. fhrough an aoquaintanoe wita
the woe8 of 10Ters. £lpheus and ArethuBa. he had firat
felt the friendly sympathy whioh afterwards increased
boundlessl,.
the poet saw that if Bndylll10n was to wln lJBOr tal 1 t, t
"esoape from dull mortality's harsh net," (907' it would be
through lOTe's guidance. !he theme is neTer more plaiDl,
atated in the entire poem than in the linea:

~ 10Tei how potent hast thou been to teacA

It'iiii'fe jOUrneY~l WhereTer beait, , ..11a.
In gu ph or aer e. mountain8 or leep 4811.,
In light. in gloom, in star or blasing SUD,
~ pointest out l!! w81. and straight 'tis won.
III. 91-96

Henoe Love guided En~m1on on hls search underaea for

beaut,. !he moon sent .. gentle beam to "the deep, deep
water-world" (101) to find En~iQn. and her quiet radiance
soothed him to repose all night. !he poet had gained
oonfidenoe. With the morning light Endymion moTed "along
 180
his fated W.,-" (11') Glauous' exolamation, "!hou art the
manS" struck terror to End~on'8 heart, for he feared
death would torture in "this oold region" (269) the one
who BOught immortal Beaut,. However, it meant onll that
the wanderer, divine17 led and inspired, was to open

fhe prison gates that haTe so long opprest.

III. 296

Glaucus [Link] upon the commission that had sent EnclJa10a

-for great enfranohisement," (299) 18 it too muoh to fin4
a s1m11arit7 between alauous' desire to be free fro •
• eptune's tJr&nn7 which he related to EDd~on, and the
poet's denunoiation ot the t7r&nn7 of·the English ministera
related in the introlaction to the third book? However that
ma, be, Glaucus realized the divine commission of Endymion,

A louth !z [Link] power, loy'd and le4.

III, mr-

!henwas Wisdom united with inspiration in their expression

of sJlllpatlq, and

neath tell a-weeping in her charnel house.

III, 788

!he apell was broken.

It is to be noted that the result ot this outpourins
 181
of sJ1llpaiq and 10Te was ihe

• • • richest oTerflow
Of 301 ihai eTer pour'd from heaTen.
III, 806-6

faa remalning two hundred linea of the book celebrate

the rapture of the great comp8D7 restored to life by ihe
[Link] of Bn47m1on. Watrsyed far from mortality." (1007)
1ben Bn4Jm1on awoke from ihe trance which the oTerpower1Dl
beauty of ihe Bcene had brought upon him, he had fOUDd
repoae, A placid lake and a green forest lay 0001 ant
,ulei before hia e,ea. Bn~on in queat of Beaut,. had
gained s"mpathy and friendship through which he had bee.
nenabled to work miracles of 30Y and healing. nl
When it 18 recalled that Profeasor Thorpe interprets
this book aa "an adTenture in human friendship and s7Bpath7,w 2
and professor ~ianey aa "the neo-Platonic quest o~ immortality
through appreoiation of ihe beauty of friendship or sJmpath7
for hum&nity.-S it will be aeen that their interpretations
are in accord with the preceding exposition, !hrough an act
of human 10Te and frienlsAip, Bndym10n was prepared for the
next higher experience in hi. quest for immortal Beaut,. a
anion with the spirit of sorrow and suffering in the world.

1. 001Tin, Sidne,-, ~ ill.:... p. 196

a. See aboTe, p. 1 r -
a. See aboTe, p. l'
 .~---- -~~ -- - ----~-.-.--

CHAPTER VI

AN UJ.LY8IS OJ BOOE lOUR

..
 CHAPTER VI

AI' J:I.&LYSIS OJ' ::BOOX JOUR

Xeata laUl'lohed the fourth book of Enc17a1oJl

With an inTooatlonto the ~se of his natiYe lan4.
!his. the shortest of hia introdnctions. onl7 twant,-
nina lines. begins in the grand manner.

Mnse of [Link] land! loftiest ..ae!

o first born on the JIOUBtaina 1 b7 the hae.
Of heaTen on the spiritual airs begot:
IV. l-a

an4 ends in 4espondenol_

fo Xeats poetr7 was &awa7S the higheat art.
Regretfull, he reoogni.e' that the prodaotion of [Link],
had been long del&Jed in his island home while the lan4
was in a .tate of barbarism.

Long didst thou 8it alone in northern grot,

Whlle yet oar EDaland was a wolfish den;
lefore our foresta heard the talk of me.;
Before the fir.t of Druida was a ohlld:-
Long didat thOll sit amid our regions w114
Rapt ln a deep prophetio solitade.
IT. '-I

In Bllooeading linea he alluded to Hebrew (10). Greek (11).

Roman (16), and Itallan (16) poetr7 -- all of whioh
preoeded the great aooomplishments of EngliSh p.etr7 •

..
 13S.
!here oame an eastern voiee of solemn aDod:-
Yet wast theu patient. then sang forth the Nine,
Apollo's Barland:- yet didst theu divine
Such home-bred glory, that they or,'d in vain.
"Come hither, 8ister of the Island!" Plain
Spalte fair Ausonia: and once more ahe spake
.l higher SUJIIDlons:- still didst thou betake
!hee to thy native hopes.
IV, 10-1'1

At last the English bse expressed herself in a

burst of magnificent poetry. But her great days were over,
and the poets of his generation oould not oompare with the
great ones of the past •

• • • Great XUse, thou know'st what prison,

Of flesh and bones, ourbs, and confines, and frets
Our siirit'8 Wingt: despondency besets
Our p llows: and he fresh tomorrow mora
8eems to give forth ita light in very scorn
Of our dull, uninspired, snail-paced lives. l
IV. 20-25

Laok of inspiration depresBed his spirit; nevertheless he

aternly presaed on to the conclusion of his great taak.
"I move to the end in lowliness of heart." (29)
And then abruptly Xeats plunged into a scene without
a beginning. A Voice never before heard in the poem
lamented her enforced abaence from her native Indian home.

1. It Is mteresting to observe that lotcutt makes no

comment on these lines although they contain the onl7
reterence to the development of English poetry in the
pOem, and Botcutt bases his interpretation on the
thought that the allegory in Bn4l!1on signifies the
... re-awakening of English poetr7 •

------------------------_ ....... .
 l34r
When her sorrowful word8 oame to Endpion's eazta, he
wa. p&)ring hi. TOW. to the goda; and when he heard. the
.ailen'. oomplaint, he hastenel to di8coTer the 8eeret
of the Toice \ewailing her solitude and begging fozt

!hou, Oarian lord, hadst better haTe been tost

Into a whirlpool. Vanish into aizt.
Warm molUltaiJ1eezt 1 lor caniTihou onll hear
~.an's 81gh alone, and in distress,
See not her charms! IS Phoebe passionlesa,
Phoebe is fairer far. • • •
IV, 68-6'

!he car1an did not heel the heaTenl7 warning, but ga.e'
unseen upon the beauty 11ing on the forest gr.... lD~on

leaning against a tree trunk heard the maid deolare ahe

oould 10Te this 8hepheztd louth.

"Ab me, how I could 10Tel - ., soal doth malt

'or the unhaPPl louth." • • •
IV, '1·'8
As the ma1d contin..... her lOTe so lilotUJ , Xeata was
trying desperatell to reoapture the mood of hi. fir.t book.
(I, '80-97)

"And thou, old forest, hold ,e this for true,

!here is no lightning, no authentlc dew
But in the eye of lOTe: there's not a sound,
Melodious howsoeTer, oan confound
!he heaTens and eaztth in one to suoh & death
".
 136
As doth the voice of love: there's not & breath
Will mingle klni17 with the meadow air,
fill it has pantel round, and stolen a share
Of passion from the heart!" • • •
IV, '1'1-86

It i8 a restatement of the theor7 that love is the creatiT.

principle in nature.
fhe wanderer reproaohed himself for Wthlrsting for
another 10Te," not from a sense of treache~ to hia
heaTenl7 10Te,

Goddess 1 I love thee not the less: from thee

I , Juno' a aJD1le I tulm Dot ..
110, no t BO-;
IT, 92-98
but from the struggle within his own soul [Link] hi.
affection for his former heaTenl, love and the yearni.,
for this earthly love of the gloss7 black curla.

WI have a triple BOul! 0 fond pretenoe _

lor both~ for both ! [ 10Te is immense;
I feel Df3 heart""li cut-roF tliem In tiai•• "
And so he groan'd. as one by beauty sla1a.
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
He sprang from his green oovert.
If, 85-'8, 101

How that he found himself in 10Te with three,

his unknown 10Te, ])iana, and thia earthly _1eleD, he was
ashamed of his fickleness.
 116
o pardon me, for I am full of grief •
Grief born of thee, young angel! faireat thi.f~
no stolen hast hal the Winga wherewitll
I was to top the eayiii. • • •
- - IV, 10'·10

!hia sensual attraotion for the Indian maid weighe'

upon his soul 80 heaTill that he oould no longer hope to
aoar With hia ideal. She would be his executioner. he
8aid, and in a fe. short hours neither loye nor hatred
.ould be aD7thing to him whoa paSsion had 81ain. Bevertbe.
les8, 80 great was the attractioa that her tear. reooneilel
him to hia death.
fhe Indian maid enoouraged him and oOUllse1ed him
to have no fear. She could see nothing that presage' hi.
death.

• • • • ~e not these green Dook.

~t7 of 811 miafortune? Do the brook.
utter a gorgon Toice! Doe. yonder thruah.
Sohooling ita half-fledg'd little ones to bru.h
About the deW7 forest, Whisper talea?·
Speak not of grief, young stranger. or cold snaile
.i11 8lime the rose tonight. !hough if thou wilt.
Methinks 'twould be a guilt - a very guilt.
)fot to oODlpb1on the., and 81gh aw&7
fhe light - the dusk - the dark - till break of da,.w
IT. 12'·16

faat stnking effect 111 the final line the poet has aoh1eye'
before. fhe same rbfthm1eal repetition was used referrins
to the JDO on,
 11'1
"How chang'd, how full of ache, how gone in woe!"
III, 80

However, the maid's hopeful words were unheeded.

Ea~on accepted as true the belief that the contention
in hie heart between his new earthl7 and his old hea~al7

love would kill hill. He asket onl7 tha.t the maide. sing
to him that he might die to ansic. Binoe she had spoken
of Indian streams, he asked for a song of "other climate •• "
xeat. gave no other reason for the interpolation in the
poem Of the song, known a. the Ode to Borrow, or the
Ind1an .-14e.'s Song.
It was the purpose of the poet to show that the
soul taught b7 Sorrow can manifeat a deep afflnlt7 with
humanity, that such an experience gives to the poetio BOul
the IDO Bt 87llpathetio understanding of life. In Book 011.
XeatB had portrayed the marriage of the aoul of a poet with
aenSUOUB be8uty. In Book !wo he had written of the
aooeasion of beauty to the soul of a poet through sensual
love. !ook !hree had related an adventure in friendship
and love. the perception of the ennobling effeot of
friendship let to a still higher "enthralment," (1,'198)
the union of the poetic soul with the spirit of sorrow
and suffering in the world. This interpretation of the
underlying principle of the fourth boot 1a peroeivel firat

---------------------~.---.-.- ---
.. -------- - .. _--------
 118
in the Song of Sorrow.
Xeats called this piece a roundela, (146). whick
it resembles only in the fact that its opening measuree
are repeated at the oloae. !hese opening stanlas are
in a mood of wistful patho8 reminisoent of an Elisabethan
10Te lyrio. The plaintiTe atanzas inToke Sorrow and
tU8atio. her about the beauty which ahe steals fro. one
and With which she enrioaea another. The lyric is Slightl,
confused and can be eeleratood best b, quoting & ntulber
of the dre~, remote stansaa. !he song begins

o Sorrow
n;, dost borrow
the natural hae of health. fro. Teraeil lipa?-
!o giTe maiden blushes
!o the white rose bushes?
Or is't tkJ deW7 hand the daisy tips?
o Sorrow
Why d08 t borrow
fhe lU8trous passion from a falcon's e,.?-
fo giTe the glow worm light?
Or, on a moonles8 night. 1
fo tinge, on ayren shores, the Balt sea-apr.,?
IT, 14:'-1)'

The song passed fro. the questions contained in the

aboTe stanlas to a recital of the maid's story as she told
what had happened to her. Jirst, ahe declareel herself to
be an unwilling companion to Sorrow.

1. !he rbiiB recalls the taunt of "Cooine,· hurlel at

Xeats by his critics.
 119
fo Sorrow
I bade good morrow,
And thought to leave her far behind;
But cheerly. oheerly.
She loves me dearly;
She is so oonstant to me, and 80 kind;
I would [Link] her
And so leave her.
But ahl she is so oonstant and 80 kind.
IT, 171-81

fhis aection of the long Ode to Sorrow is followe'

immediately by a story of Bacchus and his reut, a lyric
of eight stansas. sometimes called the "triumph of Bacchus.-
In these stanzas we f1Dd the maiten's story.

