MASARYKOVA UNIVERZITA V BRNĚ PEDAGOGICKÁ FAKULTA Katedra anglického jazyka a literatury John Keats’s poetry and mythology: Endymion
Bakalářská práce Brno 2006 Vedoucí diplomové práce: Vypracovala: Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D. Hana Sedláková Declaration: I declare that I dealt with this Bachelor thesis on my own and used only the sources mentioned in the bibliography. I agree to file this thesis at Mararyk University in Brno, in the library of Pedagogic Faculty and make it available for study purposes. In Brno: 14.08.2006 Hana Sedláková
2 I would like to thank my supervisor Mgr. Lucie Podroužková, Ph.D. for her kind and valuable advice and help.
3 Contents I. Preface ………………………………………………………………………….5 II. Introduction ……………………………………………………………………8 III. Book I – The isle of Latmos …………………………………………………...9 1. The Feast of Pan ………………………………………………………9 2. The sad hymn ………………………………………………………...12 3. Peona tries to soothe Endymion’s woe ……………………………...14 4. Endymion confides in Peona ………………………………………...16 IV. Book II – The underworld …………………………………………………...20 1. The mighty legends of the past ……………………………………..20 2. Endymion in the underworld ……………………………………….25 3. Venus and Adonis’s myth …………………………………………..27 4. Endymion meets Cynthia …………………………………………...30 5. Arethusa and Alpheus’s myth ……………………………………...34 V. Book III – The water world ………………………………………………….37 1. Babylon ……………………………………………………………….37 2. Endymion in the water world ……………………………………….39 3. Glaucus and Scylla’s myth …………………………………………..43 4. The Neptune’s palace ………………………………………………..49 VI. Book IV – The Indian maid ………………………………………………….52 1. The hymn on Ausonia ……………………………………………….52 2. Endymion and the Indian maid …………………………………….54 3. Endymion’s flights …………………………………………………..57 4. Return to the ground of boyish days ……………………………….64 5. The lovers’ encounter ……………………………………………….69 VII. Conclusion …………………………………………………………………….72 VIII. Bibliography …………………………………………………………………..74 IX. Appendix ………………………………………………………………………75 X. Resumé ………………………………………………………………………...78
4 I. Preface John Keats’s Endymion is considered to be one of the best works of such a young, but an exceedingly talented poet as Keats really was. It is a long narrative poem whose main purpose is claimed to be the description of the feelings of a mortal man who is willing to do nearly everything to get close to the one he loves, even if she is an immortal woman. The story is based on ancient Greek mythology, especially on a myth about the beautiful goddess of the moon, Selene, the daughter of the gods Hyperion and Theia, and the handsome youth, Endymion, who is usually depicted as a shepherd or hunter. According to this myth “Selene saw Endymion asleep in a cave on Mount Latmos [in Caria]. Night after night, she lay down beside him as he slept. There are many variants of this story nowadays, but the main outcome is that Zeus, the superior Greek sky god, granted Endymion perpetual sleep with perpetual youth. This may be understood as a punishment because of Selene’s continual absence from her duties in the heavens, or it may be the fulfillment of Selene’s own wishes for her beloved.” (Morford, Leonardon 1985: 35) Nevertheless, the love of these two main characters is not the only feeling portrayed on the several pages of the poem. There are also sorrow and joy which accompany every lover on their way: “A thing of beauty is a joy for ever Its loveliness increases; it will never Pass into nothingness; but still will keep A bower quiet for us, and a sleep Full of sweet dreams, and health and quiet breathing.” (Bullett 1967p: 51; Book I) These are the first verses of the whole poem. If readers give a deeper thought to them, their meaning will seem to stand for the old tale. They can easily imagine a beautiful young man sleeping quietly in a holy cave. His fate will never change and also his immortal lady will always dwell next to him, never forgetting about her young lover. Such verses also appear to lead their readers into the world which was surely primitive, but even so full of beautiful and simple things and in which people lived happily and carefree, surrounded by delight and purity. They believed in immortal life and enjoyed the ancient tales which were left for them by their ancestors.
5 But what does “the thing of beauty” (Bullett 1967:51) mean for the poet himself? What does Keats want to express through these words? It is claimed and readers can feel it throughout the whole poem that Keats longs to pay homage to all gorgeous objects of Nature. This assumption can be found in nearly every piece of his mysterious poetry and even the following verses create in readers’ minds the picture of a fertile place in the middle of the late spring or maybe early summer season through which the poet slowly floats: Now while I cannot hear the city’s din; Now while the early budders are just new, And run in mazes of the youngest hue About old forests; while the willow trails Its delicate amber; and the dairy pails Bring home increase of milk. And, as the year Grows lush in juicy stalks, I’ll smoothly steer My little boat, for many quiet hours, With streams that deepen freshly into bowers. Many and many a verse I hope to write. Next to this powerful description of awaking countryside there are dead poets and noble spirits of the past: the mid forest brake, Rich with a sprinkling of fair musk rose blooms: And such too is the grandeur of the dooms We have imagined for the mighty dead. These verses should remind their readers of how beautiful and impressive works and deeds were created and done in the past. Finally there is literature: All lovely tales that we have heard or read: An endless fountain of immortal drink, Pouring unto us from the heaven’s brink. As it appears, literature and especially old myths were an inseparable part of Keats’s life as a youth and influenced him with their magic power at the beginning of his poetic career.
6 These “things of beauty” were omnipresent in Keats’s imagination and inspired the marvellous, but in his time unappreciated poet, to create many of his budding masterpieces. Endymion definitely belongs among them.
7 II. Introduction The aim of this work is to read and closely analyse one of the John Keats’s principal works – the poem Endymion . This poem is considered to be an exceptional work because of the use of classical [mainly Greek] stories and mythology. Therefore the main purpose of this thesis is to show how Greek tales, heroes and symbols of ancient Greek gods help to shape the plot, atmosphere and meaning of the whole poem. Endymion as a long narrative story depicted in impressive verses is being compared and contrasted to old myths which it makes use of. It also wants to point out Keats’s attempt to make these classical allusions and myths authentically his by a power of re creation. Maybe it will be difficult for contemporary readers to find out the precious meaning of Keats’s magnificent verses which are full of no longer commonplace names of the gods, ideas and knowledge, but for John Keats and his generation this poem represented a compulsory component of higher education. Let then through the eyes of the handsome shepherd Endymion peep in the poet’s imaginative world and find out whether the main aim of this thesis is fulfilled. III. Book I – the isle of Latmos 1. The Feast of Pan “Upon the sides of Latmos was outspread A mighty forest, for the moist earth fed.” (Bullett 1967p: 52; Book I) Keats opens the poem with the description of a holy place situated on the Isle of Latmos and sacrificed to the god of all shepherds and hunters – Pan. Among local people it is believed that Pan takes care of all stray lambs and helps to look after every flock and herd in that country: That not one fleecy lamb which thus did sever From the white flock, but pass’d unworried By angry wolf, or pard with prying head, Until it came to some unfooted plains Where fed the herds of Pan. The god Pan is very often pictured as a part man and a part goat – he has the horns, the ears and the legs of a goat. He is full of spirit, impulsive and amorous. His favourite activities are dancing, joyful ramping about and playing or listening to the shepherds’ pipes. The pipe is often said to be an invention of the god himself. He is reminiscent of the satyrs and Dionysus, the god of field crop and wine; therefore also Keats in his verses addresses the mighty god “satyr king”: By all the echoes that about thee ring, Hear us, O satyr king! The scene of the action where the poet slowly leads his readers is just getting ready to celebrate the Festival of Pan. The occasion is depicted as an extremely joyous one obviously accompanied by happiness and delight as the symbols of their deity. It is bright and shiny morning because the sun is shining above the Latmos heads and its glare is the same as Apollo’s: For ‘twas the morn: Apollo’s upward fire Made every eastern cloud a silvery pyre
9 Of brightness. Apollo was the sun god. He is also worshipped as the god of the sun, light, harmony and beauty, the patron of life and social order. He keeps his mighty head over those who enjoy art, poetry, music and singing. The poet describes this ability of his with verses which send a melancholy spirit to oblivion. All men on the isle are already awake: “to feel this sun rise and its glories old” (Bullett 1967: 53) and to welcome a new day. They all are festively dressed in white garments and in a crowd head for a plain on which, right in the middle, stands a marble altar decorated with daisies. First of all on the scene appears a group of happy children followed by dancing young damsels and: A crowd of shepherds with as sunburnt looks As may be read of in Arcadian books. As the cheerful, dancing and singing crowd moves nearer and nearer it is possible to recognize the melody of Apollo’s pipe and his flutes and catch a sight of a venerable priest. He is holding two sacred objects a vase full of wine and a basket with herbs. Among the herbs readers can spot: “Wild thyme, and valley lilies whiter still/Than Leda’s love.”(Bullett 1967: 54) This allusion should remind us of the old myth about Leda, the queen of Sparta, whose lover, the great god Zeus, visited her in the guise of the white swan. Behind the priest walk other shepherds and at the end of the parade appears a fairly wrought car with a beautiful young man who is looking down on the cheerful fellows around him. Keats compares his appearance to that of Ganymede: His youth was fully blown, Shewing like Ganymede to manhood grown. This allusion stands for a Trojan youth who was so beautiful that he was carried off by an eagle to become Zeus’s cup bearer. The name of the handsome youth is Endymion and Keats presents him as the shepherds’ lord. The young man “neither says nor does much, but through his feelings he is pictured as a sharp contrast to the joy and delight prevailing at the Festival.” (Pettet 1957: 150): Endymion too, without a forest peer, Stood wan, and pale, and with an awed face,
10 Among his brothers of the mountain chase. Nevertheless, together with the cheering Latmian folk he listens to the ceremonial speech of the priest giving a hold to Pan, sees him pouring the sacred wine on: “the thick and spongy sod/In honour of the shepherd god”(Bullett 1967: 56) and hears a chorus singing and worshipping Pan’s life and deeds.
