Lines from Endymion

Summary

Endymion is A Poetic Romance, Keats's first major work, was published in 1818 and it is considered as one of the masterpieces of the early nineteenth-century Romantic movement in English literature. The most often-quoted line, 'A thing of beauty is a joy forever,' tells that a beautiful thing of nature always provides a satisfying pleasure to the soul.

Endymion is an extended narrative poem divided into four books of about one thousand lines each, written mostly in heroic couplets. The title Endymion is named after a figure from Greek myth. The poem starts with Endymion’s impossible desire to get the love of the goddess Diana (also known as Cynthia). In the end, when he feels the love for the mortal Indian maiden, he realizes she is really Diana, his immortal desire in mortal disguises. He apprehends the dangers of denying his own human nature and learns that he can achieve the abstract ideal only if he accepts the concrete human experience. This is the central idea the Keats wants to deliver through this poem. Endymion (A thing of beauty) is usually read as a direct and honest declaration which caters the main idea that any beautiful thing provides us with continuous pleasure. Even if the beautiful thing fades away, decays, loss or dies, we never stop loving them despite the adverse situation.

Keats has used the metaphor, alliteration, and imagery as poetic devices. The metaphor is obviously used in “wreathing a flowery band”, “bower quiet”, and “sweet dreams”. The vast use of imagery can be found in the phrase “flowery bands”, “shady boon”, “daffodils in the green world”, “clear rills”, the grandeur of dooms” etc. “Cooling covert” and “endless fountain of eternal drink” are one of the notable examples of imagery used in this poem. This poem received many scornful criticisms after its publication. Though Keats himself noticed the incoherent style, he did not regret writing it.