Beneath ~ palm trees, by the river site.

I sat a weeping: in the Whole world wi4.
!here was no one to aSk me why I wept. -
And so I kept
Brimming the water-lily cup with tears
Cold as ~ fears.
IV. 182-8'1

Here is a touch of weirdness and m,stery. a lonely maiden

weeping beside a distant river. But then oame Baccbn••

And as I sat. over the light blue hills

there oame a noise of revellers: •••
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
'!Was Bacohus and his crew!
the earnest trumpet spate, and silver thrills
From kissing cymbals maie a merry din -
'!Was Bacchus and his kin!
IV. lil-9~, 196-99
 1.0
fhe song then related how the Indian maid forgot
her melanoholy. as she saw the Baochantes with

•• _ faoes all on flame;

All madly dancing through the pleasant Talley:
IV, 201-2

and ahe fell in with his train, "rush'd into the fol17."
(208)

Within his car aloft young Bacch•• stood. (209)

He was a merry. danCing, sportiTe 70ath.
!he description of Baoohus i8 followe4 by ... ioal
stanzas whioh reoite the maiden's challenging of the
laenads and satyrs. and their replies.

WWhenoe came ye, merry Damaels~ whence came ye~

80 many, and BO many, and Buch glee?
Why haTe ye left 70ur bowers deBolat.,
Your lutes, and gentler fate?-"
~e follow Baoohusl Bacchus on the win!.
A oonquerlng!
Bacchus, 70ung Bacchus! good or ill betld.,
•• d&nee before him through klng40ma wlde:-
Come hither, lady falr, and Joinei be
fo our wild minstrels7."
IV, 218-2'

A reader will notice these are Tery tame ~enads. In com-

parison with the turies of the Bacchanalia. Keats' Maenada
are agreeable and ga7-
The sucoeeding stanzas add to the choral effect

•
 141
by repeating the first two lines and the last two linea
of the preoeding stanza. !he entire song is so much of a
composite, oontaining such variety that it must be deali
with in parts.

-whenoe oame ye, jolly satyrs! whence oame y.l

80 man" and SO man"
and suoh gl.e'
Wh7 bave y. left your forest haunts, why lefi
Your nuts in o~-tree cleft,-"
"For Wine, for wine we left our kernel tree;
'or Wine we left our heath, and yellow broome,
And cold mushroou;
~or wine we follow Bacchus through ihe earth;
Great God of breathless cups and chirping mirthl-
Come hither, lady fair, and joined be
fo our mad minstrelsy."
IV, 228-38

As the song continues, we see that the country

through which the Bacohic rout danced was not India.
Clearly except for the palm tree by the river Side, there
is no natural objeot in these stanzas but is EngliSh. It
is the scenery of the country with which Xaate W•.8 familiar
that the Baoohic train traversed. "Berried holly" (206)
hidden under the shade of tall chestnut trees in June,
cowslips blooDling in grassy fields in )la, (16'1). heath,
flowering brooDl, and mushrooms oold with de. (232). the
nightingale in the pale evening Singing to a listener
standing in deW1 grasa (162) t were the things of nature
Keats inoluded in this song. He must have met with these
beauties in his rambles and have been familiar With
them sinoe ohildhood. His imagination gave the things
he loved not only to the forests of pan, but also to
regions traversed by Baoohus.
!he idea that this Baoohic hJmn is a coap08ition
of m&n7 impreasions perceived in the variation of the
stanzas is presented even aore vigorously in the stanza
describing Baochus on the march. !herein is an extra-
ordinary assembling of animals. We read of yoked tigers
and leopards "panting" along with elephants, sebras ant
AraDian hor8es prancing, laughing infants lliIlioking
sailors as they rode along mounted on the backs of seall
crooodiles. fhe Indian maid related that the followera
of Bacohus rode panthers and lions for hunt8. In a moment,
magio could whisk all the Bacchantes the length of a three
4818' journe7. !he menagerie of their prooe8sion inoludel
the "apleenful unicorn" which was sacred to a sun-riae
hunt. fhe stanza has an animated rhythm;' The fine aweep
of the verse, and its Jovial incredibility influenoe me
to quote it entire,

Over wide streams and mountains great we went,

And, save when Bacohus kept his iTy tent,
Onward the tiger and leopard pants,
With A8ian elephants:
Onward these myriads - with song and dance,
With sebras striped, and sleek Arabians' prance,
Web-footed alligators, orocodiles
 1"
Bearing upon their scaly backs in filea,
Plump infant laughers mimicking the coil
Of 8e&men, and stout galle7-rowers' toll:
With toying oar8 and silken aal1a they gl14.,
Bor care for wind and ti4••
IV, 2a,-1O

fhe poet retained the Bastern atmosphere entirely

in the final stanza of the !riumph of Bacchua. !he India.
maid related that the Baechic train had strayed through
·parch'd Abyssinia." Then it had ..ept froa Afrioa to
India where she had aeen 3eweled treasures of Indian
kin•• acattered. and the reign of Brabaa threatenet. :But
ahe fell out of the march and wandered alone through the
forest until she met Endpion. fhe aong returnea. to the
opening motiTe, and "ended as it began with a rare strain
1
of 10Telorn. ironic pathoa."
!he consideration which impelled Ead1m1on to a decialon
to 10Te the Indian maid - lt wl11 be recalled that thie love
would cause hls death - was aot her mere lOTelineaa. It
was her desolation expressed through the aad song she .. a
8inging for~. Even as she sang ln aurrender to sorrow,

~ Come then. Sorrow!

sweetest 80rrowl
Like an own babe I nurse thee on aw breast:
I thought to leaTe thee
And deceive thee,
But now of 811 the world I love thee beat;
IV, 2'1'-84
1. ColVin. lianey t .2i!. ill.:.. p. 211
[Link] believed of all thinge poetical he must cherish
sOrrow first.
Xeate believed that the poet must find in the trag• .,
of the world hiB poetic salvation. He must cherish sorrow,
and through e%perience become aoquainted with mankind. It
was directly to the poet within that the Indian maid sang
her concluding stansa.

!here is not one,

Bo, no, BOt on.
But thee to oomfort a poor 10n8l7 mai4;
!hou art her mother.
~d her 'rother,
Her pla,..te and her wooer in the shad••
IT. 885-90

Keats included two lyrics in the construction of

the Indian maiden's BOng. the Ode to Sorrow and the Triumph
of Bacchua. In the first is felt an Ililabethan wistfulnese,
in the latter an Eastern romantic association. !he scener7
i8 in 80me stanzas the fields and hedgerows of England;
in others the detatls are of Africa and Asia. !here is
variation in the rhythma; there are various moode, lone-
liness, sprightliness, [Link]' "deSire to smooth
th~s" appears in several [Link]. l !he animals are not
fierce; even the "spleenfUl unicorn" is traotable. !he

Maenads are "merry Damsels," not drunken women.

I. Lowell, Iii. ~ ~t Tol. I. p. iSI

ProfeBsor ColTin atateB that this aong ia "atriking17
1
origtaal in form and cODoeption."
!he line immediate17 following the SOBg,

o what a sigh ahe gaTe in finishing,

IV, 891

.nat have been autobiographioal. !he Indian maid was

utterly exhausted by the aocount of her miseries. !h.
carian, speechless, [Link] on her,

Ani listened to the wind that DOW dii stir

About the criBpei oaks full drearill'
Yet with as sweet a softnesB as itg t D.
R....ber'd from its velvet summer song.
IY. 29'·"
Consequently the reader understands that montha
hal intervened since En~on hai returnei from his journe,
..der the sea. (III, 1028) Iow autumn's dreary TOice waa
Bounding sorrowfUlly in his eare. !he poet's plan for the
oomposition of the poe. (I, '6-57) coincided with the
aeason in Which he was writing. It was April when he
began hi. poem, and April the season when the hero starte4
hia wandering. (I, 188) Jl1ds1UDJDer f01Uld him writing the
seconi book. (II, ,.) A lapse of time aocounted for i.
ihe lin•• ,

i. Colvin, Bianey, OPe ~, p. !!9

-~-~--- - - - - --. --
 1'6

Had he been wandering !!i'

• • in-uicer
• J'or OY8,
ain wa18:
,.,-60
!rhrough Wilderness. and woods of IIOssed oalts.
II,

rationalises the use of the wild rose and the butterfl,

whioh guided Jn4Jmion on his second adventure. fhe moon
passages of the third book are obviousll August piotures.
It has been pOinted out that only a few days come between
the events of the seoond and third books. l In the third
book the harTest moon has dwindled to its last quarter.
"She dies at the thinnest oloud." (81) Now in thi8 final
book two months later EndfDdon felt the first touch of the
autumn. A sense of 10S8 and melancholy pervadeB the scene.
!he lonely prince wooed the Indian maid, tor.
between disloyaltl to his heavenly love and desire for
this earthly love. the latter being a union with sorrow
which he believed "Would warder half his soul.- (309)
He had been listening

• • • to the wind that now did stir

- -rt. 2"-
About the crisped oaks full drearrrl'
5
'J
and his first speeoh to the maid after the conolusion of
her sorrowful song emphasised the thought that this new
allianoe i8 with sorrow.

1. See above. p. 105

Hie intelligenoe oalled him to remember his former love
for whose favor he had journeyed far, but hi. emotio.
bade him whisper lovingly to the "kind Byren." unhappily.
at the moment of his coaplete surrender to her chara,
suddenly the word., "Woe to that End7mionl Where is he?"
echoed through the forest. The trembling lOTers olaspe'
each other terrified. as there appeared & suddea appari-
tion of Meroury descending. ror a aecond only, ~rcur7

was before the. While he lightly touohed the ground with

hiS wand and swiftly darted hesTenward. The gOd8 intended
an unexpeoted solution for his dilemma. Where their
.. [Link] had touched the ground, two jet-blaok horaes With
large blue Wings sprang forth. Bnd7mion aet the Indian
maid upon one of the horaes, and mounted the other himself •

• • • !hrough the air they flew.

High as the eagles. Like two drops of dew
Exhal'd to Phoebus lips, away they are gone,
lar from the earth aW&7 ... useen. alone,
Jmong 0001 clouda and Winds, but that the free,
The buolant life of Sin, oan floatriii "De""" -
Above t eir iiits;-an orrow the. untIr'd.
ff,-st'T..S3
 l.a
Poetr7 alone oould soar ao high a8 their flight.
It ~st be their interpreter. Seeming to realize that the
most difficult part of hia tale was now to be teld, the
poet related that the w1nged steeds enterel a "sleep1
dulk." The mist enfolded the oouoh of Sleep, float1ns
810wl, towarda hea~en to w1tneaa "the marr1age melod1ea"
of a goddes8 and a mortal.
The ateeds, too, aaleep w1th leTe1 outspread w1nge
dr1fted along, and UPOD those outstretched w1ngs Endym10n
and the maid were slambering.

81ow17 thel a811, alowl, &a iCl 1ale

Upon a calm .e. dr1ftil1l; and meanwh11e
!he mournful wanderer'. dre. . . . . . .
IV, 406-'

blJa1oD. ueamet he had entered OlPpus. and was walking

and talking With the deit1e8. He was aver, ,oang peraoD,
inlee4. W1th ch1ldlike conf1dence. he fel JUno'a peaoocka
pearl, grain. tr1ed the bow of Apollo and the ahield of
.-. pallas, drank from Hebe'. oup. and blew a bugle whioh
nmmDned the HOurs and the Seasons to a dance. Here he
. .a 1n Diana'a own realm. !he goda and god4e.8es inquired
of one another who th1s mortal might be that pla,ed
41 viDe -..io, and enawerel each other that 1t was Diana' a
beloTe4. "LO," the, cr1ei, "ahe rises crescented."

•
BD4,a1on lookel.

• •• '!ia au,
His ~ goddea8: gool-ble earti, &ad s.a.
li! arr; an! pHns. and oare, ad Buffering:
Gool-bye to all but 10Tel !hen doth he sprins
fowarda her, ancl a~- • • •
IT. dO-M

Jor the firat time he aeemed to recognise Diana as the

god4ess whom he had lOTel and sought so long through
earth, ooean. and sq.
With what perpleXit7 did he turn from the g041esa
to the alee ping 'eaat, be aile h1~ !he enohanting beautr
of the dark maid lured him to kiss her, but again he grew

• • • forgetful of all beaut, save

Young Phoebe'a, golden-hair'l; and so 'gan orave
Jorgiveneas: ,.t he turned onoe more to look
At the ..eet aleeper - all his soul waa shook.
IT. 4:60-61

~ven though hia heart had owned Diana, or Phoebe, aa

"ita rightful throne." h. once more praise' his earthlr
love. !he shadow of the i4eal dissolve' in tears; ani
Bn4Jm1on, distracted. erie' to the disappearing goddesa,

"[Link] . , .oat hidde. breaatl B7 truth's own tODg•••

I have no [Link] heart." • • •
IT. 458-59

Her disappearance wrung from hi. the despairing or1.