11 2. The sad hymn The hymn is supposed to be humorous, but, on the contrary, its words express grief and sorrow. They tell the sad stories which happened in the past time. First the priest mentions the fair Nymph Syrinx, who was once loved by Pan, but did not want to return his feelings and so she started to run away when she saw him again. Pan followed her, but the fairy turned in front of his eyes into reed to save herself. The god was grieving over the lost for a while and then he got a marvellous idea. He made from the hollow reed a perfect musical instrument – the pipe: Bethinking thee, how melancholy loth Thou wast to lose fair Syrinx – do thou now, By thy love’s milky brow! By all the trembling mazes that she ran, Hear us, great Pan! After that some memories of the bloodthirsty war between the Roman and the Persian troops in the mountain pass Thermopylae are brought back. The Roman military leader Leonidos with his 300 brave warriors were defeated and killed and a war memorial now stands on this place: Fair creatures! whose young children’s children bred Thermopylae its heroes – not yet dead But in old marbles ever beautiful. Other words are about the sad death of Hyacinthus, who was one of the god Apollo’s favourite friends. One day, when the weather was nice, the two of them were playing with a heavy disc. By unlucky chance Hyacinthus was hit onto the face with the toy and he succumbed to the very serious injury. Heavy hearted Apollo changed the dead body into a beautiful, so far unknown flower which has been since then a decorative plant of Spring. Keats accuses Zephyr, the west wind that brings good weather, of killing the young boy. He also brands Apollo his second name Phoebus. “The Titan Coeus mates with his sister Phoebe and their daughter Leto bore Artemis and Apollo to Zeus. Phoebe is the feminine form of Phoebus, and she herself may very well be another moon goddess. Phoebe became an epithet of Artemis, just as Phoebus is applied to Apollo.”(Morford, Lenardon 1985: 36):
12 pitying the sad death Of Hyacinthus, when the cruel breath Of Zephyr slew him, Zephyr penitent, Who now, ere Phoebus mounts the firmament, Fondles the flower amid the sobbing rain. Finally follows the even sadder tale of Niobe. The proud wife of the rich and beautiful Amphion, the king of Thebes, and much prouder mother of 14 children – she had seven sons and the same number of daughters. Once she claimed that she should have deserved bigger honour than the goddess Leto. “Leto was outraged by Niobe’s words and bitterly complained to her children. Together the two deities – Apollo and Artemis – avenged the insulted honor of their mother. Apollo struck down all the sons of Niobe with his arrows, and Artemis in turn killed all her daughters.” (Morford, Lenardon 1985: 144/145) Keats describes the feeling of the mother who lost all her lovely young only because her treacherous tongue: Call’d up a thousand thoughts to envelope Those who would watch. Perhaps, the trembling knee And frantic gape of lonely Niobe, Poor, lonely Niobe! when her lovely young Were dead and gone, and her caressing tongue Lay a lost thing upon her paly lip, And very, very deadliness did nip Her motherly cheeks. After the last words of the melancholy hymn died away, one of the brave men of Latmos at a distance loud “hallooed” (Bullett 1967: 59) and another shot a bright arrow. The poet let its awful shine reminds the shepherds in a sad mood of Apollo’s horrific bow. The arrow is flying smoothly through the early evening air and the Latmos folk can see a majestic ship bobbing up and down on the waves of the sea. The ship seems to be an allusion to Argo, the huge argosy which belonged to the courageous Argonauts who led by Jason sailed across Neptune’s restless ways – Neptune was the god whose kingdom was the sea to search for the Golden Fleece – golden splendour. But for the brave crew the god Apollo meant protection and good luck during their sorrowful voyage. Therefore Keats probably uses the expression: “a heavenly beacon in their dreary woe.” (Bullett 1967: 59)
13 3. Peona tries to soothe Endymion’s woe As the story continues readers can spot Endymion, the aged priest and other shepherds sitting in a circle by fire. Some of them are thinking about their lovers, others are listening to sweet poesy and the rest would like to see again their fellow hunters who became famous in the past times. They all seem happy except Endymion who does not pay any attention to the world around him: he did not heed The sudden silence or the whispers low, Or the old eyes dissolving at his woe, Or anxious calls, or close of trembling palms, Or maiden’s sigh, that grief itself embalms: But in the self same fixed trance he kept, Like one who on the earth had never stept. Aye, even as dead still as a marble man, Frozen in that old tale Arabian. What has happened to the beautiful lord of Latmos? Why does the poet talk about the “cankering venom” (Bullett 1967: 60) or Endymion’s woe? What is the cause of such a grief stricken heart? Can it all mean the suffering of a disconsolate lover who longs to be close to the only one he wants to talk to, he wants to see? Suddenly the beautiful youth is disturbed from his gloomy thoughts by a new comer: Who whispers him so pantingly and close? Peona, his sweet sister: of all those, His friends, the dearest. Keats’s Peona is unhappy. It is not only because her brother’s sorrow, but she as a real friend sympathizes with Endymion and is determined to do everything she can to help him. Readers are made sure about her feelings according to Endymion’s speech: I feel this thine endearing love All through my bosom: thou art as a dove Trembling its closed eyes and sleeked wings About me; and the pearliest dew not brings Such morning incense from the fields of May, As do those brighter drops that twinkling stray From those kind eyes, the very home and haunt Of sisterly affection.
14 Peona takes her brother away from the Pan festivities to her island bower where he falls asleep on her lap, holding her gentle hand against his lips. After awaking, refreshed by his short slumber, Endymion promises to his solicitous sister to change his behaviour and be more light herited and active as he was before. For a moment Peona believes her brother’s words and takes a lute and starts to play. Keats compares the couple to Dryope and her child Heracles, who is known as a courageous hero who fought and died in the Trojan War. Keats’s verses reflect the mood of a mother who is sad knowing the whole fate of her son. But Peona is not able to play for a long time. Hardly a few tones of her lute died away when she puts the musical instrument aside and asks Endymion what horrible has happened to him. According to Peona’s thoughts nothing worse could happen than that the mournful youth sent one of his deathful arrows against a deer sacred to Dian, or that he saw by chance her naked limbs and therefore he is now punished by soon death. Dian was another name of a beautiful goddess Artemis, the twin sister of the god Apollo. This deity, always surrounded by the fairies of trees, Dryads, and springs, Naiads, enjoyed staying in woods where she hunted game. It is nearly impossible to find any notes about Artemis’s liaisons in old Greek mythology. Some former poets tried to compare her to Daphne, who did not want to marry Apollo and rather turned into laurel which since then decorated the god’s head. Because Endymion can see how pale and sad his sister has become, he decides to tell her the truth and pour out his wretchedness: “To lose, at once, all my toil breeding fire, And sink thus low! but I will ease my breast Of secret grief, here in this bowery nest.”
15 4. Endymion confides in Peona Together with Peona Keats lets his readers peep in Endymion’s dream in which he saw the woman of his heart. Endymion describes how once in June tired of wandering through the wood sat down on: “a magic bed/Of sacred ditamy, and poppies red” (Bullett 1967: 63) and fall asleep. In his dream he travelled up to the Milky Way and the shiny stars until he reached the door of heaven. Suddenly the door in front of him opened and he saw a bright something, moving smoothly on the evening sky. At first he had to avert his eyes, but then he could recognize a shape of a beautiful woman. She looked like a goddess. Keats’s depicts the lovely creature as a maid who in her beauty could surpass the sea born goddess Venus herself: Ah! see her hovering feet, More bluely vein’d, more soft, more whitely sweet Than those of sea born Venus, when she rose From out her cradle shell. Venus was another name of Aphrodite, the most charming deity among the goddesses in the ancient world. “She is depicted as the eternally young goddess of love and beauty. The ancient poet Hesiodos reports on the fact that she emerged from the snow white sea foam by the isle of Cythera.”(Meterlik 1989: 99) Her birth is the main theme of Keats’s verses. Cynthia, the unknown charming lady, was actually the goddess of the moon. She came closer to the sleeping shepherd, touched him and took him along the dangerous sky. At the end of their journey Endymion and Cynthia swooped in a mountain’s side. There they went hand in hand through a meadow full of soft flowers. Keats, knowing Greek mythology well, does not forget to mention an Oread who was a mountain nymph. These fairies escorted through woods the goddess Artemis. They also belonged to the group of Apollo, Herm, Pan or the Satyrs. Everything once has to end and so even Endymion’s sweet dream fell into nothing, but a stupid sleep. Since then Endymion’s soul has not been like before. He was devastated to be parted from the beautiful illusion. At first Endymion feels nothing but grief about the sudden lost. The poet compares his feelings to those of the mighty gods:
16 Then old songs waken from enclouded tombs; Old ditties sigh above their father’s grave; Ghosts of melodious prophecyings rave Round every spot where trod Apollo’s foot; Bronze clarions awake, and faintly bruit, Where long ago a giant battle was. Through these verses Keats probably thinks about the highest Greek god Dius [Zeus], who was the father of the god Apollo, and who had to fight hard against his father Cronus to become the most powerful deity. There is also mentioned the name of Orpheus, who was an excellent singer playing charmingly the lyre given to him by his teacher Apollo himself. Keats depicts him as an infant probably because he was still small when the war happened: And, from the turf a lullaby doth pass In every place where infant Orpheus slept. Then, nearly at the end of his speech, Endymion does not deny his wretchedness, but he talks about higher hope, according to his words love is also the source of the supreme kind of happiness. He also confides in Peona that he saw Cynthia for other two occasions. Some time after the first meeting the youth was resting on a deep hollow hidden: “Beyond the matron temple of Latona.” (Bullett 1967: 70) Just when he was sitting on the bank of a stream watching clouds and the sunny sky, he spotted an unusual cloud. Keats depicts its shape as an allusion to: “Cupid, with his bow and quiver.” (Bullett 1967: 71) Cupid or better to say Eros was the son of Aphrodite. He is usually pictured as “a chubby mischievous little darling with wings, a bow and arrows.”(Morford, Lenardon 1985: 137) He was the god of love and his wife was Psyche [Soul]. Endymion followed it upon the open plain when suddenly: A wonder, fair as any I have told – The same bright face I tasted in my sleep, Smiling in the clear well. My heart did leap Through the cool depth. As the verses: “My heat did leap/Through the cold depth”, and: “Bathing my spirit in a new delight” (Bullett 1967: 71) express, Endymion is happy again.
