Keats’s literary work

Keats’s literary work

In 1818, John Keats published his first significant work, Endymion, and it is still considered to be one of the early masterpieces. Keats often quotes that beauty is a joy forever, which means that the pleasure of the soul is in the beauty of nature. The character in Endymion is seen searching for happiness but faces opposition due to discontentment. He is named after a figure in the Greek myth. His desire to get the love of goddess Diana runs into the world of impossibilities. Endymion realizes that the only way to achieve the abstract ideal is by learning to accept the real human experience. Endymion was one of Keats’s literary work that faced a lot of critical examination. His leading critic Lockhart was in the frontline in examining his work. All the early reviews suggested having found several dangerous aspects of Keats’s work. This paper intends to show that Endymion was more of a threat than initially perceived after Lockhart’s critical extermination. Early critics did not consider the labyrinth in their criticism, which unites the factors of Endymion. The maze is the base of Keats’s attacks on political and poetic establishment.

Keats’s literary work contains many declarations of war on the established literary world. For instance, Keats said in Sleep and Poetry that ‘with a pulling infant force, they swayed about upon a rocking horse and through its Pegasus.’ This statement was an attack on neo-classists who are the mocked riders on a rocking horse. It means that neo-classicism was at a standstill, and there was no enough force to stir it forward. He goes on to show that the neo-classicism foolishly believe in the false hope that the horse will be a mighty Pegasus. Pegasus is a poetic winged horse that implies the imaginative flight and the neo-classists as mighty riders. Keat used ridicule as a means of addressing the followers of neoclassicism and other literary opponents. This was the exact thing that Lockhart did the following year when he criticized the approach adopted by Keats. Keats’s friends and followers continued to display disgust with neoclassicism and the literary opponents of Keats. However, the degree of devotion to Keats’s work can not be justified only by his aggressive rhetoric.

Looking at Keats’s work from a neoclassical point of view, it emerged with either its taste and style or rather its violation thereof. It is much clear when his literary work is challenged against other literary works of his competitors. Verification in Endymion is a clear violation of the established order from the traditional model.

Keats’s uses of personal myth represent a risk to the literary establishment. This idea is usually romantic in its original context. The literary work was established in the 28th and the early 29th century. It was found after the poet agreed to have outlived the conventional neo-classical way of portraying a myth in theory work. Besides, there was urgency in mending the broken world conceptions, as shown by John Ower in his essay addressing Keats mythological studies in the past. Endymion was the first case where Keats first used personal myth. Keats stated that he used it as a test to the power of imagination and as an invention, which clearly showed that his work does not indicate that he was not an intellect.

Keats’s work in Endymoin shows a political risk. Keats considered his work in Endymion as a work of inexperience and immaturity, clearly showing his awareness of the faults. However, Keats’s work cannot be seen as an intellectual inadequacy. Keats deliberately created a literary labyrinth that echoes Virgil’s labyrinthine regarding structure and style. I believe his approach helped him achieve longevity of work, not limited to form and structure. The use of the labyrinth can be explained from a political point of view. Keats’s peculiar structure and style called into mind the French revolution and is evidenced by Lockhart’s use of the word Metromanie which he uses to characterize the Endymion phrenetic activities. Besides, in his destructive essay, Lockhart delivers a blow to the reader with this charge. It is evidence that Endymion was a political statement.

Metromanie, or well known as poetical mania, is connected to the loss of the refined gentlemen’s authority over literature to their footmen. The literary ambitions of Keats were likened to diseases or insanity due to its disruption of the state of affairs. It was perceived to be unhealthy. These statements by Lockhart are not only seen as complaints but also show he was concerned about the rapid change in the social order. Lockhart hence indicates that there was an unhealthy reversal taking place. The unduly conditions of ambitions of the ordinary people violated the old social law enjoyed by the men in authority. An excellent example of the effects of this social disruption was the French Revolution that resulted in the death of the French King in the hand of footmen. It took part in the revolution instead of attending to their duties as guards at the royal palace.

Metromanie is a word dating back to the French Revolution. It is argued among some critics that this word is frenzy, and that is it neglect the initial literary establishment. Besides, one could remind Keats’s political opponents of the dire consequences during the French revolution. According to Edmund Burke, it told us of a world of confusion, discord, and unveiling sorrow. Additionally, Keats’s relationship with Leigh Hunt, his original mentor, became publicly sour and suspicious, especially in the eyes of conservatives.

The most prominent feature of Endymion was the labyrinth, and its use in Keats’s poems was outright genius. His literary work represents inherent tension. Endymion was able to stir insecurity among Keats’s political and literary enemies while personifying a natural order. Moreover, labyrinthine style, as used in Endymion, can be argued to be a deliberate violation of the neo-classical structure and symmetry, which was the accepted order. His critics viewed it as a horrifying reminder of the horrific revolution, but to his supporters, it was seen as a symbol of liberty and life. Hence, Endymion is seen as a symbol of humankind to improve themselves, especially in the most unusual of circumstances. In general, Keats was very comprehensive in the use of labyrinthine is the poem Endymion which excreted more political, literary, and poetics influence to extraordinary degrees. His work is seen as a metaphorical defense against uncertainties and confusion. ‘

Keats’s work faces the risk of not materializing. Keats took a long time to receive the signs of imagination at work. He referred to it as the unfolding of an exciting dream world. He initially portrayed a picture of sleep becoming part of his literary work when he writes his first poetical poem, sleep, and Poetry. It is argued that the state of being asleep allows one to relax while the conscious mind exerts the power of imagination. Endymion is bound in images of sleep and dream. This is mainly seen in the context of visionary experiences. In the poem, Endymion is pictured sleeping and has visions of Cynthia. Peona appears to learn about his vision of Cynthia after waking him up. It is argued that Keats ha the idea of the labyrinth for a long time, and it had played a part in his initial poetic work that he used the maze as a leitmotif in Endymion. Besides, he used he went on to use the labyrinth as not just mere craftsmanship but a divine expression of his thoughts. I believe the maze made Keats a robust and influential symbol regarding political and poetic legitimacy. Endymion strikes out in the mind of poets an epic attempt in Keats’s attempt to disrupt imaginative ideologies. He stated in Endymion preface that ‘I have to apologize to the lovers of simplicity for touching the spell of loveliness that hung about Endymion: if any of my lines plead for me with such people I shall be proud.’

Finally, the best classical tradition, as perceived at the time of Keats, was a labyrinth. Several poets, including Martin Aske, in Keats and Hellenism, revolted against classicism. In his work, he refers to it as classical antiquity. In his poem Romantics, he referred to it as a cluster of potentialities and amazed by fiction. Keats Endymion was his first main attempt to revolt against neo-classicism, and it was highly successful.