 160
• • • Ie there nought for .. ,
Upon 'the bourne of bliss, but miaer1?
IV, .60-61

3D4,ado.t the poe'tio soul, hal allowed to slip fro. hi.

hie higheat i4eal of beauty. because he falterei an4
ooull noi be oonstant to the heavenly vision. He hal
not ae yet recognised the ~sterr, although he waa eeekinl
through a anion with aorrow an understanding heart that
would teach him the seorete revealed only to the .eer.
He had not divined what the reader suspeota, that the
India. maid was the inoarnation of the god4es8. Heaoe
he never held faat the comp8DJ of both.
Hia err awoke the Indian maid. She wept although
he aseure' her hie other love was gentle and kind. an4
would not .eek reveDge upon the maid. He wishe' that he
were &. Whole-hearted in love as the goddes8 was 1a
tenderness. It was strange to him that he felt innooent
in spite of disloyalty to both. !or.n by oonflioting
earthly and immortal loves. perplexel br a tangled web
of circumstances. and carrie' eut of himae1f. the poe't
orie' eut.

• • • "What is this soul then? Whenoe

Came it? It does not 8eem ~ own. and I
Have no self-passion, or identit,."
IT, ,75·'.,
 161
!bat waa Keata himself speaking.

"Some fearful end must be: where, where is it?

17 Bemeais. I aee MJ spirit flit
Alone about the dark. forgive me, sweet:
Shall we aW&71" • • •

In an agoa7 of confusion, the Latmian had begged

the maid'a forgiveneas, and suggeated that the~ fl~ aW87
from this mist of sleep. The poetio Boul was piotured in
oonflict With his ideals. but not in defeat.

!hou swan of Ganges, let us no more breath.

This m,1 phantaBml thou ooiiieii'til ae •• ' at
Pillowe n loveiy idlene8s, nor dreaa'at
What horrors may discomfort thee and me.
IV. 465-68

lot sure of &n7thingt "he roused the steeds;" he rekindled

his imagination to a more eonscious effort, and once more
the7 set 8ail into the olear air.
lben the Indian maid had finished her Bong, dusk
was falling. !heir first flight on the plumed horaes had
been in the twilight. sailing in "the Sleeping duSk." (362)
Bow as the Spirit climbed in lofty aspiration, evermore
reaohing for the beauty that had vanished from its grasp,
night had darkened the heavena •

.
 162
fAe good-night blush of eTe waa waning a10w,
And Vesper, risen star. began to throe
In the duk heaTeu si1Terly, when the,
Thus .Rran! direct towards the Qa~.
lr. 481-

Whl1e time was paSSing, Bndylllion and the mai4 exchanged

eternal TOW. and oaths, both "wltles8 of their doome." ('V2)
!he wanderers ln heaTen1y regions beheld the aeon
emerge fro. a aloud. It is a ohaste and exquiaite pioture
whioh Xeat. drew of this classical scene:

• • • frcm ebon streak

!he moon put forth a little diamond peak,
Io bigger than an unobserTed star,
Or tin, point of fairy se,aetar;
Bright signal that she only stoop" to tie
Her silTer sandals, ere delioiou817
She bow'd into the heaTens her timid head.
IV, '96-502

As the beauty of the moon regained its hold upon kia,

b~on turned to his companion to find her gaut and
ghoatl,. .& JIOment more, and ahe was not there, but hal

Tanished. Her steed dropped to the earth, and he ...

left alone.
Por the first time he seemed to haTe lost both;
he had not regained the oeles;ial 10Te, and the human lOTe
eouli not endure in the presenoe of Diana. 'or the moment
he was hopeless an4 abandonea. The charger still bore

----------~-
 151
hi. onwards towarda a haTen. a plaoe of rest. whereta
the aoul tormented with grief might fall into a deep
sleep and e%perience suroeaae of torment. !he desoription
of this haTen ia a long pasaage of great beautl.

• • • !here lies a de.

Beyond the seeming oonfinea of the apaoe
Rade for the soul to wander in and trace
Its own existence, of remotest glooms.
Dark regions are around It. where the tombs
Of buried griefs the spirit aees, but soarce
One hour doth linger weeping. for the pieroe
Of new-born woe it feels more inly smart:
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • !he man is yet to oome
Who hath not 30urneyed in this natiTe hell.
But few haTe eTer felt haw oalm and well
;teep ma, be hael in that deiP'len ofarf.
re anguiih~ea not sting; nor pleasure pall:
Woe-hurrioanes beat eTer at the gate,
Yet all i8 still within and desolate.
Beeetiiiti painfUl gust. within ye hear
110 sound 80 101ld as whell on ourtaill' d bier
!he death-watoh tiok i8 stifled. Enter none
Who 8triTea therefore: on the sudden It li1ion.
1iit illen the sufferer begins to burn-;- - -
!hen it ia free to hia; ani from an ura
Still fed by melting ice, he takes a draught -
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • saPP7 gloom!
»ark paradise! • • •
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Where those ey8s are the brightest far that keep
!heir lids shut longest in a dreamless sleep.
o h8pPl spirit-ho.e! 0 wondrous 80ull
pregnant Wi th suoh a len to eaTe the whole
In thine own depth. Hail, gentle carian!
lor neTer 8ince thJ griefa and woe8 began,
Hast thou felt so oontent; a rieTous feut
Hath led thee to this caTe of e u .:---
q., hia lull'd soul ..... there, a ough upbone
With langeroua speed: and. so he did not mourn
Becaus. he knew not whither he wa8 going.
IV. 612-1', 622-36, 61'·38, 641-51
 15.
This has been oalled a "true desoription of apath7. ftl
So entranoed was "the gentle Carian" that he
failed to notice. though hia Winged horse had heard an4
turned towards the sound. an angelic host, a "pinionel
.altitude,ft whioh passed hi. Singing. He .eemed, howeTer.
to haTe heard the oele8tial beings blowing their truapets
and proolaiming the wedding festiTal of Diana, asking

• • ."'Iho, who aW&7 would be

'rom C7Bthia's wedding and festiTitl?"
IV, 666-66

In a ohoral eong they inTite' the signa of the zodiao ani

the oonstellations to the festiTal.
!he fir8t stanza of thi8 Bong i8 expres8iTe of
Xeata' 0108e obser~e of nature.

Young playmates of the rOBe and daffodil,

Be careful, ere 7e enter ia, to fill
Yoar 'a8ket. hig~
Wi th fennel green, and bal_, and gellea pinea,
eaTory, latter-unt, and columbine.,
Cool paraley, ba8il aweet, and aUDn7 thJmei
Yea. eTery flower and leaf of eTery 0 lime •
.&11 gathered in the delq IDOraiq.
IV. "8-'19

.., Lowell'. oomment on thia stanza i8 3a8t. I think.

ft!he beg1Dl1ing of thi8 BOBg ia quite charming. with ita

1. owen, r. K., ~ Oit •• p. 101

 151
catalogue of flowera and herba written in that simple,
effective Btlle Which i8 80 peculiarly Baglish, to be
copie4 by no other nation whatsoever. It has peraiate'
in EngliSh poetry since the 4aY8 of Chaucer, and is one
of the ohief delights of the Elizabethans. It .ee••
alaost a property of the 80il. for expatriated Ingliah.e.
800n lose the touoh. nl
the song ended abruptly. Hia ateed [Link] dowuwerd
and depOSited Bndym10n upon the earth. the shock of the
-return to reality renewed Bn¢Jm1on'8 suffering8. B1 that
8hock he perceived he maat foraake shadowl griefs;

••• to hi.
Jho lives beyond earth's boundar,y. grief i8 di.,
Borro. is but a shadow. • • •
IV. 61'·21

If he were ever to come to 8n understanding of sorrow, he

must "feel the solid ground." (622) Jor a farther
aoquaintance with reality he also desired most ardently
to be united with the Indian _i4;

• • • let us ~re
On foreat-fruita. and never. never go
Among the abodes of mortals here below.
Or be by phantoms duped. 0 destiny!
IV, 626-1'

I. Lowell, iii. ~ CIt., vol. I, p. 448

. ,.
 156
He resisted the impulse to 10S8 himself again iB
UIlrealit7.

Into a la!iiinth now ~ 80ul would ill.

~wrtA beauty wIrl-r-leaaen i •
- fV, 610':11

fhe exaltation of the flight was gone. Onoe more

he plned for the huaan oontact he had 8n~oled with her.
the "swan of the Ganges," and felt he had been unworthJ
in cllnging to impossible aspirationa.

• • • I h.~e olang
fo nothing, lov'd & nothing, nothing aeen
Or felt but a great dreaal •••
IV. 636-88

Diaillusioned, be deolared he hal been

[Link] against 10Te, against the atl.

Against all eiements, against the tie
~ mortars-each to each. against the bloo..
Of n ....
rs. rushof rivers, and the tom'.
Of heroes gone! Against hi. proper glor7
lis ~ own soul conapir'd; so ., stor,r
.ill I to children utter, and repent.
IT. 639-46

It should be noticed here that when Endymion [Link] the

objects of beauty the poet had atated in the proem "mast be
with UB, or we die," (I, 31) he was declaring that he had
been unfaithful to his great ~ision.

fbi. moOd mRst be understood a. a moment of poe tie

 15'
self-revelation. the neglect of contaot With human an4
earthly 30ys would 4estroy a man. for

!here never lived a mortal man. who bent

His appetite beyond his natural spher.,
But starv'd and die4 • • • •
IV. 646.'8

Declaring hiB intentions to live secluded with his Indian

maid forever, he aaid farewell to his aspirations iD
s)'[Link] terms,

••• Caverns lone. farewel11

!he air of VisiOllS. and ihe monstrous ...ell
Of visionarl .eaa! KO. never .ore
Shatl airl voICii cheat me to~ shore
Of tang e wonder. breathless and aghaat.
IV. 661-51

He meant to devote himself to hi. human love, yet Dot

without regret for hie dream godde •• in "pure elysiuaw
whom he might never love on earth. In order to ensure
Diana'e favor. on hi8 other love, he planned to propitiate
the goddes8 with sacrifioes.
!he hold on reality wa. so slight hi. dreams still
confuaed him. !he maid eluded him.

Whither didst melt, Ah, what of that! - all good

.e'll talk about - no more of dreamtjl • • • •
- - W . 661-&

hd what did he think: about to drive out the dre8DliDg'

 158
Whr he painted a picture of a happy home among woode
and hills. a picture of the natural beauty Whioh 8lwa1.
evoked a response from this poet.

lfhere ahall our dwelling b.? tTnder the brow

Of _me steep IIOssy hill, where i"'7 dua
Would hid. ua up, aJ. though apring leaveB were none;
And where dark yew trees. 8a we rustle through.
°
W111 drop their scarlet berry cups of dew,
thou would'at 30y to live in Buch a place.
IV. 670·75

Xeate would oertainly have 30,e4 to live in such a place.

Of oourse it mast have "a little river,"

All in its mid-day gold and glimmerins.

IT, 681

If that were not sufficient, he would bring to hi. love

"Ronel from out the gnarled hive," and gather for her
"£pples. wan with sweetness." Xeate span a pastoral
fantaSia to woo the Indian maid.
The poetical wooing waa vain; muoh that his love
hereelf might have explaine4 waa unknown to the mountaineer.
Rer repl, mast have ~atified him. Instead of responding to
hia pleae, ahe addressed Eros and reproaohe' the god of
lOTe for oondemning her to die. She complained Eros hat
been cruel and un3ust. !o EndJDdon ahe a.i4.
 169
"I may not be thy love: I . . forbidden -"
IV. '62.

She would not explain, although she feared aD obsoure

vengeance might bring about their deatha. Therefore, she
would bless and leave him.
The reader recognize. that Diana, the moon, mast
fade sinoe he knows this oonversation had begua

• • • 3ust as the golde. morrow

Beam'd upward from the vallie. of the east.
IV, 726-2'

As the morning light grew, the7 sought the seoluaio. of the

forest. Without a protestlng word from BndJZion tha1

wandered dolefully hand in hand, through the valley_ and
aat beneath a lone beech tree. Thelr eyea ga•• d unaeelngly
at the Circle of leaves scattered about them en this aut. .
aornlq.
the poet paused for an apostrophe to EndyBdon. Xeats'
8J11lpathy Wi th So rrOfl appears onoe more in the promse to
En4Jm1on that he would soon be "ensk7'd," and thus hi.
happiness assured.

[Link]'d ere this, but truly I lee.

![Link] best mUSic in a firat-born sODg.
IV. '1'12-'1
 160
Here is another instance of self-revelation. the poe.
must continue until all Xeats mut say hat 'been written.
He would be true to his purpose to bestow upon IDd~Oll

"immortal bliss." (III, 102')

!rhe poem oontinue' in sorrowful mool.. !hroughollt.
the poet was speaking of his own experienoes. Had the
Carian only glanced awar from the dead leaves. what JOl
he might have felt.