17 The last time when he did not see, but heard the voice of his lover, was in the early spring. It was during the time of hunting when the shepherd got in the middle of a brook which brought him to a cave. The cave resembled the home of a wooden nymph. “Nymphs were beings similar to beautiful young girls who loved to dance and sing. Very often they escorted one or more of the major gods or goddesses.” (Morford, Lenardon 1985: 83) The poet also attaches the home to Proserpine and describes it as the last earthly spot, where the beautiful girl stayed before she was seized by the god of the underworld – Hell. His name was Hades and Proserpine became the queen of his horrific kingdom: ’Tis the grot Of Proserpine, when Hell, obscure and hot, Doth her resign, and where her tender hands She dabbles, on the cool and sluicy sands. But maybe it is the cell of Echo. Echo was one of the mountain nymphs, Oreads. She was the most beautiful fairy, but very talkative and capable to betray even the biggest secret. Because of this bad ability of hers “Hera, the queen of all deities, took from her the power of speech. Echo only gave back the words she heard and repeated the final phrases of utterances.”(Morford, Lenardon 1985: 223) Since then the sad Oread lived alone, detached from the rest of the world – in her cell. Keats through his verses thus describes the poor fairy: Or ‘tis the cell of Echo, where she sits, And babbles thorough silence, till her wits Are gone in tender madness, and anon, Faints into sleep, with many a dying tone Of sadness. Endymion stood stupefied, unable to say a word and with salt tears in his eyes in front of the cave when suddenly he heard a sweet voice: “Endymion! the cave is secreter Than the isle of Delos. Echo hence shall stir No sighs but sigh warm kisses, or light noise Of thy combing hand, the while it travelling cloys And trembles through my labyrinthine hair.”
18 In Keats’s verses the isle of Delos should remind his readers a place where the goddess Leto gave a birth to her son Apollo. When Leto came to this quiet place, the isle had been a lonely, on the sea floating piece of land without a solid root. After Apollo’s birth the isle changed its appearance and started to be visited by thousands of pilgrims. The sun is setting when Endymion and Peona leaves the island bower. Before they both launches from land, the young lord reveals his sister his decision to leave her and set on a pilgrimage for: “the world’s dusky brink.” (Bullett 1967: 73)
19 IV. Book II – The underworld 1. The mighty legends of the past The narrative of Book II takes its readers to the world that is shrouded in: “the mist of passed years.” (Bullett 1967: 74) Through Keats’s imagination we can return to the days which became famous because of courageous warriors and their brave deeds. What does the poet want to express by the verses full of the past glory? If readers go deeper to the meaning, they will see Endymion as a thirsty and tired wanderer, struggling for his love and asking himself who cares for such an impressive history, who cares for him and for the long pilgrimage that he has decided to take up in the name of great love. But in spite of all the sorrow and pain which Endymion now feels, he will rather rise up: “like legioned soldiers” (Bullett 1967: 75) who fought for their countries and kings, than rest: “in chafing restlessness” (Bullett 1967: 74): “Fearfully Must such conviction come upon his head, Who, thus far, discontent, has dared to tread, Without one muse’s smile, or kind behest, The path of love and poesy. But rest, In chaffing restlessness, is yet more drear Than to be crush’d, in striving to uprear Love’s standard on the battlements of song.” (Bullett 1967p: 74; Book II) As Endymion, “the brain sick shepherd prince is descending into the silent mysteries of the world” (Pettet 1957: 161); we can see through his eyes the sad story of Troy with all the woes it caused. We can imagine Trojan towers – solid and undefeated – and the troops of Greek army forming into lines in front of its gates. This is the scene which Keats describes in his impressive verses: The woes of Troy, towers smothering o’er their blaze, Stiff holden shields, far piercing spears, keen blades, Struggling, and blood, and shrieks. A lot of brave men were killed or taken as prisoners on both sides of the battlement, but a few of them saved their lives to tell us their sad story. The name of
20 some well known warriors who fought for the honour of Greece was Odysseus, Achilles, Patroclus and Aias. On the other hand, Hector, the son of Priamos and Hecuba, was a courageous Trojan hero. Maybe nowadays readers do not know much about these gallant men, but they are taught at school that the war of Troy took 10 years, that Odysseus was a courageous admiral, who had to go through a lot of dangerous adventures to see the banks of his native land and that Achilles’ body was invulnerable except his heel. The mighty town of Troy and its war are part of a period full of woe whose reason was love – love between Paris and Helena – love which now feels Endymion to his Cynthia – love which brought tears, grief and pain to Troilus and Cressid: Yet, in our very soul, we feel amain The close of Troilus and Cressid sweet. Keats as an admirer of the brilliant English playwright Shakespeare probably let himself inspired by one of his historical plays. Shakespeare in his play depicts these two young people as lovers who had to sacrifice their deep feelings because of the war. So when Keats writes about the woe of war, he also writes about the woe of unfilled love. In the verses which follow readers can find the name of Juliet, which is even a better example of the poet’s thoughts: Juliet leaning Amid her window flowers, sighing, weaning Tenderly her fancy from its maiden snow. But as far as Greek mythology concerns, Keats also points out such names as Pallas Athena. This deity was the goddess of wisdom, crafts and art and the protector of bravery and justice. In the ancient history Athena is pictured as a wise owl which devotedly escorted Odysseus on his long voyages. Keats uses this myth to write: What care, though owl did fly About the great Athenian admiral’s mast? (As readers should now know), Odysseus or Ulysses was a brave sailor. On his way he met plenty of various creatures and had to go through plenty of difficult tasks. One of his memorable acts was the conflict with bad giants called Cyclops. The
21 Cyclopes were wild and brutal ogres who preferred violence to peace. They had only one eye in the middle of their forehead and ate human beings. Their only task was to look after their herds. When Ulysses got on the island where the terrific creatures lived, he was forced to put out an eye of one of them to save himself and his fellows. Keats describes this story with verses: Though old Ulysses tortured from his slumbers The glutted Cyclops, what care? Keats also uses the name of Alexander the Great as a symbol of the gallant warriors to whom this ruler of Macedonia inconsiderably belonged. His teacher Lysimachus called him Achilles because he was as handsome, brave and educated as the Greek hero was. The Macedonians believed that their commander was the deity; otherwise they would not obey his orders. Alexander and his troops even fought in India, where they travelled along the Indus River. The campaign was evidently very famous because Keats uses it in his poem: “What care, though striding Alexander past The Indus with his Macedonian numbers?” All these heroes are now mighty legends. Their tales are full of passionate human love, love which is beautiful and joyous on one side, but on the other connected with sorrow, sadness and woe. The same feelings torture Endymion’s soul while he has been wandering for many days: For many days , Has he been wandering in uncertain ways; Through wilderness, and woods of mossed oaks; Counting his woe worn minutes, by the strokes Of the lone woodcutter. It may seem to readers that Keats uses the words: “the lone woodcutter” (Bullett 1967: 75) as an allusion to the old myth about Picus and Circe, the daughter of the sun god Helius. Picus was a handsome young prince and husband of the fairy Canens. Once Picus and his friends were hunting when the powerful witch Circe spotted them. She fell in love with the beautiful youth. Nevertheless, Picus refused her because he loved his wife more than anything else. Circe promised to take her revenge and turned the youth
22 into a woodpecker. Even if woodcutter uses his hands and woodpecker his beak, they both beat a tree to call for help. Readers can now see Endymion sitting by a spring, plucking a wild rose and putting it into the clear water. Suddenly the flower starts to bloom and in the middle of its bud the shepherd can see a golden butterfly. The beautiful creature swiftly flies up and fascinated Endymion starts to follow it. The winged guide leads the youth to: “a splashing fountain’s side.” (Bullett 1967: 76) There the magic creature disappears leaving Endymion searching for it, but in vain. Tired after the long journey, he lies down onto the grass. Suddenly he is disturbed by a gentle voice of a fountain’s nymph. The nymph says that she would like to do something to help him, she would even offer her: “crystal coffer/To Amphitrite” (Bullett 1967: 76), but the only thing she can do is to pity him: on this day I’ve been thy guide; that thou must wander far In other regions, past the scanty bar To mortal steps, before thou canst be ta’en From every wasting sigh, from every pain, Into the gentle bosom of thy love. Why it is thus, one knows in heaven above: But, a poor Naiad, I guess not. Farewel! I have a ditty for my hollow cell. After the nymph’s disappearance Endymion starts to long for the death. He tells his readers that he knows: “how quiet death is.” (Bullett 1967: 77) He would rather: “stand/Upon a misty, jutting head of land” (Bullett 1967: 77) where he would not feel the pain for his love, than stay on the land where is nothing which would be worth his composing. In his imagination he can see Orphea playing softly the lute to his Eurydice. Keats obviously wants to compare the shepherd’s grieving to the grieving of Orpheus. According to the myth Eurydice was bitten by a poisonous snake and therefore left her lover for the underworld. Orpheus tried to bring her back among mortal people, but he did not succeed: No, no; and by the Oephean lute, When mad Eurydice is listening to ‘t, I’d rather stand upon this misty peak, With not a thing to sigh for, or to seek.
23 Endymion asks Cynthia: “the meekest dove/Of heaven” (Bullett 1967: 77/78), to give him a helping hand and: “scare the dreadful might/And tyranny of love.” (Bullett 1967: 78) He wants her to tie her fair wings around his shoulders and take him up into the dizzy sky. But then he can see the goddess’s eyes and shouts: Those twilight eyes? Those eyes! – my spirit fails Dear goddess, help! or the wide –gaping air Will gulph me – help! By shouting these verses out of Endymion’s mouth, Keats can see in the beautiful prince old Deucalion and blind Orion. Deucalion and his wife Pyrrha were the only people who survived after the horrible flood sent on the Earth by the mighty god Zeus with the help of Poseidon. It was a punishment for human degeneracy. The whole mainland was under the power of water and only two justest people survived. Keats apparently wants to use his allusion to express the sorrow which the old man felt when he saw such a painful disaster. And Orion? He was a man blinded because of his dishonour of the king Oinopion’s family. He was bitten by a huge scorpion of angry Artemis. In the poem he is depicted as a constellation which longs to leave the morning sky and thus escape the gods who are angry with him because of his boasting: Like old Deucalion mountain’d o’er the flood, Or blind Orion hungry for the morn. While the young shepherd is lifting his hands to the moon, he can hear a voice which: “had been frozen to senseless stone.” (Bullett 1967: 78) The voice invites him to the underworld: He ne’er is crown’d With immortality, who fears to follow Where airy voices lead: so through the hollow, The silent mysteries of earth, descend!
24 2. Endymion in the underworld After the last words of the airy voice, Endymion feels how he flees into the fearful deep: “a gleaming melancholy.“ (Bullett 1967: 79) He comes to be in a dusky empire and its diadems which belong to the god Hades and his wife Persephone. The dark place in the depths of earth is called Tartarus. “It is surrounded by a fortification of bronze and inside dwell Night and her children, Sleep and Death. A terrifying hound – Cerberus – which had three heads and a snake tail, guards the house of the royal couple” (Morford, Lenardon 1985: 264) Along whose track the prince quick footsteps told, With all its lines abrupt and angular: Out shooting sometimes, like a meteor star, Through a vast antre; than the metal woof, Like Vulcan’s rainbow, with some monstrous roof Curves hugely. Vulcan was another name of a skillful blacksmith Hephaestus. He was the son of Hera and Zeus, but his parents refused him and threw him twice down from heaven. Vulcan made a lot of excellent things for other deities Zeus’s lightnings and handcuffs which the mighty god used against Prometheus, Helius’s golden chariot and Apollo’s golden bow. Keats probably compares Cerberus’s fearful bark to blows of Hephaestus’s hammer when he was creating the rainbow. It is also claimed in ancient mythology that anyone who enters the gate of Tartarus, will never return back on earth. Endymion goes through winding passages and admires the cold beauty everywhere around him. Through the description of the deathly place Keats emphasizes the loneliness and isolation of his hero. Although the young shepherd meets the shiny glory of the past, he feels the cold and lack of vegetation. Nevertheless, the youth continues on his way until he can see a mimic temple. He wants to go closer, but is frightened by the sight of a: “light tiptoe divine.” (Bullett 1967: 80) Keats pictures this maiden as a mighty goddess Artemis: And, just beyond, on light tiptoe divine, A quiver’d Dian. Stepping awfully, The youth approach’d.
25 He manages to get closer just to touch the marble cold and rest for a while. But again he keeps going till he reaches: “the maw/Of a wide outlet, fathomless and dim/To wild uncertainty and shadows grim.” (Bullett 1967: 80) There Endymion slowly changes his thoughts and makes his first bid for renewed life: What misery most drowningly doth sing In lone Endymion’s ear, now he has caught The goal of consciousness? Ah, ‘tis the thought, The deadly feel of solitude. Endymion refuses to stay a bit longer in that unknown place full of fantastic figures; he would like to return back among mortal people and nature. As soon as the echo of his words faded away, the youth notices that the surrounding around him is changing and that everywhere starts to grow: “the floral pride.” (Bullett 1967: 81) He can also hear the first tunes of a sweet and sleepy melody which has been coming towards him in a more quickly and softly way than: the east could blow Arion’s magic to the Atlantic isles; Or than the west, made jealous by the smiles Of thron’d Apollo, could breathe back the lyre To seas Ionian and Tyrian. Arion was an ancient poet who was very good at his art and so Keats probably means by this allusion the verses which Arion could write about the Atlantic isles. There are only a few notes in Greek mythology about the Ionian and Tyrian, but according to them these two were nations whose patron Apollo must have been.
26 3. Venus and Adonis’s myth Endymion is thrilled by the music because he again feels the thirst for love which burns everything down with its consuming flame. The music escorts the youth until he comes upon a meadow which is covered by small: “Cupids a slumbering on their pinions fair.” (Bullett 1967: 82) Cupid or Eros is a symbol of love and Keats mentions this god as a messenger of the love melody Endymion has listened to. Endymion is enchanted by the beauty of the chamber, but mainly by a sleeping youth who is lying in the middle of it. The Venus Adonis story, which is hidden in the poet’s verses, is “a vegetation myth about newly awoken nature rising in spring time out of the barrenness and death of winter.” (Pettet 1957: 167) Endymion can see the god surrounded by flowers and green plants as a symbol of Flora who escorts Adonis when he comes back from the underworld to his goddess. When Endymion enters, the winged Aphrodite’s sons – Cupids – just start to wake the sleeping youth up by shaking perfumes from a willow bough on his head, by raining violets upon his closed eyes and by touching the strings of a lyre. The breathless Latmian comes impatiently to the winged lyrist who whispers to him: Though from upper day Thou art a wanderer, and thy presence here Might seem unholy, be of happy cheer! For ‘tis the nicest touch of human honour, When some ethereal and high favouring donor Presents immortal bowers to mortal sense; As now’tis done to thee, Endymion. Cupid also offers the tired shepherd some food lying nearby. And so Endymion can taste such delicacies as sparkling wine sent by Ariadne which has never tasted better since she became a wife of the god Dionysus. Sweet are also juicy pears which were given to Adonis by the god Vertumnus. Keats depicts the god of the seasons as a man who is afraid of being refused by his lover Pomona. Pomona was a fairy who looked after various fruit trees and bushes. She had her own orchard where she spent many hours away from other women and especially men. In the end the fairy granted the god’s wish and became his queen. Keats does not forget to allude to Amalthea and her goat whose milk she gave to small Zeus:
27 Here is wine, Alive with sparkles – never, I aver, Since Ariadne was a vintager, So cool a purple: tast these juicy pears, Sent me by sad Vertumnus, when his fears Were high about Pomona: here is cream, Deeping to richness from a snowy gleam; Sweeter than that nurse Amalthea skimm’d For the boy Jupiter. Endymion can also try the taste of: “manna picked by three Hesperides.” (Bullett 1967: 84) The Hesperides were three sisters, the daughters of Night, living far in the west. They spent all their time singing and guarding a tree with golden apples given to the goddess Hera by Gaia [Earth] as a wedding present. Keats connects in his verses this myth with another one about Zeus’s infidelity. It tells how the god was in deep love with Io who bore him a beautiful son called Epophus. The baby was kidnapped by jealous Hera and taken to Syria: And here is manna pick’d from Syrian trees, In starlight, by the three Hesperides. The winged lyrist is also willing to tell Endymion the whole story about the Adonis Venus love, love whose power triumphed over death. Keats through Cupid’s words describes the sorrow and grief of the sea born goddess [Aphrodite] who lost her mortal youth. How she became: “distract and mad/When the boar tusked” (Bullett 1967: 84) and so killed him. How she decided to: “fly/To Jove’s high throne, and by her plainings drew/Immortal tear drops down the Thunderer’s beard.” (Bullett 1967: 84/85) The mighty god decided that Adonis would be restored back to life each summer time. Then Aphrodite put the wounded body into the chamber and healed it with her tears. She filled her lover’s dreams with sweet visions and ordered all Cupids to guard him. But now readers look! Adonis’s hand starts slowly moving and: Once more sweet life begin! The renewed life makes all the dwellers happy and they hurry to call for their sweet queen. Then a chariot appears in the sky from which Queen Venus leans downwards to embrace her lover. Endymion is really honoured to see the triumph of the
28 passionate and sensuous love. Even the poet himself describes the first moments of the couple’s meeting with verses: But meeting her blue orbs! Who, who can write Of these first minutes? The unchariest muse To embracements warm as theirs makes coy excuse. When Endymion can see how happy these lovers are, he cannot control himself any more, bends down and starts to complain about his woe. But Venus, who has always felt sympathy for the gentle youth since she first saw him and who knows everything about his sorrowful pain, assures the poor Latmian that even he will be blest one day. Then the whole parade disappears above Endymion’s head. The youth is again lonely in the terrific darkness, but this time he is full of hope for better days.