• •• !rhe spirit culla

_aeled _ruth, when Wild it atra,.
ough the 014 sarden-sround of bOliSh da,••
IT,"82- • .
An espeoial interest ia attaohed to aucoe.41Dg line. whioh
inoorporate memorieS and fancies of Xeats' "borish daya.-

• little onward ran the vir, aire"

~ Which he took his fire ao!'.P.!nZ dre . .;
Ilid on thavery barf' gainsrwIiiCJllii" iean'
A cresoent he had oarv'd. and round it spent
His Skill in little stars. !he teeming tree
Had swollen and green'd the pious character,.
But not ta'en out. Why. there was not a slope
Up Which he had not fear'd the antelope;
And not a tree, beneath Whose rooty shad.
He had not with tam'd leopards pla,'d:
Bor oould an arrow light, or [Link]
117 in the air where his had never b•••
And yet he knew it not. • ••
IT, '81-9'1

Oompanion.' by hiB ideal and nearing the eni of hia search

for his radiant goddess. he was neverthelesa lost in
 161
melancho17. There was a smile in the maid's e7e whiok
he did not 8ee; but he glanoe4 upward and saw at last
hi. sister peona. It had been long sinoe he had seen
peona, not sinoe the day in April she had sung to him in
the forest when he had started on his wander1nga. "HOW
dearly they embraced. w (802) She sweetly weloomed her
brother who bad brought home a bride to his kingdom, aa
ahe thought. When Bndymion oontinued to grieve. she
promiaed him rest for a month, and isolation from prying
tongue., and unsuooessfully attempted to interest hi. in
the festival to Diana the shepherds were to oelebrate that
Tery night.
1I'il18111 she aske d the Indian maid to help her aroue.
BndJDdon from despondencl. 'eena'8 question,

• • • "Bn41Bdon, dear brother, sa7

What ails thee?" • • •

brought down upon him the impaot of the full 00Daoiouane88

of the duties he must resume as prince of Caria. He had
returned from a long searoh for beauty in the deepest deep
and the farthe8t heights, and had soared in Tiaions aboTe
mortali t1. ODd DOW, returning, waa asked to res1lJl8 the
hlUlldrua duties of ruling a shepherd olaA. As xeata
expressed this mood through intuitiTe poetio PB1eholog7,
 162
• _ • He could bear no more, and so
Bent his soul fiercell like a spiritual bow,
And twang' d it inwardll_ • - •
IT, 846-4c8

~fterwards he calmly explained to peona that the

normal pleasures of men were real, but that there were
higher pleasures he would forfeit if he ruled an earthly
realm. 'or these higher pleaaurea he must discipline
himself; therefore he would dwell in a hermit's cell where
only she mght visit him. At the aame tiID$ he confide'
to her oare the Indian maid who ~ccepted the profferel
home and declared ahe would that night at the festival
consecrate herself to serve a8 a priestess of Diana.
Jor awhile they &11 three felt like people in
sleep. struggling With unhappy dreams and pretending suoh
thing. were commonplace. Endymlon waa the first to arouse
from this confusion, and bade the two maida good-bye. Th.,
started away dilzily. !he shepherd prince called after
them to stay, but too late. !hey were lost to sight in the
'Go
woods, even as he was calling that he would meet them at
evening in the saored grove near Diana's temple. The,
were gone. He oould endure no more. The suffering ot the
renunciation of his dreams was too great. He lay upon a
grassy hillock &11 day in & mood of Sluggish desolation,
 168
• • • save when he 8c&nti17 lifted
His e7e8 abroad, to see how shadows shifte'
With the Slow IDOTe of t1ma, - 81ug«ish and naq
Until the poplar tops. in 3ourne7 drear7.
Had reach'd the riTer's brim• • • •
IV, 920-2'

the poet has made a dial hand of a certain group of

poplars With their shadows stealing upon the BUDBJ riTer,
sure17 a rare figure.
At SUBset End7mion arose and went to keep hi_
tr7-t at the temple. He noticed all the beautiea of the
eTenlng. .t first in bitterne •• and then in reSignation
to his coming death, he lamentel.

"hJ such a go14en eTe? The breese i& sent

careful and BOft, that not a leaf 11&7 fall
Before the Serene father of them all
Bow_ do1fJ1 his sul8ler heai below the weat.
Now aa I of breath, apeech, and speed pOSBeat,
But at the Bettlng I mast bid adieu
To her for the last time. 1I1ght will atrew
On the damp graBe ~riad. of lingering leaTeB,
And with thea I ahall die; nor much it grieTea
fo die When summer diea on the cold ground."
IV, 92'·36

The BtOr" had deTeloped according to the plan which the

poet gave the reader in the proea.

• • • Let Autumn bo14

With univereal tinge of sober SOld,
Be 811 about me when I make an en4.
I, fU;-e,
 The gold had almost fallen_ Less than one hundred linea
remained to be compoaed before he could write opposite
the last line in the manusoript of EndymioB, the date,
BOTember. 28. 1
There was aomentarily a faint gleam of light-
heartedness, the next moment darkened by a thought of
retribution.

"WhJ I haTe been a butterfly. a lor!

Of flowers, garlands, 10Te-kRots, silly posies,
GroTes, meadows, .. lodies. and arbour roses:
. , king4oa'e at 1ts death, and ~U~lit i.
ihat I ahoQld die with it: eo in a ~
• [Link] grit' , me, '""'iorrow, heart-break. woe,
w;&t is there 0 plain of? B7 Titan'. foe
'f""'81i '6ui riglitIi aerTe4-;W • • •
IV. 937-'4

the poet i8 about to dispose of his hero. A reader i.

reminded of the sentence in the Preface to Endymion,
"It is just that this youngster should die away_"
ConTinoed that sorrow was unwarranted. "What i_
there to plain of?" Bndymion "tripp'd lightly" through
autumn's beautiful soene, until he entered the ho17 grOT.
of Diana where he expected to meet his doom. Ite dusk
engulfing him stirred in his soul rebellious thought_ that,

• • • "I did wed

Krself to thinge of light from infanof,"
IV, 95'-58
...
 165
1. reterenoe probably to bi8 worship of Diana'8
b.allt1;

"And thu8 to be oaat out, thus lora to die.

Ia sure enough to .ake • mortal ...
Grow impioua." • • •
IT. 969-61

8tmk i. thoughts of the eternal. lQ'ate17 of life ea'

'eath, and ab8or\ed in [Link] "for whioh no wordina
oan be found," (962) he was "beyond the reach of .naio. w
(966) !he Teaper lQw1 to Diana fioated fall and 80tt
froa the forest temple. !h1l8 he did not hear the .uaia,
nor ae. the two maida approaohing in the pale light •

• • • WUDhappy wight!
Jn~onl· _aid Peona. "we are here!
lhat would_t thoa ere we all are l&id on bier?"
!hen he [Link] her. and his laqta haad
preaaed, aaJiag: "Siater, I would haTeoommant.
If it were heaTen'a Wl11, on our aad tate."
IV. 9'71-'16

!hen ocourred an astoniShing transfor..tio.. !he

"dark-eye' stranger" in a new Toioe "BWeet aa 10Te," to
End~on's amalement, Iwore "by Cupid's dOTe" he shoall
oommand 811 their fate.. Wbereupon, before hi8 e7e-
ahe ohange' trom black-haire' Indian maid to the go1 den-
hat red Diana.
 166
••• ~e, he bebe14
Phoebe, his paasionl • • •
IV, ~86-8'1

And so the quest was ended, and the myster7 Bolved. !he
Indian maid had been but a disgui8ed inoarnation of Diana
[Link]. This was &1so the unknown whom he had lovet.
He knew her at la8t as his onl7 love. 8he explained,

• • • -Drear, drear
Has our delaying been; but foolish fear
Withheld me first; and then deeree. of fate;
And then 'twas fit that from this mortal atate
!hou shoUi!'si, ~ lOTe.~som;-unlooi'd tor ohanSe
!! splrltui11ze4. • • •
IT, 988-91

The goddess blessed Peona and promiaed her m8Jl7 future

meetinge in the forest through which Diana and EBdJmion
would range. Diana extended graoious hands to the kneeling
IndJai on. an'
They vanished far awa71 Peona went
Home through the gloolD1' wood in wonderment.
IV, 1002-1

-TO wonder" i. all that a aortal oould do who had just

.een the translation of a poet.
!he ataosphere at the olose as well as at the
beginning of !ook 'our breathe. aadne.. and weariness.
!he poem ended on no note of joy and exaltation such aa

..
 16'
might haTe been expeoted after the triuaph of a union
with supreme Beauty and the highest aspiration. fhe
late. NOTe.'er 28, 181'. on the last page of the draft
expre ••ed the poet'. relief on the completion of hi •
• eTen-montha' task. fhe line at the beginning of the
fourth book,

I moTe to the end in [Link] of heart,

IV, 29

is sufficient eTidence of the depressing feeling of

incapabilit7 under whioh he labored.
fhe temperamental failing of the poet, an excesa
of ornaaent, was aore prominent in this last boot than in
the earlier one.. yet the final book is more thorough
than preceding ODeS, and does bring the poem to a pla•• ib1e
ending. fhe poet's thought is maturing. !his conclusion
would explain the more quiet mood, the air of gentle
sadness. His humility i8 touching:

• • • but then I thought on poets gone,

And oould not pra7:- nor ooald I now.
IV, 27-28
:::

With such self-abasement he began the conolusion of the

great task he had eet himeelf.
fhroughout, the consummation of Endymion's search
,.

...
 168
for Beauty and the intensity of the poetic aspiration
are blendel. Aspiration soared beyond the bounds of
reason. and left & hero sunk in apatkJ. who was arouae'
anew by the soul's thirst for 10Te and beauty. Renuncia-
tion of hia dre~ left him far gone in melancholy. A
shrinking from contact with humanit7 merged into a state
of exaltation above the world. He perceiTet that all
'[Link] he had e%perienced were merged in ome "essenoe,"
and he was one with the Spirit of Beaut7.
the moat original conceptions in thia book are
found in the "Song of the Indian .aid" and in the flights
of the Winged horses, the most perfect description in the
"caTe of Quietude." As I obserTed in mw analysis of the
"Ode to Sorrow." thia poem is a union of two lyrios -- one,
in manner an Ilizabethan lOTe lyriC, and another, a pageant
of Oriental splendor. 'or the Indian maid the Bacchio
portion was only a passing splendor; she returned to the
original mood. I think that i8 the explanation for
Profesaor de Selinoourt'. writing that "the dominating
emotion of the Ode • _ • is felt in the allusions to the
Wild roae, the daiSy, and cowslip, the glow worm and the
nightingale. PhOebe has strayed far to find her poet;
ahe has found him in an English wo04_"1 ~rom another point

1. De Selincourt, Ernest. ~ ~, p. LXIII

 169
of Tiew a different purpose for the return to the original
topic mar be found. The theme whioh desoribed the effect
of sorrow and suffering in the spiritual deTelopment of a
poet required that Bndymion take Sorrow to his heart. !he
lrrio consequentlr must return to the original strain,
sinoe the Hymn to Bacohus digressed from this poetic
thellleo
Another criticism of this "Ode to Sorrow" which
is the opinion of a poet, Bhould interest us. Robert Bridge.
would begin at the fifth S~B&t thus omitting the .tansa.
Profeseor de Selincourt found most effectiTe, and leaTe
1
out also the third stanza from the last. Hie opinion i.
directlr opposed to de Selincourt'.. "The piotorial
description of the Bacohic proceSSion," wrote Bridge.,
wis unmatched for life, wide motion, and romantio, drea.,
Orientation, While the conclud1ng stanzas returning to the
firet mDTement are as 10Telr 8S anr Blizabethan lyriC, and
in the same manner. w In mJ opin10n ther are both right.
Bach section of the poem deserTe. the praiee the indiTidual
critio bestowed upon it.
"The caTe of Quietude" is the ».11 that the shape.
of beauty mOTes awar "from our dark spirit •• " (I, 13) It

1. llierehaw t Henr1. xeat •• poeir~, and PrOBe, with 1••a1.