29 4. Endymion meets Cynthia The happy shepherd continues on his way through the kingdom of death and Keats compares his mood to dolphins who welcome their mistress – the sea goddess Thetis: Haply, like dolphin tumults, when sweet shells Welcome the float of Thetis. This fairy became mortal because she married a mortal man Peleus to whom she bore Achilles. She was very kind and generous. During her life she helped a lot of wanderers, heroes and gods like Dionysus or Hephaestus. That is also portrayed in these verses: The streams with changed magic interlace: Sometimes like delicatest lattices, Cover’d with crystal vines. Now readers can see the Latmos prince standing over “enormous chasms” (Bullett 1967: 87) where he listens to roars of water splashing over huge rocks. They can claim that the water behind the shepherd’s feet is the Styx River. Styx was branded as a river of moaning and lament and its water were made of human tears. It was the same river by which “the gods had to swear dread oaths; otherwise they suffered terrible penalties for a full nine years.” (Morford, Lenardon 1985: 264) Again the wanderer’s footsteps lead him forward along smooth water covered in waves which suddenly changes its shape and remind Endymion of: stubborn streams Collecting, mimick’d the wrought oaken beams, Pillars, and frieze, and high fantastic roof, Of those dusk places in times far aloof Cathedrals call’d. Keats probably depicts the powerful water which wiped out the ancient ground. Endymion can also in the distance see: “A vaulted dome like Heaven’s, far bespread/With starlight gems” (Bullett 1967: 88) and after a short while mother Cybele in her chariot approaches the bewildered youth:
30 Forth from a rugged arch, in the dusk below, Came mother Cybele! alone – alone – In sombre chariot. Cybele was sprung from the earth, exactly from an almond tree. In Greek mythology she was depicted as the goddess of animals. She usually stood on the peak of a high mountain with two lions by her side. On her head this deity wore a crown made of city walls or a town. Her fellows were compared to demons according to the noise and music they made. This is the way Keats describes the fearful beasts: Four maned lions hale The sluggish wheels; solemn their toothed maws, Their surly eyes brow hidden, heavy paws Uplifted drowsily and nervy tails Cowering their tawny brushes. But very soon the goddess and her security guards disappear in another gloomy arch. Endymion is lost and way worn; he does not know where else he should take his glance to. Therefore he bows to: “cloud borne Jove” (Bullett 1967: 89) and pleads him for help. While the humble prince is bowing down his head, readers can see a mighty, large eagle crossing the sky. Endymion without a single word flings himself between the eagle wings and the bird carries him away to: “the greenest nook and takes farewell.” (Bullett 1967: 89) A jasmine bower, which stands nearby covered in golden moss, catches Endymion’s sight. He feels as if he was dreaming. His gait is watchful and reminds to the poet that of Hesperian. He moves slowly towards the green cave afraid that such beauty might disappear and leave him in a sad mood. He calls his love and asks her where she is hidden. Whether she is: High above, Dancing before the morning gates of heaven? Or keeping watch among those starry seven, Old Atlas’ children? According to Greek mythology Atlas had only four children – the three Hesperides plus one whose name was Mapsoure [the Gust of Wind], but Keats can mean the gods who dwell in heaven. Because Atlas was a proud man who was punished by Zeus with holding the heavy vault of heaven on his shoulders. Endymion pleads his
31 lover to come closer because he would like to fall into her soothing arms or, if this is not possible, he wants to flee to her in a sweet dream. As soon as Endymion’s speech faded away, he falls in a lovely dream. And now the poem changes its theme full of sorrow, pain and loneliness and sad and struggling wanderer fully expresses the love he feels to his goddess. And so “Endymion has his Cynthia, as Venus had her Adonis.” (Pettet 1957: 171) The beautiful lady of the evening sky surely feels the same passion and therefore reveals her youth the holy truth that: I love thee, youth, more than I can conceive; And so long absence from thee doth bereave My soul of any rest: yet I must hence: Yet, can I not to starry eminence Uplift thee; nor for very shame can own Myself to thee. The pretty deity asks her lover not to betray them by his sad sobs; otherwise she will: “blush in heaven.” (Bullett 1967: 91) She claims that she must be a coward, but she does not want to see: “the sad look/Of Jove [Zeus].” (Bullett 1967: 92) She also accuses Pallas [Athena] of not knowing what true love is because then her love would not stay as unknown as must stay the love of hers: That I am wise, that Pallas is a dunce – Perhaps her love like mine is but unknow . What Cynthia probably does not know is that Pallas Athena had a son called Erichtonius. “The story of his birth is as follows: Hephaestus [the blacksmith] attempted to rape Athena, and as she repelled him his seed fell on the ground; from it sprang Erichthonius. He is depicted as a serpent shaped man with his snakelike lower half.” (Morford, Lenardon 1985: 406) That is the reason why Athena does want to keep the story as a secret and Keats uses the word “unknown.” (Bullett 1967: 92) If Cynthia could, she would like to stay with Endymion, but she knows that from now on her life will be: woe! woe! is grief contain’d In the very deeps of pleasure, my sole life?
32 After awaking Endymion is sure by one thing. He has discovered that it must be a goddess he is in love with. The goddess who has promised the young shepherd: “An immortality of passion’s thine.” (Bullett 1967: 92) He promises not to scold the dooming stars again because: “The lyre of his soul is Eolian tuned.” (Bullett 1967: 93) Eolian stands for Elysium the paradise where the souls of just men spend blissful life.
33 5. Arethusa and Alpheus’s myth Endymion is now reluctant to get up and move forward. In front of his eyes are floating various visions: “that might have dismayed/Alecto’s serpents.” (Bullett 1967: 94) Keats must mean pleasant visions of justice because Alecto was one of the pitiless and just avengers of crime, especially murder. These creatures – sisters – were called Furies and they were offspring of Night. They varied in number, but are mostly depicted as three women who bore serpents in their hands or hair and carried torches or scourges. “They represent the code of an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth within a circle of a family or a clan.” (Morford, Lenardon 1985: 278) The youth’s feelings are even brighter than “Hermes’ pipe.” (Bullett 1967: 94) Hermes was Zeus’s messenger. Endymion does not dare to continue on his way; instead he keeps sitting and thinking about all his life. He tries to imagine every moment from his youth until the day he first spot his Cynthia: On all his life: his youth, up to the day When ‘mid acclaim, and feasts, and garlands gay, He stept upon his shepherd throne: the look Of his white palace in wild forest nook, And all the revels he had lorded there: Each tender maiden whom he once thought fair, With every friend and fellow woodlander – Pass’d like a dream before him. That wondrous night: the great Pan festival: His sister’s sorrow; and his wanderings all, Until into the earth’s deep maw he rush’d: Then all its buried magic, till it flush’d High with excessive love. Suddenly Endymion is disturbed from his deep thoughts by some noise far away. He listens anxiously to the humming tone which comes closer and closer. In a short while: “there as he lay/On either side outgushed, with misty spray/Copious springs” (Bullett 1967: 95) spray on both sides of his bed. Endymion resolutely follows them thinking about the mystery hidden behind these two strange things. He can hear a whispering voice and gives his ear to listen to it. The last of the principal episodes of Book II is Endymion’s encounter with the river spirits, Alpheus and Arethusa. According to Greek mythology Alpheus was the
34 god of a stream in which Arethusa pried her naked body. Alpheus fell in love with the beautiful fairy and wanted to get hold of her. But the frightened beauty started running and so escaped from her pursuer. When she was out of breath, she prayed to her protector to rescue her. Artemis sent a cloud in which the fairy hid herself. But unfortunately, she slowly started to turn into moisture. Arethusa became a pure current. Alpheus also changed his appearance and turned into the stream to get her. Artemis again tried to help the poor creature and opened earth under which the both streams disappeared. Keats through his charming verses reveals the old tale of unfilled love which is so different from the Venus Adonis myth: O Arethusa, peerless nymph! why fear Such tenderness as mine? Great Dian, why, Why didst thou hear her prayer? O that I Were rippling round her dainty fairness now, Circling about her waist, and striving how To entice her to a dive! The beginning of Alpheus’s speech surely represents the whole myth. Even in this part of poem we can follow the lines which emphasize the physical kind of love that means so much in the whole theme: O that her shining hair was in the sun, And I distilling from it thence to run In amorous rillets down her shrinking form! To linger on her lily shoulders, warm Between her kissing breasts, and every charm Touch raptur’d! “Alpheus experiences all Endymion’s anguish of frustration because he is pursuing one who appears reluctant to return his love.” (Petter 1957: 174) Keats surprisingly ends the dialogue of the two spirits with words: What can I do, Alpheus? Dian stands severe before me: persecuting fate! Unhappy Arethusa! thou wast late A huntress free in.
35 After these last words the two sad streams goes down to: “a fearful dell.” (Bullett 1967: 97) The Latmian’s eyes are full of tears for such unhappy lovers. He pleads the gentle goddess of his pilgrimage to soothe the old pain and make Alpheus and Arethusa happy: “in some happy plains.” (Bullett 1967: 97) Then Endymion turns over and full of hope and delights heads for the giant sea which is spreading above his head.
36 V. Book III – The water world 1. Babylon The narrative of Book III is opened with the tale about one of the most exhibition and sturdiest towns in Greek mythology – Babylon. Keats describes the feelings of its inhabitants and mainly the power of its rulers. The rulers who play tricks on their serfs; the rulers who like: “Fire branded foxes” (Bullett 1967: 97) long for searing up and exploiting the poor. Keats depicts how blind and obedient the poor people are, how proud when they fight for the honour of those with crowns and turbans: “Who, through an idiot blink, will see unpack’d Fire branded foxes to sear up and singe Our gold and ripe ear’d hopes. With not one tinge Of sanctuary splendour, not a sight Able to face an owl’s, they still are dight By the blear eyed nations in empurpled vests, And crowns, and turbans.” (Bullett 1967p: 97; Book III) According to the old works there were two big battles about the town of Babylon. The Euphrates River, which played an important part in both stories, divided the town into two parts. In the first half there was a king’s palace and in the other part there was a temple sacred for the sun god – Baal. A lot of rulers were heads of this kingdom, but probably the most important are two queens – Semiramis and Nitocris. Nevertheless, the town was seized by two Persian kings – Cyrus and Dareios. During both battles the river meant destruction for the Babylon dwellers. The kings used it as their means to seize the impregnable city walls. The poet describes the events with verses: Amid the fierce intoxicating tones Of trumpets, shoutings, and belabour’d drums, And sudden cannon. Ah! how all this hums, Like thunder clouds that spake to Babylon, And set those old Chaldeans to their tasks.
37 Keats also claims that human destiny is in hands of: “old lipped Fate.” (Bullett 1967: 98) The Fates were originally birth spirits and therefore Keats probably uses the verse: To watch the abysm birth of elements. This verse can stand for the battles themselves. The Fates or Moiras, daughters of necessity, were often depicted as three old women – spinners. The number three agree with the three parts of the Moon. Their names were Clotho [Spinner], Lachesis [the Apportioner] and Atropos [the Inflexible]. The last one is sometimes depicted on her own, because she cuts the thread of human life off and brings life to an end. Keats might mean this one because he uses the word “withering” (Bullett 1967: 98) to describe this creature. Then Keats talks about all mighty gods: “whose benevolence/Shakes hand with our own Ceres.” (Bullett 1967: 98) Why does the poet use the name of this goddess? The only reason seems to be that Roman Ceres actually stands for Greek Demeter who was the patron of harvest, peaceful life and order: Few, who with gorgeous pageantry enrobe Our piece of heaven – whose benevolence Shakes hand with our own Ceres.