!z Charles Lab, t e1gh Huat RObeFr"".Brl~e ••b t otieit,
t
with an Intro nct on anl:lOte., oitorl, taren!on preBB,
IV!'!,J;". !. -
 1'0
is an oft-repeated experience of End7m1on to be buriel
in desponden07. The first trance oame upon him when he
had stri'Yell

To hide the o&nkerins venom that had riTell

!fs~ntlng reooileotlons. • • •
It 396 .. "

At 8Dother time when the experienoe was related in Terse.

lInlJa10n had ~U8t aeen the Vision of 01bele t and hal
del&78cl in that ".ournful plaoe." (II, 660) He coulcl
go no farther t and with an appeal to heaTen 00l1li1 tta'
himself to the gloom. The eagle Whioh Jove aent, bore
hi. to a plaoe Of enchantment,

••• where little CaTes were wreath'd

So thiok With leaTes and moeses, lEit thel 8eem'4
~rge honijOOmb8 of green, and freshll teea'd
With airs delioious. In the sreenest nook
The eagle landed !!!. &ndllrewel1 tooi.
II, 665-69

Once again oommuning "with a melancholy thought,"

(II, 868) he bad hidden in fta sounding grotto, vaulted.
Tast." (II, 878) There while hie past life, "passed like
.. dream before hia," (II. 894) the humming of the water in
Alpheus' pursuit of Arethua8. sang "his dream away." fhis
was a type of Sluggish despair which Keats' letters testify
he was well acquainted with. To the friend with Whoa he

.
 1'11
sta7e4 during the summer weeks he was engage' in writing
the third book he wrote in the late fall, "I beg now ~

dear Bailey that hereafter should you observe anything

cold in me not to put it to the account of heartlessness
but abstraction - for I assure you I 80metimes feel not
the influence of a passion or affeetion during a whole
week - and so long this sometimes continues I begin to .
1
suspect .,aelf and the genuineneas of ., feelings."
In this final book Ind~on entered this den of
"reactest gloom," (616) and found repose so Vital to
his restoration from despondenoy. Keats picturet a state
of spiritual exhaustion. but through it he createt a
full image of stillness.

o hapPl spirit homel 0 wondrous Boull

In thine 0_
pregnant with 8~. den to .aTe~ whole
diPllL.- iiiIl-;-giiiireTarian!
fir. neTer since lq griefs and Woe8 began
Hast thou felt so content: a grievous feu'
Hath led thee to-thIs cave of Quietude.
IT, 543-'8

!h18 book is full o~ descriptions of moods; fGr

instance, &p&thf figured in the description of the "cav.
of Quietude." (624-45) Another, a mood of bitternes8 an4
rebellion, . .a desorlbed when Endyadon realized at the
last that he w&S forsaken and muat die. (952-62) • mo04

1. 'orman, liur!ce BUi'ton, 2E.:. 01t •• p. 6'

 1'12
of indifference was shown When he had returned to the
forest (766-97) from whence he bit started on hi.
wanderings and sat. perhaps beneath the Tery beech tree
where the DTUid priest had made the aaorifice. (I. 169)
Professor ~horpe's statement that Eook lour
representa "an adTenture Which brings about a oomplete
~ion of the .oul with the heart of humanity"l i8 true.
BndJSion had entered into the deepeat slBPathy with the
sorrOW8 of humanity. That was the last step in poetio
insight Which would bring him to "A fellowship With
[Link].- CIt 7'9) But the critio ha. not included in
his interpretation the remainder of Xeata' Platonio
thought,

• _ • till we shine
lull alchemis'd. and free of spaoe • • •
I. ''19-80

a portion whioh haa been reoogniled by ProfeBsor Finne7_

The immortality Which the oomplete union with Beauty would
bring the poetic spirit was pereeiTe' by Professor linne7_
Ris interpretation that Book Four "is & neo-Platonic que.t
of immortality through lOTe"2 is oorrect. One interpreta-
tion supplement. the other. ~. ,nest for immortality had

1. See above, p. l'

2. Bee aboTe. p. l'

..
 1'8
been attained through 10Te, and he wa. "free of space."
!fhe psychologic81. experiences must be self-
reTealing. ~or example, near the close of the poe.
Bndyaion sunk in thoughts for which "no wording can be
found." (962) was also the poet who said in the "HJmn
to pan" that there were solitary thoughts whieh

• • • dodge
Conception to the very bourne of heaTe_.
!hen leaTe the nakel brain. • • •
I. 29'·96

Jin&lly. in spite of oonfusion of details and actiena.

there shone through all the intense sincerity of the
poet bent On gaining experience and straining his powers
to fathom the secrets of life that eluded his searohing.
The beauty for whioh he had been searching was embodied
in the moon !oddess Who combined the beauty of sensuous
10Te. the beauty of friendship and the beauty of Sorrow
and sJmpathy. When the poetic soul was at last united
with Beauty, he had gained the vision through a sympatbJ
with life. With thought so inspired he was transported
with beauty to the skies. peona, the mortal, could onll
wonder. It was not for her to follow.
 CRIPTEB TIl

!HE PATE OJ' DDYlIIO.l

 CHAPTER VII

THE FATE OF ENDnaOJi

.l path Through the Wilderne.s

(See I, 59-62)

When Endymion was published in April, 1818, it

met with no kindly reception. Efforts of the young
literary men who were Keats' friends to protect it. fame
were of no avail against the prejudice of powerful parti-
san journals unwilling to accord a fair hearing to John KeatB,
a disciple of their political opponent Leigh Hunt. The
adverse reviews in the great Tory organs, Blackwood's ani
the guarterll. were the greatest obstacle to its sale. In
Blackwood's an unsigned review dismissed it as "calm,
settled, imperturbable drivelling."l In the Quarterly,
the review was even more ooldly insulting. The editor of
the latter, profesaed to find EndY!4on unreadable. "We
have made efforts almost as superhuman as the story appear.
to be. to get through it • • • We have not been able to
struggle beyond the first book."2 He deolared he was
unable to get at the meaning of eTen the first book, and
doubted the identity of the author since he could not
believe that "any man in his senses would put his name

Hewlett. Dorothy, QE.:. [Link], p. 182

-
Ibid., p. 182
 1'15
to Buch a rhapsody." While he admitted the author hal
"powers of language, rays of fancy, and gleams of geniu.,"
he still found the poem "unintelligible and diftus •• "
Jor yeara those opinions, that Endlmion waa
meaningless 81 though full of beau titul poetry. that it ....
diffuse and formless, stuck in the minda of would-be
readers. In the early days of its publication the first
reaction of Shelley who might have been expected to
understand the poem. was that "no person could possibly
get to the eni of it. Yet 1t is full of the [Link] gl....
of [Link],rl indeed .verything seemB to be viewed by the
1
mind of a poet Which ia deseribed in it." A later [Link]
brought to Shelle, somewhat more aatisfaetion.
!he second comment which we have from Shelley.
came about in this manner. In Jul7, 1820, Shelley a ••t
Keats an invitation to viait him in Rome. It appears fro.
Shelley's letter that haTing been informed of the younger
poet's illness. he had dwelt upon Keats' misfortunes until
hia thoughts had prompted him to look into Bndl!!0n. "I
have lately read your Endymion again," he wrote, "and ever
with a new sense of the treasures it oontains, though
2
treasures poured forth With indistinct profusion." BYen

1. Colvin. Sidney. Ope Cit., p. 288

2. Forman. )[aurice E'ton, 2E.:. £!l:.. p. 506
 1'1'
toda7 with this critioism most oasual readers of
Bnil!40n will agree. Nevertheless it i8 p08sible for
an attentive reader to follow many clueB Winding through
the "indi8tinct profusion" to the treasure, the inner
meaning of the poem. As an illustration of the p08Si-
bilities of suoh reading, I shall draw out for oomment
from this labyrinth Of beautiful poetry oAly one thread.
and that a thread Which gives a clue to the poet's design
for the fate of End7mion, as we follow its gleam wincl1q
through the fourth book. Through this explanation I hop.
to disprove to some extent that portion of criticis.
acoepted by many for a hundred years that Endymion is
unintelligible and formless.
At the olose of the third book, Endymion was
standing beside a placid lake in his native Caria, hapP7
since a voioe audible only to "his iuward senses" (III. 1020)
had aroused him from unconsciousness with a promise that,
he would soon be with his goddess in "endless heaven."
He was not to die as a mortal, but to be given "immortal
bliss." (III, 102~) The promise of 1mmortalit7 waa repeated
in the middle of the final book when the poet wrote,

Endymion! unhappy! it nigh grievea

Ke to behold thee thus .!! ~ extreme,;
En8ky'd ere thiS, but .truly that I dee.
Truth the best music in a first-born song.
IV, ,'O·'1S
 1'77
Earlier in the fourth book the disastrous results
of his yielding to an earthly 10Te ha4 been [Link]
at the beginning of his association with the Indian mai4
who must be thought of &. a symbol of human 10Te. !he
warning had been sounded that an immortal. must resist
the mortal, or physioal love.

• • • Vanish into air,

Warm mountaineer! tor canst thou only bear
A woman's sigh alone and in distress,
IV, 53-55

!he question implied that there was more to the

Situation thSD sympathy for a beautiful, grief-stricken
woman, something Which he did not perceiTe. He was
admonished that the heavenly 10Te would admit no diTide'
allegianoe.

See not her charms! IS Phoebe paSSionless?

Phoebe is fairer far. - 0 gase no more.
IV. 56-5'

He did not heed the oounsel; yet he recognised tbat the

effect of his yielding to the influenoe of the earthly
.
""
love would result in holding him in the grasp of mortality •

o pardon me. for I am full of grief -

Grief born of thee. young angel! fairest thief!
!!! stolen hast alia1 .!!!. Wine wherewith
I 1I'&S 'to top the eaTena. • • • .
- - IT. 107-10
 178
BndyDdon had told the Indian maid that it he
yielded to his lOTe ot her, she woul4 be his executicner.

• • • Dear maid, 8ith

Thou art ., exeou~ioner, and I teel
Lonng and hatred, mi.se17 and weal,
W1ll in a tew short hcurs be nothing to me,
And all., story that much passion slew me;
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
• • • let me understan4
How dying I shall kiss that lily han4.
IV, 110-11~t 117·118

still another warning that love for the Indian maid

invited destruotion was sounded. It was Mercury's voice
that rang through the deep forest, uttering in a most
tearful tone the terrifying. "Woe to that Bnd7m1on!" (IV, Ill)
After that lament 8S they sat "waiting for aome destractioll,"
(IT. 380) BndJm10a and his earthly love in .. dream were
oarried to the sky. It waa there that he fancied he s&.
the goddess While he was still companioned by the beautifal
Indian maid.
It was evident the Indian maid was contented with
mortality; she did not realize that in mortality 1&7
destructioll.

Thou swan of Ganges, let us no more breathe

This muakf
Ehantasm! thou contented aeem'et
PIIrowe n iovelliidleneS8, nor Iream'ai
What horrore may soomfort thee and me.
- IV. "65-68·
 1"
Since En47mion had never before believed himself to
see the goddess and the Indian maid at the same t1me, he
could not recogn1se their ident1t1es. H1e inab111ty to
choose between the heavenly love and the earthl7 love
brought him 1nto a state worse than perplex1t,. HiS
nature was torn 1n two by his distress t and he ant1c1pate'
"some fearful end." (IV, ~78) Nevertheles. he attempted
another fl1ght with the mortal,they both be1ng "so w1tles.
of the1r doom." (IV, ~92) It was understood that the
earthly love [Link] die, and that only through fA union wi tll
a heavenly love could he live eternally.
~he theme that earthly love produced death was
explained further when the goddess who Endymion thought
was the Ind1an maid, decla1med against the cruelty of
Ero.. She cried to the god of love,

Young feathered tyrantl ~_ a swift

W11t thou devote this ~~o the ear :
'.it'
Iii'r!tt'othlIlli thirit rq verya;rrth
I lisp' d thy blooming titles 1nwardll.
~ IV, 730-33

To escape the Tengeance of death, the goddess, whoa

End,m1on st1ll be11eves to be the Ind1an maid, inSisted
that they must separate •
.Almost at once Peona came to Endymion' said, .s

--------------- ---
 180
she had come in Book One when he was grieving for hi.
lost drea.. The exclamation, "Can she endure!" fIV, SOl)
indicated how great a distance he had traveled fro.
realit,. So long had he been lost in visions, that
Peona told hi ••

~ upon thy death have ditties mad••

IV, S36

Whenever Peona, practical and affectionate, appeared in

the story, sbe exerted an influenoe to allay his tever
and anxiety, or to curb his striVing atter the unattainable.
peona had not been seen in the story sinoe the close ot
the first book. On that ocoasion. in her effort to appease
Indymion'B disappointment over lOSing the Tision ot love
Which he had glimpsed onoe, she had reminded hi.,

• • • Would I so tea••
17 pleasant days, because Y [Link] not l101U1t.
Into those regioDs, • • • ---
I, '45.".,

Now as he W8S nearing the end of his last 30urne7,

En~on informed Peons that he must forsake earth17
pleasures if he would gain a heavenly love, that

• • • those deceptions whioh for pleasure go

IKong men, are pleasures reaJ. as real. may be:
But there are higher ones I ma, not eee,
Tri!plousqan earthIlFei'lm I t'i'ie:--
- - IV t -S'5r-'S'4:

----------
 181
HaTing seen ihe light, he mast be faithfUl to the
reTelation. !his oonTersation followed his disillusioni.,
flight with the Indian maid. We recall that he had 8&id,

• • • I haTe clURg
To nothiDg, lov-' • noihillg. nothing see.
Or felt but. great dream! •••
IV, 616-38

Iow, he was explaining to his 818ter,

Since I .aw thee. I haTe been awake

.ight after night, ..4 4a, after da;" util
Of the emp;yreaa I haTe c1nnk JQT fill.
Lei it content thee, Sister. seeing me
IDre happ;, than betides .ortalit7_
IV. 856-69

!he time approach.' for the separation which

Ba~on's oompanion had said the1 .ust unlergo. IDd,wdon,
his ceapanion anrecogniled as the [Link], and peona are
pictured a.

StrlT1ng their ghastly malady to cheer.

:8,fhat
thinking It a th1iig of 1. s or no
t

housewlTes talk of. But the sEirlt-!!!!

was struck, and all were [Link].
- - - If. e17-900

Th~ went their .eparate ways, he to brood the da1 lODS

OTer his departur.. With the fall of night he would 'e
immortalized; a kind of diTlne Justlce had decreed he would
 182
paas away with his kingdom, which had been the gree.
earth.
:lTen1ng came gently. )luffled music was dying in
their eare. !he three met iB the dark forest. !o
Peona's question,

"What wouldst thou ere we all are laid on bier,"

IV. 9'3

the wanderer replied,

• • • "Sister, I would haTe oomman4.

If it were heaven's w1l1. on our sad fate."
IV, 975-'16

At that moment his eyes were opened. He then understood

that by renunoiation of an earthly 10Te and an earthl,
kingdom he had won OOJIDDalld OTer their fate. He saw the
Indian maid as the [Link] of Diana. and knew that the
goddess he had glimpsed in his early vision. the earth17
love, and the heavenly goddess were one. At last he
realized that in loving one, he had loved all three. The
objects of his affeotion were united in the person of one,
to the poet's eye the supreme beauty, the goddess Diana.
In full communion with Beauty the poetic soul had beoome
fta floating spirit," (I, 797) and Endymion and Diana
disappeared forever.
 183
!he godd••• had declaret thai ihrough ao.e
proce •• he must be "spirituali.e'." (IV, 993) !hrougk
renunciation of an earthly lOTe he had achieTed immorta-
lit,. In its highest sublimation he had found all 10Te
to be Beauty, and to be one ".[Link]." It is the lite
and ideala of a poet which haTe been the theme,

• • • one who through thi8 mid41e earth shall paa8

••st like. so30urninc demi-goi, and le.T.
His naDe upon the harp-atring. • •
It '23-26

fhis solution was deliberatel, eTolTel. In the

famous passage (I. "'-~2) which I haTe referred to aa
the Gradations of Happiness paaaage, Xeats bad stated hia
thoughts on lOTe ant beaut1 as well as he could pbras.
them in the first stage of his writing. If, as he wrote,
he was not actuated by anything baae or unaount,

• • • nothing ba.e,
IO merely slumberous phantasm, could unlace
fhe atubborn canvas for., Toyage prepartt,
I, "0·'2

then the question ari.e. -- what guided him in the [Link]-

aition of the poem? The answer 11es in the four sucoeedins
11.e. (I, "'-80l Whioh he sent hia publisher during the
printing. Besides the tour linea to be inoorporated 1a

L ________________________________
 184
the poem, the letter he addressed to John Taylor.
the publisher, January 30, 1818, contained these
observations. "You must indulge me by putting this in
for setting aside the badness of the other. such a
preface is necessary to the subject. The whole thins
must I think haVe appeared to you, who are a oonsequitive
~. as a thing almost of mere wordB -- but I assure you
when I wrote it it was regular stepping of the Imagination
1
towards a Truth." These sre the lines written to prefaoe
the passage, a question and a philosophic reply_

Wherein lies happiness? In that which becks

Our ready minds to fellowship divine,
A fellowship with essence; till we shine,
Yull alchemis'd. ani free of space.
I. "'-80

In this way the poet had foretold the culmination

of EndJm1on's experiencea. All his searching hai no more
substanti81ity than a dream. The visions which had carried
hi. into the depths of the earth, beneath the Bea, and
far into the air bad shown him beauty. He had perceived
Beauty; beauty which he had known through nature, through
sensual love, through friendship, and through sympathy with
human sorrow, he saw at the last wss all one in "essence,·

1. ...........
Ibid., p. 91
 185
an! immortal. !he emphasis i8 on the forever, in the
famous line.

"A thing of beauty is a joy forever."

As we review the long philosophical passage in

Book One (I, 777-842), we see that baying sung of the
beauty in nature, in old songs and mwthological stories.
the poet asked a second question. to be followed &s
before by a philosophical explanation.

'eel we these things? - that moment haTe we atept

. Into a ~ of oneness, and our state
Is like--~Oitlng splrit's.---
I. 795-97

Assure41y at the moment of his translation Endyudon hal

felt "these things," and had "stept into a sort of onenesa."
The struggling poet had been unweariedly plumbing
the depths of his thinking and reaching upward aa far aa
imagination could carry his visions to arrive at a complete
communion with Beauty. His testimony to this effect may
be read in the letter to Bailey dated one week before the
completion of Endymion. "What the Imagination seizes as
Beauty must be Truth • • • whether it existed before or not,
• • • for I haTe the same idea of all our Passions as of
Love: they are all, in their sublime, creative of essential
 186
Beauty_"l 'Xeats, ashe traced the story of Endya40B,
had believed that the passion of love in its sublime
degree was creative of [Link] and peruanent beaut,..
!he pursuit of Beauty through gradationa of love ha4
guided him through the poem. Its attainment had left
Endymion t "~ull alohemised t and free of space." (I. '80)

1. ~.t p. 6'

'-------------------------------------~ - " - -
 CRlPTEB VIII

BECEI!-CRITICISK
III !lIB
LIGH! OF THIS ANALYSIS
 CBAP!J'.'ER VIII

RlCD!f ORIfIOIS.
I I !D
LIGHT em filS J.BALYSI8

A. a realll t of th.e analysis and 1J:Lte:rpre-

tatioD of Bn4l!!on certain oonolu8ions have bee.
establlahed reapectlng tho8e phaaes of critioismwhieh
are of interest to .clem oriti08 of the poe.. 8ino.
opinions of these critioa .ere [Link] revie.e'
in a preceding chapter, the preaent chapter will define
the extent to Which these oonolu8ions oonform With the
critioal 3u4gments [Link] ia the former ohapter. It
will be recalled that recent oriticism was pre8entel
under four headlng8. In [Link] the finding•• I
8hall adhere to the 8_ plan ancl. orcler t and shall use
for evilence to confirm theee conolu8ions the preoedina
analTsis and interpretation.
Profesaor 'inney has pOinted out element. of neo-
Platonic ph1loeoph7 in !!4l!1oa.l ~ analysis of the
poe. confirms Profe •• or finney'S oonolusion that Xeat.'
thought was deeply touohed by neo-Platoniam. In faot,
I flnd that Profesaor Finney'. few quotations ~ be

1. 'inney's e%pIGato" Ititelllent· of the piliosophi anI

a taotation froa Ba4l!1on used by the oritio in support
of hls premiee, are quote4 on p. l'

L'----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 188
supplemented b7 [Link] others, [Link] of which I
quote below. fo sustain thia Op1&iOD, than, I hay.
[Link] thr.. qllotationa froll the poea. 1
In the first instanoe, Ja8t before Bad7Bdon was
translated, Diana e%plained the dela7 iD their anioD
with this Platonio thought,

Ant then 'twaa fit that from this mortal state

':bou ahou.lc18t t Jq love, '6z aome wool'd for o~•
.I!. BJ)lrltii11se4. • • - -
IV, 991-91

fhe neo-Platoaista taught that the soul of man was engaged

in a tuest to be re-united with God. or Original Basenoe,
a state to be attained after death. and that real existeno.
was spiritual.! Kenoe. a passage in the first book "7 be
oite' for further confirmation of neo-Platonio influenoe
in 1ndl!10a. In this s.00n4 Citation, Ind7Bdon ...
explaining to Peona hia seeDing indifferenoe to worill
ambition. Xeats' hero, wanderer and dreamer on the earth.
atteapte' to convinoe hi8 praotioal aiater Peona of the
[Link] of Lo...e.

1. oiKer ~oiailons for the 8ame purpo.e can be fo ..1

easil,
2. 'iDDe7. Claute Lee, "Xeata' Ihil080phy of Beaut7:
An Interpretation ofJp4~on in the Light of the
Keo-Platonisll of Spenaer, p. 6
 189
• • • Wha i meres t ..hi.
Seems all this poor endeavour after fam.,
To ene Who keeps within his stedfast ai.
A love immortal, an immortal too.
- - I, """R6-oi'

That i8, Endymion as .ell &8 the love, is immortal.

Look not so ..ilder'd; for these thiD§8 are true,

And never oan be born of alomes - -
That buzz abou~our slumbers, like brain-flies,
Leaving us fanc7-sick. Io, no, I'm sure,
I l restless i!irit never oouli endure
1'0 breel 80 ong upon one laxur,r,
u.le8s it did, though fearfal17 !!!l
I hOEe Diliiit the shadow of a dre...
- - -1-; slo-;'1
In addition to the nee-Platonio dootrine of the
immortalit7 of man to be attained through. union with
God after death, professor Yinne7 saw an analogy between
the neo-Platonic ecstasl and the vision or dreams of
Bnd7m1on.1 !he same critic explained the neo-Platonio
ecstasl as a Tision through Which man "during his earthl7
existence loses hiB sensuous perceptions of the eVer-
changing world of matter" and "atande naked in the presenoe
of the beaut7 of GOd. 2 rurther instanoes of this union of
the wanderer'. soul with heaTen oan be found eaBi17. 'or
an example, Peona, haTing failed to win [Link]'8

I. lbll., p. 8
2. ii8aboTe, p. 1'1
 110
[Link], had ohided hi. in these worda,

_lir.'
•
••• Brother. 't18 yain to hide
!aat thou dost kn•• of thlns. !literIOi.,
itirriTBu'C1i ilone ooul! thu8
down thi natur.; •••
I. 606-8

and he bad replied that in enchanted surroundings before

• • • a magic b.l
Of aacred ditamy and pOppi.8 rei.
I. 554:-66

he had thought until hi. "head was di.s, and disiraught" (565)
an' then bad fallen [Link].
• • • Ah. oan I tell
!he enchantment ihat afterward betel?
yet it waa bat a dreaa: ;yet such a dream
fhat neyer tontie. although ~yer-iee.
1tth mellow ut eranoe, l1ke a oaTern spring
Coald tier. Ollt b4 to conception blill,8 t
Ul I '6 •. ell ana: tel t7'" .eiKcaglit I a,
IiicJi'il1g the leni~where the II1lk, 1f87
ARong the stars in Tirgin splendour pour.;
And traTeling my e,e, until the doora
Of heaTen atiear ' d toPin
necame 10 ana: fi'ir u toaJ:rp
.r!6
for.!l: ht •
Irom each h~ soaring b, a-dOwnward glance:
80 iell .e-atidt.s' in that ai!' tranoe
Sr.. nli_Slna£{ pinione we. .
I-;-B'r2-86

'urthermore, when the statemeni i8 oonsidered tha.t

the neo-Platonic quest for beaut;y in ln4l!1on was motiTated
b, the neo-Platonic ecatas, or dreamt it w1l1 be recallel

L__________________________________________________
 191
that ia the first book En~on briefly related his
[Link] to peona. In the other books the reader aocompanied
h4711io. through the dreams. In each oase BnclJ1aiOJl ....
aeeking beauty. the .ternal quest. through lOTe. !hat
thought was very plaialy atated in the linea whica were
quotet on page 106.

o lOTe! how potent hast thou been to teach,

Strange journeylngs! lhereTer-iiauiy dwella
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
!holl pOintest !!! l!! walt and strailht 1tis won:
. III. OZ-' • 96

fhe Whole "neo-Platonic philosophy of beauty and love

which he had assimilated fro. Spenser."l was stated
explioitly in Book one. "7-842. And so it may be aee••
that Keats 1mbibet trom the [Link] masters. a
philoaoph7 whioh pervades the poem •
. , stud7 has conTinoei me that this philosoph,.
from Which arises muoh of the action of. the poe•• touohet
Xeats' real being profoundly. Bn4l!i0n was published in
April. 1818. fhst month the poet wrote to !aylor. hia
publisher and friend, "I find that I can haTe no enjo7Mnt
in the World but continual drinking of Knowledge - I find
there ia no worthy pursuit but the idea of doing some goot

1. 'inney. Claade Lee, ~eat8' Philosophy of Beaut,:

.In Interpretation of Enf':1on in the Light of the
Beo-Platonism of Spenser, p. 6