38 2. Endymion in the water world In a few verses which follow Keats writes about the moon and its blessing of the world: O Moon! old boughs lisp forth a holier din The while they feel thine airy fellowship. Thou dost bless every where, with silver lip Kissing dead things to life. Also the verses which tell readers that: “Cynthia’s loveliness/Is wan on Neptune’s blue” (Bullett 1967: 99) are extremely important for the whole book. Keats tries to bring back to life all the legends whose main theme is the sorrow of drowned lowers. In the lines which lead to the water kingdom readers can find such mythological names as Leander, Orpheus and Pluto. The former one was a young man who fell in love with Hero, a priestess of Aphrodite in Sestos, a city on the European shore. He swam across the Hellespont each night to visit his fair lady. One night a torch, left on the other side by Hero, was extinguished and Leartes drowned. Hero in deep grief threw herself down from a tower and joined Leartes in death. Keats in his poem talks about love which helped the young man swam from one side to the other: Thou pointest out the way, and straight ‘tis won. Amid his toil thou gav’st Leander breath. Orpheus’s love to Eurydice was also a magic power which helped the brave admiral, but this time rescued him from death: Thou leddest Orpheus through the gleams of death. Love changes the lives of many beings and even the god Pluto [Hades] sank into its charm and fell in love with Proserpine: Thou mades Pluto bear thin element. And now this magic charm: “hast sent/A moon beam to the deep, deep water world/To find Endymion.” (Bullett 1967: 99) It finds him wandering on gold sand and
39 makes him stop and taste the glare of the gentle moon. Endymion stays in this position until he spots: “the rosy veils/Mantling the east, by Aurora’s peering hand.”(Bullett 1967: 100) Aurora was the sister of the sun god Helius and she opened the gates of light to announce the arrival of a new day. It is possible to see her halls full of roses in the east every morning. The poet describes her act with verses: And so he kept, until the rosy veils Mantling the east, by Aurora’s peering hand. Endymion again continues on his long way and everywhere around him he can see various things saved by the sea. Keats portrays the things with the words: “More dead than Morpheus’ imaginings.” (Bullett 1967: 100) Morpheus was one of the dreams among which he was the most skillful artist. What Keats obviously wants to express is that the ancient things are not dead, but only sleep and that their shapes are uncountable. One thing one story. Maybe they all were once important for Greek history. Keats depicts one of them – the gold vase – as a thing which remembers: “Saturn’s vintage.” (Bullett 1967: 100) Saturn or Cronus was a mighty god during whose region people lived in affluence. He had to defeat his father Uranus to stay alive. The mood of the young shepherd who is now surrounded by the ancient past starts to be gloomy. He reflects on all the happy moments in his life when the moon meant for him a dear companion until the strange love came and pushed the passion aside. Suddenly Endymion can see: “far in the concave green of the sea/An old man sitting calm and peacefully.” (Bullett 1967: 101) The appearance of the old man arouses in the youth curiosity. His hair is white and awful. He is wearing a blue cloak with impressive topics of the sea life. Endymion can see a picture with: “the regality/Of Neptune; and the sea nymphs round his state.” (Bullett 1967: 102) Neptune was the king of all water, but he mainly ruled over the sea. He was pictured with a lance with three tips similar to a pitchfork: Then there was pictur’d the regality Of Neptune; and the sea nymphs round his state. The old man is holding: “a book in his lap” (Bullett 1967: 102) and next to him is lying: “a pearly wand.” (Bullett 1967: 102) When the old man spots Endymion his
40 features seem to be lifeless, but then he wakes up from his day dreaming and a smile appears on his white lips. It is hard for him to stand up, but finally he manages and full of hope tells Endymion how happy he is to see him. The bewildered youth means for the old man a chance to get to the other world: Sleep will come smoothly to my weary brow. O Jove! I shall be young again, by young! O shell borne Neptune, I am pierc’d and stung With new born life! What shall I do? Where go, When I have cast this serpent skin of woe? The name of the old man is Glaucus and his sad life is an example of mortal and immortal love. The tale which is hidden behind his mask – his: “serpent skin of woe” (Bullett 1967: 103) – is covered in wretchedness and suffering. He wants to escape from his damnation and once more spot the one he loves. He would like to: swim to the syrens, and one moment listen Their melodies, and see their long hair glisten. Sirens were three sisters whose bodies were in the shape of a bird with women’s heads. Their songs meant downfall for sailors. Any sailor who once heard these creatures singing was condemned to drowning. After hearing the Glaucus’s gloomy words, Endymion fears that the old man is going to kill him. Therefore he is determined to shout and so make the gods look out of the heaven gate and come to help him. The poor youth pronounces the word Tartarus as the sign of woe: O misery of hell! resistless, tame, Am I to be burnt up? No, I will shout, Until the gods through heaven’s blue look out! – O Tartarus! In Greek mythology Tartarus was the deepest part of the underworld. It was used as a jail for the Titans and then the souls of bad and unjust people. Readers can feel the horror of this place even in these Keats’s verses. Endymion bids Cynthia farewell and kneels down in front of: “that care worn sage” (Bullett 1967: 104) full of fears for his life. But Glaucus, who has learned
41 humanity from his experience, pleads the young shepherd to get up. He starts to soothe his woe with words: Though thou know’st it not, Thou art commission’d to this fated spot For great enfranchisement. O weep no more; I am a friend to love, to loves of yore. On the way towards their difficult, but joyous task, the old man reveals Endymion his sad and painful fate. And so readers can now listen to the story which happened one thousand years ago.
42 3. Glaucus and Scylla’s myth Glaucus remembers that at that time he was a handsome fisherman who spent most of his time on the sea surrounded by a group of dolphins which were his only friends: I was a fisher once, upon this main, And my boat danc’d in every creek and bay; Rough billows were my home by night and day, The sea gulls not more constant; for I had No housing from the storm and tempests mad, But hollow rocks, and they were palaces Of silent happiness, of slumberous ease. He did not know what summer was, but sometimes he crept to the shores to hear: “a shepherd’s pipe/Mingled with ceaseless bleatings of his sheep.” (Bullett 1967: 105) He enjoyed lying in his small boat and patiently waiting: to see unfold Heaven’s gates, and Aethon snort his morning gold Wide o’er the swelling streams. He also helped the poor folk of the sea country and daily caught for them thousands of delicate fishes. But he felt lonely and longed for being free to explore the whole Neptune’s kingdom. So once, when he was not able to dwell on the wide ocean any longer, he: “in one extremest fit/I plunged for life or death” (Bullett 1967: 106) to its depths. There he spent days and days: “in sheer astonishment.”(Bullett 1967: 106) But then he saw fair Scylla and all his happy life changed: Woe, alas! That love should be my bane! Ah, Scylla fair! Why did poor Glaucus ever – ever dare To sue thee to his heart? There are two different tales about Scylla’s life in Greek mythology. The first one depicts her as a horrible monster which meant destruction for sailors. According the other one she was a beautiful, but cruel princess who betrayed her father and land.
43 Therefore she was turned into a rather small sea bird which ever since tried to hide itself before a huge eagle – Scylla’s father. Because Glaucus was rejected by the beauty, he decided to ask Circe for help. As readers have already found out, Circe was a mighty witch and Keats’s Glaucus calls this deity “Cruel enchantress.” (Bullett 1967: 107) And now the poet uses the first myth about Scylla when she: “fled him swift as sea bird on the wing.” (Bullett 1967: 106) He fled so long until tired and thirsty fainted. When he finally woke up, he found himself: “in a twilight bower” (Bullett 1967: 107) and could hear a sweet voice singing and a few tones of lyre. Seeing the witch to whom these all belonged, the sea god fell in love again. Keats adds: Who could resist? Who in this universe? Glaucus was so fascinated by the beauty and sweet ambrosia of Circe’s words that even “Amphion’s harp” (Bullett 1967: 108) would not make him return back to Scylla. In Greek mythology Amphion was a beautiful boy – Zeus’s son – who played his lyre at each feast given by the highest god. The lyre was a present from Hermes [the Zeus’s messenger]: nor would thence Have mov’d, even though Amphion’s harp had woo’d Me back to Scylla o’er the billows rude. The poor god did not know that his beautiful dream would end very soon. Keats aptly uses the verse: “specious heaven was changed to real hell.” (Bullett 1967: 108) One morning Circe left her lover half awake. Thirsty for her smooth arms, Glaucus decided to follow her. When he was wandering in the forest, he heard a sound of a moaning voice and then a thunder, but in spite of the ear splitting noise he followed the voice until he reached “a dark valley.” (Bullett 1967: 108) As soon as he got there, the god saw behind the trees: The banquet of my arms, my arbour queen, Seated upon an uptorn forest root; And all around her shapes, wizard and brute, Laughing, and wailing, groveling, serpenting, Shewing tooth, tusk, and venom bag, and sting! O such deformities! Old Charon’s self,
44 Should he give up awhile his penny pelf, And take a dream ‘mong rushes Stygian. In this part of the poem Keats again returns back to the underworld because all these horrific creatures belong to Hell and Charon as the ferryman should convey their cruel souls to its banks. But what the poet also wants to express is that Charon, who mercilessly extracted money from each dead soul, would rather give up his payment and drown than suffer the look at such monsters. The witch often smiled and handed round “clusters of grapes which the monsters quickly grasped and asked for more with a hungry lick about their shaggy jaws. Then she slowly took a branch of mistletoe: And emptied on ‘t a black dull gurling phial: Groan’d one and all, as if some piercing trial Was sharpening for their pitiable bones. She lifted up the charm: appealing groans From their poor breasts went suing to her ear In vain. After a while Glaucus could see how the whole herd grouped together and went towards the darkness. The shape they made reminded Keats: “one huge Python/Antagonizing Boreas.” (Bullett 1967: 109) Python was usually depicted as a large dragon or serpent whose name was connected with the god Apollo. Boreas was the North Wind who was very useful for mortals and therefore his name stands for a kind wind which blew away the horrific crowd in the shape of a cruel serpent. Suddenly from the dark popped up fauns, nymphs and satyrs who were joyfully singing and dancing. After them appeared a sad elephant man who: “bowed/Before the fierce witch” (Bullett 1967: 109/110) and asked her to end his sorrowful life and give his horrific body to the cold black air: Have mercy, Goddess! Circe, feel my prayer! Glaucus, who found out that the horrible scene was real and not a mere nightmare, quickly: “with fright/Fainted away in that dark lair of night.” (Bullett 1967: 110) He fled three days when in front of him emerged the angry witch. She blamed Glaucus for leaving her and promised him to take her revenge:
45 Hence shalt thou quickly to the watery vast; And there, ere many days be overpast, Disabled age shall seize thee; and even then Thou shalt not go the way of aged men; But live and wither, cripple and still breathe Ten hundred years. After that the cruel witch disappeared and even if the god’s heart: “despair sung/A war song of defiance against all hell,” (Bullett 1967: 111) he was made to approach the ocean’s foam. There floating on the waves he found the dead body of loving Scylla. According to Greek mythology Circe in her jealousy poisoned the waters of Scylla’s bathing place with magic herbs. In the following verses Keats depicts the poor princess as a girl who after her death was taken by her lover to a cave into whose vast, desolate and icy cold walls her cold body was gently laid. There she turned into a horrific monster dangerous for courageous sailors. Some time slowly passed on when one day Glaucus: “sitting upon a rock above the spray spotted/A gallant vessel.” Bullett 1967: 112) Soon after that came a wild tempest and started to shake with the ship and its crew. The old man decided to help the poor sailors trembling on the deck, but his attempts were in vain. Keats depicts the sad scene: The crew had gone, By one and one, to pale oblivion, And I was gazing on the surges prone, With many a scalding tear and many a groan. Suddenly by Glaucus’s feet emerged an old man’s hand holding a roll of paper. When the storm disappeared and the sun again swang up on the sky the old man started to turn the pages of the book in a hurried way. Their content formed a message according to which the poor wretch: all lovers tempest tost, And in the savage overwhelming lost, He shall deposit side by side, until Time’s creeping shall the dreary space fulfil. The component of the book also formed advice how this spell would be broken: Which done, and all these lobours ripened, A youth, by heavenly power lov’d and led,
46 Shall stand before him; whom he shall direct How to consummate all. The youth elect Must do the thing, or both will be destroy’d. Now Endymion realizes that he was sent to this place to “release Glaucus from Circe’s spell and resurrect the drowned lovers.” (Pettet 1957: 185) He lets the happy old man take him to the cave in which Scylla and all her drowned lovers sleep. After entering the place filled with piety, sorrow and grief, Endymion can see a wonder which is not equal to anything he has so far seen on his long way. Keats compare the place to the battlefield of the god Mars. This deity is depicted as a symbol of war and war murdering: Turn to some level plain where haughty Mars Has legion’d all his battle; and behold How every soldier, with firm foot, doth hold His even breast: see, many steeled squares, And rigid ranks of iron – whence who dares One step? Imagine further, line by line, These warrior thousands on the field supine. The sea god pleads his rescuer to hurry up and help him to break the gloomy spell. He takes the book and starts to tear it into small pieces. Then he grabs his blue cloak and throws it around Endymion’s shoulders. After that he strikes his wand nine times against the empty air. And now it is the brave youth who should be involved in this act. First of all he has to undo a tangled thread, then he has to break the old man’s wand against a lyre on the pedestal and finally he has to scatter Glaucus and all the sleeping sailors with minced leaves. By doing this the bewildered shepherd can see a big miracle. Glaucus – the poor wretch – turns into a handsome youth. He quickly approaches the place where Scylla rests, kneels down and presses her cold hand. Endymion repeats the powerful magic and the nymph awakes. Then the Latmian covers the lines of dead bodies one by one. Each man slowly lifts up his head: “as does a flower at Apollo’s touch.” (Bullett 1967: 115) In this verse Keats returns back to the old myth about the god’s friend Hyacinthus. Death is leaving the cave in a weeping mood and the shepherd prince wakes everyone up from the deadly sleep: while many, who Had died in mutual arms devout and true, Sprang to each other madly; and the rest Felt a high certainty of being blest.
47 The two delivers are happy, look into each other eyes and enjoy their first meeting after one thousand years. Then Glaucus full of joy asks his fellows to follow him to the Neptune’s palace where they all should thank the mighty god for his help.
48 4. The Neptune’s palace And so the whole joyous multitude moves towards the deity’s dome and on their way they meet another multitude. This crowd is made of the sailors’ wives and maids. Keats portrays the first moments of their meeting: On a wide sand they met, And of those numbers every eye was wet; For each their old love found. Such a huge consummation again moves on until it reaches the god Neptune’s palace. The kingdom is so vast and bulky that it exceeds: “those olden three/Memphis, and Babylon, and Nineveh.” (Bullett 1967: 117) Keats uses these three names as an allusion to their size, power and charm. The happy crowd takes its march through the arch and gets into: “the outer courts of Neptune’s state.” (Bullett 1967: 117) Right in front of it there is a golden gate to which the whole crowd quickly speeds. Suddenly it swiftly bursts open and the people can see: large Neptune on his throne Of emerald deep: yet not exalt alone; At his right hand stood winged Love, and on His left sat smiling Beauty’s paragon. It is interesting that Keats talks about Love as it was a personified masculine being. Readers can find this fact in the poet’s verses: Then Love took wing, and from his pinions shed On all the multitude a nectarous dew. They all stay to gape in amazement at the mighty god and his parade until: Triton blew his horn. The palace rang; The Nereids danc’d; the Syrens faintly sang; And the great Sea King bow’d his dripping head. Then on the scene appears: “the ooze born Goddess” (Bullett 1967: 118) and readers know that Keats describes Venus [Afrodite]. She leads fair Scylla and her guides to the conference. Endymion can see: “two copious tear drops fell/From the
49 God’s large eyes; he smiled delectable/And over Glaucus held his blessing hands.”(Bullett 1967: 118) After that Venus directs her attention to the young shepherd and invites him to her country Cytherea where he will find Cupid and Adonis who dwell there in complete pleasure. While Keats depicts the surroundings: Meantime a glorious revelry began Before the Water Monarch. Nectar ran In courteous fountains to all cups outreach’d. Readers can see the happy god Cupid who often touches his golden bow and sends arrows among the joyous re animated people. Even the poet is bewitched by the beauty of the place. He would like to stay and enjoy himself, but he knows that he has to hurry to the ending: O ‘tis a very sin For one so weak to venture his poor verse In such a place as this. O do not curse, High Muses! let him hurry to the ending. According to Greek mythology there were nine Muses, but this number is still unclear. They could sing very beautifully and everyone who heard them became still and listened. Even the heaven, stars, sea and rivers did not move. They were pictured the same way as the Sirens – with the bird shape body. They also had a lot of common with the water nymphs. Ancient poets claimed that they repeated everything after their protectors and especially after the highest deity of poetry, which was Hesiodos. Therefore Keats pleads the goddesses not to be angry with him and let him continue. Suddenly everyone is quiet and with enthusiasm listen to a soft hymn which on the sea waves slowly floats to their ears. When the last tunes faded away, the golden gate opens again and all the present people can see the old god Oceanus. Keats would surely make a big mistake not to mention this ancient deity of the water world because he is signified as the forefather of all gods. Originally he was a powerful, calm and deep large river which flew around the whole globe. The sun, moon and stars set into its depth and then again rose up to the sky. At the end of his reign he wanted to be alone and also Keats describes this act of his with verses:
50 Smooth moving came Oceanus the old, To take a latest glimpse at his sheep fold, Before he went into his quiet cave To muse for ever. Behind Oceanus can be seen Doris [the Oceanid]. She was the god’s daughter and the wife of the truthful and kind Old Man of the Sea – Nerea – who escorts his spouse. Amphion on a dolphin is approaching the parade smoothly playing the lute. Behind Amphion appears Amphitrite: “queen of pearls.” (Bullett 1967: 121) Amphitrite was one of 50 daughters of Doris and Nereus. She was a sea goddess and a wife of Poseidon, the mighty king of the sea himself. The last one is Thetis, Amphitrite’s sister, the mother of Achilles. Keats portrays the whole magnificence in this way: Then, a lucid wave, Scoop’d from its trembling sisters of mid sea, Afloat, and pillowing up the majesty Of Doris, and the AEgean seer, her spouse – Next, on a dolphin, clad in laurel boughs, Theban Amphion leaning on his lute: His fingers went across it – All were mute To gaze on Amphitrite, queen of pearls, And Thetis pearly too. Endymion feels: “the intolerable pleasure of it all and with the wish of death sinks to Amphitrite’s feet. It could seem that Keats wants to transform the poor lover into another sleeping Adonis.” (Pettet 1957: 186) Suddenly a group of Nereids gathers around his kneeling body and takes him far away from the cheering crowd. The last thing Endymion can see are words written in the sky “promising him love and immortal bliss.” (Pettet 1957: 186) Book III closes with the description of summer nature in which the youth happily discovers himsel: How happy once again in grassy nest!
51 VI. Book IV – The Indian maid 1. The hymn on Ausonia At the beginning of book IV readers can listen to another hymn which this time sings the praises of “loftiest Muse,” (Bullett 1967: 122) obviously Love. Love which Endymion feels to his native land the isle of Latmos. But it is not only the mournful shepherd who extols the place of his birth. Through the initial verses of this part the poet himself pay homage to his native Ausonia. In the poem Ausonia stands for the Greek name of Italy. Keats depicts this country as a previous barren place which finally: “won a full accomplishment of its native hopes” (Bullett 1967: 122) and became the fair light for its nation and especially Italian poets who let them inspired by its loftiness: “MUSE of my native land! loftiest Muse! O first born on the mountains! by the hues Of heaven on the spiritual air begot: Long didst thou sit alone in northern grot, While yet our England was a wolfish den; Before our forest heard the talk of men; Before the first of Druids was a child; Long didst thou sit amid our regions wild Rapt in a deep prophetic solitude.” (Bullett 1967p: 122; Book IV) Keats’s “wolfish den” (Bullett 1967: 122) is surely an allusion to the myth about the twins Romulus and Remus. These two twin brothers were brought up by a she wolf in her wolf’s den long before Romulus became the ruler of the big town Roma. The line which follows stands for the fact that the brothers were wild at first, but then Faustulus – a good shepherd – found them among the trees and together with his wife changed them into real human beings with the knowledge of speech. Keats also mentions Druids who, on the other hand, were wise priests of ancient Celtic societies. They had magical skills and could foretell the future. So Keats can have this ability of the new born child in his mind. Readers can also find among the impressive verses the number nine which should represent the highest gods [Cronus, Rhea, Hestia, Hades, Poseidon, Demeter, Hera, Zeus and Apollo], who were bewitched by Ausonia’s beauty:
52 Yet wast thou patient. Then sang forth the Nine, Apollo’s garland: yet didst thou divine Such home bred glory, that they cry’d in vain “Come hither, Sister of the Island! Then only “twenty lines from the beginning we can read the verses which create a complete contrast to the verses Keats uses at the end of the preceding book.” (Pettet 1957: 187) They are full of sorrow and pain: Great Muse, thou know’st what prison Of flesh and bone, curbs, and confines, and frets Our spirit’s wings: despondency besets Our pillows; and the fresh to morrow morn Seems to give forth its light in very scorn Of our dull, uninspired, snail paced lives.