,
l _ _ _ _ _ _- - - - -
 192
tor the world • • • the road lie8 through applioatioa
atadT and thought. I will puraue it and to that eni
propose retiring for some years. I have ~een hovering
for 80me time between an exquisite senae of the lU%urloua
and a love for Philo80PhJ - were I oaloulatet for the tormer
I aAoald glad -- ~lI.t &a I am Bot I ahall tarll all., soul
~e

to the latter. al ~. he wrote that he had been ahoveri.,

tor aome time between an exq1l.1aite aenae of the luxurious
and a love tor PhiloaophJ," we may sately oonclude that
DothiDg exoept hia love of natural. soellea had meant ao
r. aaoh to him tuing the preceding monthe when he ...a wri ti..
lInc!l!1on aa had his desire to e8tabliah in hi. thiJJkiq
satis!actory anawera to those philosophioal questiODS ot
the esaential nature of love and beautl.! It i • ., oplnioll
that ill this effort ma, ~e found the cause of maoh of the
oonfuslon for whioh Xeate has been aen.-ret. However. the
flashes of insight. audden illuminations, ~oattered through-
out the poe. are the happiest result of hie philo80phio
tendenc,. I quote in support of this opinlon a sentenoe fros
Sidney Oolvin, "But in hi. search he strlkes nor and again.
for the attentive reader, notes of far-reaching symbollc
signifloance that oarr, the mind to the verge of the great
.,ateriee of thiDgS.a S

i. 'Orll&ntDuriae luion, 2.E.:.: .2!i:.. pp. 1341-8S

2. See above, p. 48
I. Colvln, 8iclnel 2R.:. ill,:., p. 238
t
 198
The effect of this philoaoph7 when not taken
into account in reading Xeats' poe., haa been to bewilder
an unprepared reader. fhe hero hears "air.J voicea" ani
falls into a trance. How m8D7 readers would recognise
the rhapsodic ecst&s~ of neo-Platonis., !he arguD8nt is
atated in Book I, 777-842. Who reading the poem for the
first tiae oould aee in those linea four psychological
ateps in the attaiDaent of a union With Love, or would b.
aware of the meaning Xeats attached to such worda aa
"[Link]," "inteneit7." "alehemis'i?" Who would have
an7 cODeeptlon of what was intended b7 the phrase ". floating
spirit?" Yet that phrase states the e~ndition BndlDdon wa.
deatined to achieve. Again in Book lour, think of the
confusion of identity with which the reader must atruggle
when he reads of the Indian maid, the godAeaB, and Peona •
••uld one be likely to identif~ upon a first reading,
Diana, the goddess BndJ'ldon met in the journey underground,
~.
and the Indian maid as the same? [Link]~ it ia OU7
when one understands the abstract truth embodied in Xeata'
1
sensuous symbols that he can appreciate the poem.
,e

!. ltiention naa been lireeted to the Beo-piatoniam derivel

from the Blisabethan poets which ma7 be aeen in Bn4Ya1oa,
bat there are other qualities of thia poem Which haTe
their inspiration in the neo-Platonic philosOph7. A.
.ore detailed atu~ of neo-Platoniam in En4l!ion should
be made.
, .

!herefore, a study of ladzmton leads to an

[Link] of Professor Yinney's thesis that Xeats
expressed in the poem a neo-Platonio philosophy whioh he
i8 said to have grasped from the Elisabethan masters.
!his had the most direot bearing (1) on the hero's tuest
for beauty through love, (2) on motivating the aotivit1
through the trances or dreams, and (3) on produoing the
obscurity which the unfa~liar and indistinot principle.
engenelered.
~ review of the critical jUdgments on the [Link]
of an allegorical interpretation of Bn!Jmion. the secont
phase of critiCism revieweel in the first chapter. reoite!
the opinions of three authorities in favor of SRch an
interpretation and one opposed. !he first in point ot
ti.e was Professor !horpe's interpretation of the allegor1
based on the WWherein lies Happiness?" (I. "'-842) I
agree with his statement that this passage "above all
others shows allegory_ .. l 1Iy analysis of Book One shows
that this philosophical passage defines four steps to the
attainment of happiness, an achievement whioh produoes a
"fellowship with essence." ("9) 1n effect, illlDlortalitlor
• unio. with ultimate Beaut,J. the steps are gradations 1D
the appreciation of beauty through love, eaoh step a

I. lee above, p_ 11
 19&
"rioher entanglement." (798) The first i8 tke beaut7
of nature; then the beauty of old songs and myths is
praia.l. A third and greater "enthralment" (798) i.
friendship; the fourth and highest good is love. A
soul that has "felt these things" (795) is "tree of space"
('80) and one With Beauty•
.\

Yor all that. it 1. difficult to find suffioient

e%planation of Professor Thorpe's uSing Truth insteal of
Beauty as the object of EndJmion's quest. 80 far a. I
can ascertain. Xeats used the word truth in a metaphysioal
J"
.ense once in his lettere, and once in the faaous line
which clo••• the 048 on a Grecian Un,
--- -
Beauty i8 truth. truth beaut, • • •

written eighteen months after the completion of Bn4l!10n.

The first reference i8 found in the letter to Bailey whioh
was quoted in part. 1 "What the Imagination seise8 aa
Beaut, must be truth - whether it existed before or not -
I t.
for I have the same Idea of all our passions as of Love
they are all in their sublime creative of eS8ential Beaut,.-·
Hi. capitalisation i8 an index to the importance Xeata
attaches to the word. fhe proem defines Beauty, not Truth.

1. See above, p. 42
2. Jorman. Maurice Buxton, ~ .Q!i:.. p. 67
 196
Certa1al, it mattered not what the object of the quest
might be; it would still be true as PrO~essor !horp.
writes, "In the end he fin4s united in one ideal the
Tision whioh drew h~ on in pursuit of eaoh."l
Professor linne, finds the baais for his interpre-
tation of an allegory 1a the famous passage, (I, "'-8'2)
and interprets it &S the neo-Platonic queat for immortalit,.
If interpretation is in the main in agreement With his Tiew.
When the third critic, J. )(iddleton Karry. couts
the pasaage (r. "'·862) as of little importance and
estee•• the Cave of Quietude (IT. 512-51) &a of greater
value in interpretation of the allegor,. I mnat [Link]
from his opinion. ~ anal,sia of Book leur ahowe that
the experience defiDed 1a the beautiful deseription kDoY.R
aa the "cave of Quietude" was not an isolated inatance. It
represented & retreat into some spiritual haven until the
soul was freed of a crushing burden of deapondencJ. It
had been antiCipated in the proe •• ! the first trance followed
a Bubmergenoe in gloom; the vision of Clbele as well as
[Link]'s meeting with Arethu... _d Alpheus oame after
spel18 of apathettc despair. The oritio has over-emphasize'
the relation of this part to the whole.

1. See above, ,.
2. Se. It 8-11
l'
 19'
.otcntt's explaaation which 1s the &oat elaborate
Jet advanced. is the least credible. l Eeate waa not a
.an to brood over past perplexitiea, oertaiDly not to
the extent o~ writing an allegory of four thouaaad worda
about a deoision he had made a year previous to puraue
the path of poetrJ. Beaide. his letters show that he was
striVing to formulate his ideas on aesthetics, was
interested in abstractions, or philoaophioal thoughts OB
the nature of Beauty and Love.
In a review of Professor loteutt's book,
Professor !horpe wrote in respect to allegorizing "the
awakeniDg of EngliSh poetry from the staltifioatiOB of
+ eighteenth century oonventionalism to a DeW appreciation
of nature" that Xotcutt was on "48oid841y debatable ground,
• fact Which he appears frequently to forget.-! And he
cOBtiD.. d, "It Bdght be all right if it could be established
Xeate meant Circe to represent Pope and meant the awateninl
of Glaucus to symbolise the restoration of English poetrl
to ita pristine quality." He ooncluded that most readers
w1l1 feel that Bndl!4on ought not be made to bear so great
an overload of allegory_ In the words of Profeaaer fhorpe.

1. Bee aiove, p~. 20-!I

I. furpe, Clarence De Witt, ReVie. of "lblQ1a1ol1, A poetic
Romanoe by John Xeata, with Introduotion and Hotes bl
H. Clement .otoutt,- ~dern Langua!! lotea, 44:337.39,
-." 1929, p. 338
 198
the interpretation i. "untested and too little
proTable • "1
Another reTiewer, Helen Darbishire. wri til1l i.
the R,Tiew !! English Studiea, expresse4 the opinion [Link]
b, ProfesBor fhorpe, of their being "no scrap of [Link].
xeate meant any of these things."! She refers parti ••-
lar17 to the more startling features of Botcutt'. explana-
tion. "Circ. i. the eternal enchantress who turn. men
into [Link]. Ie that pOintleaa nonsenBe? IB it not truth
enough? Do we reaoh signifioant truth only when we •••
her aa Alexander pope' Hast poetio imagery be about
&n7th1ng? Need poetry mean &Dything but itself? Ought
we to ask more of a 'Poetic Romanoe' than it be both
ro~ce and poetr,? We only Uk more if the poet meana
JIOr.. that [Link] meant more is oertainly true .tll the
[Link] critics agree. Baoh haa eai4 Bndym1o. i. the poet'.
aoul seeking through palnfUl experiencea a union with the
i4.&1.· 3 W. ca. agree with her deaignation of Notoutt's
expl&.llation aa ". laboured exp081tion."
'here remains ,one critic who baa expr,s8ed an
oplnlon Oil the allegory in Bn~on. Alq Lowell. who aaaerts.

1. btl.". SO
8. lii"i5'iSh1re, Helen. ReTiew of "Bncl7a1on, A poetio BOJallc••
with Introduction and Iotes b1 H. Clement Notoutt,·
ReTiew of filliSh Studiea ••86-8'. Ootober 1'. 1988, , •.aa
a. fill •• P;
 199
"There i8 no trace of allegory to be foand anywhere iD
his works."l With several suoh positive statements whioh
diverge widely from mw analysi8, I shall venture to
disagree. In this oaae, I first oall attention to the
generally acoepted faot that the oharaoters represent
qualitie.; the moon. Cynthia. Diana, hi8 ideal of Beaut7.
Bad7m1on i8 the poet. In fact. the aister Peona declared
he waa a poet. (I, '23) Xeat8 outlined his allegorf in
what he said were "gradations of Happine.s," (I, "'-8'2)
aDd wrote of the passage that it was "the greatest serVice
to him" 0 f anything he bad eVer clone. 2 !he allegoQ.
according to ., reading, represents a .earch for ultimate
Beaut7 through lOTe. The broad outline of the alle8or"
may be found on pagea 137 an4 181, but the entire analysi.
aeeme to Bhow that it has an lUlierlyiDg motive. The inter-
pretation of a part of the fourth book certainly supporta
an allegoQ.
Although'" Lowell more than once oalled the well-
known interpretative paasage (I, "'-8.2), "Xeat.' oreed,"a
her argument is not convincing. Her oontention is that
-- Xeate arranged for himself and hie readers, the importanoe
the p&asage waa to assume. £fter the completion of the

r. aee aiove, p. 26
2. ,oraan, ..urioe Buxton, ~ Cit., p. 91
I. Lowell,~, ~ ~t vor; I, p. 36'
-
BOO
poem he sent to Taylor, the publisher, a request to
lnsert in the poe. four 11ne. (I, "'-80), and explaine'
the importance that the argument had assumet for hia. 1
A., Lowell cOBsiders that the poet's sentiment. in the
letter were only a rationalization for wAat he felt he
ought to have pro Tided for En!f!i0~- I am unable to
understand a sincere student'. writing of En4l!4on, &.
~ Lowell doe., "that it ~he passage, I. "'-8,i}
fits ~othing, and nowhere, and must therefere be regar4e'
as c_ounag•• - S I have found that this passage was
neoeBsary for interpretation of the poem. two sections
were [Link] to elucidate the allegory in the fourth
boot,S and other portions were neoessary for the expo-
sition of certain portions of the poem.

was concerned with poetry as an art, not as a tract.-

,
furthermore, I notice that this critic wrote, ~eats

Bveryone will agree that he was ooncerned with poetry as

an art. He was lIOre than concerne4; he was an U4ent
stUdent of the art of poetry_ Some of those he thought
the greatest artists, however, such as spenser and Drayton,
whoa he was studying wholehearte41y had deliberately
practiced an allegorical art. Hence, Xeats would not have
oppo.e' allegory as inartistio.

1. s•• abov•• p. 19'

2. 8ee above, p. 26
I. See above, pp. 18'-86
,. Lowell, £Dr, ~~, Tol. I, p. 466
•
 201
To sua up, the oritios who disoussthe question
of an allegorical interpretation of Endl!10n, with the
exception of ADQ" Lowell, find the key to the allegor7
ina partioular passage. With Professor Thorpe ana.
Professor Finney, I find muoh with which to agree. With
another, J. Klddleton MUrry, I disagree as to the relative
value of the passage (IV, 512-51) which he used for inter-
pretation, oompared with another passage (I. 7'17 ..842) ,that
I found of greater importanoe.

!l!henext point to be considered is the critios'

evaluation of the psyohological significance of EndJm1on.
Aml' Lowell'.s work appeared first of those who have been
concerned with the psychologioal phase of the criticis.
of Ind;yJ![Link]. I can agree with the other critics whose

opinions were noted, Professor Thorpe and J. Middleton Mnrry,

80 that no comment i8 needed. I am~ a180 in agreement
with~ Lowell's affirmation that En4Y!4on is "a psycho-
logioal piece of no mean s1gnificanoe.- l The faot that
&n,allegory is explained is proof of the psyohological
intent. !l!he numerous oocasions when I have paused in the
analysis to oomment on the revelation of the poet's thought
are evidenoe. 2 Yet I am unable to disoover her reason for

1. Ibid., p. 387
2. ' !UOh instanoes may be •• en in II, 160-63, p. 77;
IV •• 75-81, pp. 150-51; IV, 639-45, p. 156
 202

stating, "!here is not the slightest hint of psyohology

in the Third Book."l Lines 162-174 in Book !hree are
2
psychological, especially 170-71. !he entire rhaplo~ ••
the power the moon had exercised over his fancy must be
accepted as true and psychological. When Ieats wrote, aa
he dld in the line8 to which I have referred,

o what a Wild and harmonised. tune

M)'spirit struck fro. all the beautiful!
On some bright essence coald I lean and lull
17self to immortality: I prest
_ature's soft pillow in a wakeful rest.
III, 1'0-74

what i8 one to think except that he Is writing of hil

poetiC, or creatiye inspiration?
Akin to this pS7o~010gic81 interest in Ba~on, i.
the fact that every reader of Xeats' letters, and it i.
fairly conceded that without a knowledge of these no stude.t
of Xeats could come to a ~U8t conclusion -- every reader,
I repeat, must recognise that the youthful poet was
strugglIng with all hia heart and mind to formulate replies
to questions as profound 88 philosophical thought undertake.
to answer. Both the Bn4l!4on and the extant letters to
his friends luring the year 1817 almost force a conclusion
sympathetic to those who maintain that xeats had a

1. Lowell, Iii .2».!.. 01t., vol. I. p. ill

t

2. lee above. p.~9

 t
/ ~

philosophic bent. !herefere, it appears un'ust to

apeak of Xeats, as Mias Lowell does, as a type. one of
that great number of "boys of twentl-one, in 10Te witk
the sensuoua in nature and letters, and who make no
secret of their predilectiona."l
There remains one aub3ect of recent Endl!i0D
critiCism, the morphologl of the poem. It appears to .e
that the poem ahows more eVidence of caretal plenni..
than has been generalll oonceded. A paragraph quote' fro.
Claude Lee Pinnel' a most recent publication, ~ _E....
TO.....l....u...t...,i...o....
D
2
1! Xeata' poetrz aasembled the facta that can be gleane"
fro. the letters of Keata and his frienda. Internal
evidence,. too, i8 sufficient to warrant a student'. belieTins
the poem was more oarefulll arrange' than i8 apparent upon
a first reading.
Once again I must reject ~ Lowell's criticism.
When she asserts that Endy!10n is chaotic, beoauae "Xeate
was ohaotic at the time he wrote it,·3 if "chaotic" mean.
t ~ "utter11 disordered and confused." then I think neither
I
! End~on nOr Keats waa "chaotio." As I haTe stated before,'
the analysis has convinced me that the apparent oonfusion

Lowell, Iii, ~ &!h, vol. It p. 411

8ee aboTe. p.-U
Lowell, ..,. Op. Cit., Tol. I, p. 416
S.e aDove, p.-rl~
 204
arises from profusion Qf im&ger7 and words. from implied
Platonic abstraotions, rather than from laok of purpose
or of plan. Let us review the more obvious indication.
of a plan in 1Pdl!i0n. !tret. the Proem contains ever7
element to be used later in the poea;l second. the
introduotion to each book contains the theme the poet
was developing in the succeeding one thousand [Link]. Ia
Book One the underlying theme may be seen in 11.34-36;
in Book !Wo, 1.1; in ~ook !hree. 11.56-ti'; and in Book rour,
11."-82. !hiri, a carefUlly worked-out symbolism showed
Bai1m!on'. search for Beauty ever broadening his capacit7
for Love. At first. the love he expressed was entire17
pereonal. Then he was brought out of his self-absorption
through sympathies with the difficultieS of others, evoked
first through the Arethusa and ~pheus myth. the Glaucus
and SC711a epieode was the means through which Endymion
acquired. wisdom and a broader sympathy. At the last he
'

understood love as impersonal. and his natare felt a

syapatA7 with the sorrows of all humanity. rourth. as
additional evidenoe of planning. I submit the exposition
of the philosophy of En4ymion's fate in the design of
the last five hundred lines of Book 'our.! Concerning thia

1. See above, p •••

2. 8ee above, Chapter VI
,~

/ 206
portion of the poe., ADw Lowell write., ~eata lail
philoBoph7 aaide and ended with a pure stor7;"1 where.s
it aeemed to me that he remembered his philosoph7 to the
final word.
still another oriticism bJ Amr Lowell of the plaa
of this poem with Whlch I do not find .,8elf ln fall
accord 18 her statement that, lf one judged [Link] "as
• leng poem with a beginnlng. a middle. and an eni. it
was a fal1ure."! .lthough confuston is admitted in a
poem where on every page gleama pure and true tnspiration,
the problem of the quest of the poetic soul for complete
communion with Beauty i8 acooapli8hel. In verJ general
terms, the storJ began with a melanohc17 prince sighing
fer the Beauty he had once seen for brief momenta. It
contlnue4 wlth his transport of the blissful he8venl,
viaion. Immeli8te17 afterwari8 the hero was touched with
.Jmpathf for the Woes of others. Yro. that point onwarl
he redeemed othera,-- Glaucus, the thousands of other
lover., and the Indian maid -- until he saved hi..elf. !he
poem ended when he was in loTing sympath7 with humanit,.
when he was netherealized."
Pinally, having commented on the present da, critloal

1. Lowell, Amr, Ope Cit •• vol. It p. 458

2. .........
Ibid., p. 460-------
 .206
opinion ooncerning the allegorical or symboli. meaning
of the poe., I am convinced that those who read BB'l!d0n
with the greatest delight will be aware of a hid'en •
. .ifying eleaent of symbolism. !hat recognition will
not dull their en~oJD8nt of the inoidental beautie. of
lyrical passages, and suggestive flashea of prophetio
inspiration; on the oontrary Bndl!4on will exert • new
.old upon their attention as soon as they perceive that
they are dealing with a tentative spiritual parable.
fhe [Link] of the poem was neTer struck with
greater emphasia than in the first line,

A thing of beauty is a 307 foreTer.

With the greatest eeono~ of worda Xeats declare4 hi.

faith in tha permanence of beauty. and then prooae4ed to
imagine the poet'a quest for immortal Beauty. He a.w
beauty in all things, but that was only to enable him to
perceive the principle which was the object of his devotion,
1
the "mighty abstract Idea • • • of Beauty in all thinga"
he oalled it. What he had said in his poetic youth . .s
his aspiration of a ooaplete poetic life, became the
conaolation of his brief existence. Bear the end of hia
d.,. the poet wrote, wlf I should die I have left no

I. Jorman, Durice hiton, ~ Cit., p. HI

-r

-iI>
 20'
1mmortal work [Link] me ••• but I have lov'd the
principle of beau1;7 in all things, and if I had hat t1..
I would haTe made IIWself r.M_ber' I. ,,1 In the poe. the
,
,.e.t was enlel when lIr14Jwlion had won illDlortal i t,. the
wandering hero had been toll,

• • • Xe ne'er i. crown'd
Wi th iJIIBortalitl, who feare to follow
lliire air, volee. [Link]. • • -:-
II. 211-11

!hat .~n •• too, had come to the poet who had "fled into
the fearful de.p," (II. 21') of thoaght. ~hrough apprecia-
tion of the power of love, his hero had pereeived beaut7
in [Link], in aeDSUOUS love. in friendship, in aJDlPath1
with the woe8 of humanit7. and had achieved imaorta1it7.
Wh.n Venus met him in the region [Link]. ah. had '.clar.t
aignifioant17.

• • • 8inc. the hoar

I I met thee in earth's Do.... r, alld PO....
Have I Pjt forth to serTe thee.t, no
t l!!
I'
!,
JiiipTd rom aiilliori!lltJ's harsh De~
- - IfI • ..",.,,--

In this last line i. condensed the entire narrative of

the poem.
Yet, after all, Xeats did not write Bndl!4on to

I. Ibit., p. ~68
 208

oo.,ose an allegor,r. He wrote Bndz!dOD out of hie heart

to WiD poetio faae. A dispirited 70ung man, nearing the
end of a great task he had set himself, wrote to a friend
that When done the poem "would take him but a dOlen paoee
towards the !emple of ~ame."l If we will but turn awa7,
from all that others haTe written about End7m1on. we
shall hear the poet's Tiew, "Do not the LOTers of poetr7
like to haTe a little Region to wander in where the7 m&7
pick and choose. and in which the images are so numerous
that mBD7 are forgotten and found new in & second Reading:
which ma7 be food for 8 Week's stroll in the Bummer?"!
There sparkle. the illuminating phrase. It is, in truth,
"food for a Week's stroll 1n the Bummer."

t. Ibi!., p. II
2. !brI.,
........... p. 52
OOlfOLUSIOlf
 CONCLUSIOlf

!WO questions were proposed for the preaent

studJ of lbldl!10JU What did the poet 8a,? .&nd, nat
lid he me..? As a result the stud7 inolude. botk
ana17sis and oriticis.. The analysis of the four books
of the poem follows a sumE8r7 of the recent oritici••
and a history of the writing of Endl!10n. In addi tio.
to these chapters. there is an interpretation of a part
of the fourth book. as well a8 a final chapter [Link]
the reoent oriticis••
!he [Link] whioh traces the narratiTe of the
hero'. ~ourneys i • •earch of beauty was ooncluded when
IaclJadon had aohieTed a union with supreme !eaut,. and
thereby won immortalit,. It is summed up in the line.

Escap'd from dull mortality's harsh net.

III, 90'

The poem is allegorioal. BndJDdon'8 story i8 a search

for ieauty motiTated ~y lOTe. !he prooess i8 defined b,
the poet in the Gradations of Happiness passage. (I, 7"-842)
Book One preeente a full realization of senSU01lS beaut,;l
Book !Wo interprets the power of sensual lOTe to further

1. See above. p. i '

,..;>-,

210
the artiat's growth and insight;l Book !hree portra78
the poetic soul as gaining a broader oonception of
, 2
beauty through sympathy and friendship; Book 'our
represents the hero as united with Beauty through a
oomplete s,apathy with humanity's sorrows. 3 In the quest
for beaut, Endymion hat been guided by 10Te which gradual17
became more general and more impersonal until he wa.
·spiritualis'd." (IT, 991) fhus the hero esoape' fro.
the material chains which bound hi. and soared with the
spirit of beauty, Diana, into higher regions. He hal
achieved immortality through a search for Beauty motiTated
if love. In lDdl!1on the young poet wrote his ideals of
• poetic life, hia aspirations, hopes. flights of inspira-
tion. and dreams of spiritual fulfillment, often veiled.
it is true, but oooasionally glowing in 80me striking
Terse. !bere are instance. of self-revelation in ever,
book. the eternal que8tioning.
fhe thorough ~81ysis of the entire poem i8 the
basis for conclusions upon the four phases of recent
criticism reviewed in the first chapter: (1) the effect
of the poet'. study of Ilisabethan writers upon the

1. Se. above. pp. 91-92

2. See above. p. lSl
S. Bee above, p. 1'2
 211
atruoture and thought of Endl!i0n; (2) the question
of an allegorioal interpretation; (3) the psyohological
signifioanoe o~ speoifio linea and pasaage8; and C,) the
morpholoS7 of the poem. first, analytical evidenoe was
submitted in chapter eight in favor of the proposition
that EndY!1on oontained a nec-Platonic philosopn,
derived from his study of the Elilabethans. The presence
of thi8 philosophy. it was pOinted out, accounta for muoh
of the obscurity of the poem. Second, I a~ee With
j

those critics who maintain that there is an implied

allegory in Endymon which was ,prefigured in Book one,
777-8.2, and that the nature of this allegory is the
experience of a poet's soul in ita que8t for immortal Beauty.
!i:hirQ., the assertion that.En4J1a1on 1s psyohological 1.
8upported by mw analysis and interpretation of the fourth
book.' Single line8 and pa8sages with psychological signi-
fioance were oommented upon throughout the analysis and the
final chapters. Fou~th, the analY8is diaolose8 definite17
I
I~ in mw opinion that the poem had a careful plan of con-

I struotion, although it is admitted by all that there is

s great profUsion of poetic material. !hat profusion, the
neo-Platonic philoaoPQ. and Keats' lack of elt111 1J1 narra-
tiv. techn1,ue are responsible for the confusion and
obsourity in the narrative noted by many critics.
 212
!hroughout the four [Link] li... the
unif7ing [Link] is the poet's deTotion to the "Ilea
••• ot !eaut7 in 811 thinga. wl xeats Justitie' hi.
work b7 declaring it was a [Link] ot poetr7. meant
tor the lOTera ot poetr7 "to wander in."2

!. See abOTe. p. 201

2. aee aboTe, p. 208

-,
i-
i

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 BIBLIOGRAPHY

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,-