53 2. Endymion and the Indian maid The story is again re opened with the voice which carries signs of big woe and weeping. The woe of a human who is far away from their “dear native land” (Bullett 1967: 122): Ah, woe is me! that I should fondly part From my dear native land! Ah, foolish maid! Glad was the hour, when, with thee, myriads bade Adieu to Ganges and their pleasant fields! To one so friendless the clear freshet yields A bitter coolness, the ripe grape is sour: Yet I would have great gods! but one short hour Of native air – let me but die at home. As readers could notice, Keats uses the name of the Ganges River. In the ancient world it was believed to be a sacred entity known as Ganga Ma – Mother Ganges. The whole river was revered as a goddess whose purity cleaned the souls of the faithful and helped the dead on their path towards heaven. Endymion seems to be startled hearing the sudden lament which no one would expect in such a lonely place. Listening to other sad words asking for someone to help, Endymion feels the same hints of “unsatisfied hunger for love.”(Pettet 1957: 188) Love which is sensuous and passionate in one. Love between two human beings. How can Endymion bear these woman’s sighs? How can he resist her beauty, tender arms and lovely eyes? He listens again to words which plead Hermes [the Zeus’s messenger] to touch the flower in front of her eyes and turn it into the shape of a man. Here again Keats goes back to the old myth about the handsome youth Hyacinthus who was transformed into the beautiful flower on Apollo’s request: To touch this flower into human shape! That woodland Hyacinthus could escape From his green prison, and here kneeling down Call me his queen, his second life’s fair crown! The maid sings so sadly that Endymion starts to fall in love with her, but he simply cannot give up the deep feelings for his immortal goddess. Through Keats’s verses the bewitched youth confesses that his heart starts to break into two parts: “I feel my heart is cut for them in twain.” (Bullett 1967: 124) Finally Endymion jumps out
54 “from his green covert” (Bullett 1967: 124) and tries to comfort the sobbing girl. He apologises the Indian beauty for disturbing her from her sad thoughts and pleads her to become his nurse to soothe the pain in his soul. Keats uses the verses: Scowl on, ye fates! until the firmament Outblackens Erebus, and the full cavern’d earth Crumbles into itself. Erebus stands for the darkness. Erebus was a sister of Night and nothing more than a mere dark, the gloom of Tartarus. Suddenly the talk between these two main characters – the Indian maid and the handsome shepherd – changes into a declaration of love. And Endymion’s new found lover starts to reveal her sorrowful life. Once when she was quietly weeping: “beneath my palm trees, by a river side,” (Bullett 1967: 126) she heard joyous voices. They belonged to Bacchus and his fellows. The whole madly dancing procession was crowned with green leaves. Through Keats’s verses readers can again imagine the mighty god in all his glory. “The joy, the laugh, the crew, the wine” (Bullett 1967: 126/127) these all stand for the cheerful god himself. Afraid of being seen she hurried to hide and secretly observed the scene. Keats portrays the magnificent sight: Within his car, aloft, young Bacchus stood, Trifling his ivy dart, in dancing mood, With sidelong laughing. Near his car old Silenus rode his ass. According to Greek mythology this old wise man was the loudest and oldest fellow of the whole retinue. Once he had been Dionysus tutor, but then he had got used to drinking and since then he only followed his master on his donkey or supported by other Satyrs. Keats depicts this annoying habit of his with verses: And near him rode Silenus on his ass, Pelted with flowers as he on did pass Tipsily quaffing.
55 Then readers can spot a group of young girls and women who shout and wave with sticks or switches winded around with ivy or vine. They usually danced in front of the happy god through the whole kingdom. After them appeared other creatures known as Satyrs. These beings were usually depicted as men with the snub, flat noses; the sharp goat ears; the tousled hair and the horse tails. They kept busy with hunting and grazing. They could play various musical instruments by which they widely danced, sang and shouted. They loved Bacchus’s sweet wine. Keats as the expert at old myths writes: Whence came ye, jolly Satyrs! whence came ye! So many, and so many, and such glee? Why have ye left your forest haunts, why left Your nuts in oak tree cleft? For wine, for wine we left our kernel tree; For wine we left our heath, and yellow brooms, And cold mushrooms; For wine we follow Bacchus through the earth; Great God of breathless cups and chirping mirth! The Indian maid then describes all the foreign and far away places through which she wandered after joining the god and his retinue. In following lines of the poem readers can visit some enchanting countries they have never been to. In a short while they can see themselves in: “Osirian Egypt parched Abyssinia, old Tartary or great Brahma” (Bullett 1967: 128). So readers can imagine how various the nomadic lives of the Gypsies or Indians are. Now tired and thirsty after such a long pilgrimage the poor girl stands in front of the Latmos prince.
56 3. Endymion’s flights They both lean against each other trembling and waiting for some destruction. Suddenly they can see: “foot feathered Mercury,” (Bullett 1967: 130) who does not stay long, but just quickly touches the grass around the lovers and again disappears. From the place the god touched with his wand out spring two black horses. It is claimed that the same horses once belonged to Achilles who got them from the sun god Helia. They can also stand for the black horses of death which belonged to Diomedes. Soon the two steeds flap their: “large dark blue wings upon their backs” (Bullett 1967: 130) and fly with Endymion and the maid up towards the sky. The youth and the mournful lady carried away through the twilight sky fall asleep. Endymion’s dream takes the youth into heaven. He dreams about winning immortality which is given to him by Jove himself. Far and far: “these raven horses” (Bullett 1967: 131) fly and on their pinions Endymion carries on his sweet dream. Readers can see him walking on heaven’s pavement, friendly talking with all the deities he has met on his long way and from his hands: “Juno’s proud birds are pecking pearly grain.” (Bullett 1967: 131) [Here Juno stands for the goddess Hera.] He tries the string of Apollo’s golden bow and asks for the golden apples from Hera’s marvellous tree. There are also other deities and to them belong these Keats’s verses: Upon his arm he braces Pallas’ shield, And strives in vain to unsettle and wield A Jovian thunderbolt: arch Hebe brings A full brimm’d goblet, dances lightly, sings And tantalizes long. The “thunderbolt” is used as a symbol of the mighty god Zeus, whereas Hebe was the goddess of eternal youth and the head waitress of the highest couple and therefore it is she who brings the immortal liquid. Endymion drinks the sweet nectar and lost in endless pleasure sinks to the Dian’s feet. Then he blows a bugle and: “an ethereal band/Are visible above” (Bullett 1967: 132) – the four Seasons. According to old mythology “Zeus and Themis, the earth goddess, annually repeat their holy marriage and produce the seasons [Horae], goddesses who are two, three or four in number and closely connected with vegetation. They attend the greater deities and provide attractive
57 decoration in literature and art.” (Morford, Lenardon 1985: 71) Keats is describing these four deities as if he was describing nature itself: the Seasons four, Green kyrtled Spring, flush Summer, golden store In Autumn’s sickle, Winter frosty hoar. The bugle belongs to his Cynthia. When he tries to touch and embrace her in his arms, he awakes. And still awoken the youth beholds the same dream. The gods stand above a bed in which he lies with the Indian maid. Endymion cannot believe his eyes and feels puzzled. Nevertheless, he kisses the sleeping beauty by his side. Seeing this, Cynthia’s shadow fades away. Keats depicts the scene with verses: She press’d his hand in slumber; so once more He could not help but kiss her and adore. At this the shadow wept, melting away. The Latmian started up: “Bright goddess, stay!” Shouting out in sudden misery, he asks the only one he has ever deeply loved why it is wrong to decide for a mortal woman. He longs for more than the promise of love; after all he has: “no daedale heart.” (Bullett 1967: 132) Daedalus was an extremely skillful artist. He was very proud of himself and jealous of those who were better than he was. Even if he did not want to have any apprentices in his workshop, he accepted the only son of his sister called Perdix. Despite his young age, Perdix could soon make much better tools than his master. “One day Perdix invented the saw when he got the idea from a fish’s backbone. Daedalus in a fit of jealousy hurled his nephew from a rock. As Perdix fell, he was turned into a partridge, which still bears the name perdix and which has been afraid of flying ever since” (Morford, Lenardon 1985: 425): Search my most hidden breast! By truth’s own tongue, I have no daedale heart: why is it wrung To desperation? The Indian maid awakes and starts to cry and plead the sad youth to forget all about his immortal lover and push her fearful shadow aside; otherwise their love will be ruined. Endymion renews his passionate love to her, but he is sure that: “some fearful end” (Bullett 1967: 133) must come. He cannot believe in being happy again after such
58 great woe. To describe the youth’s feelings Keats uses the name of Nemesis, which was depicted as “the kernel of Greek tragedy. Nemesis also represents righteous indignation against evil” (Morford, Lenardon 1985: 50): Some fearful end must be: where, where is it? By Nemesis, I see my spirit flit Alone about the dark. Again their steeds rise leaving the old Sleep behind them in his “vapoury lair.” (Bullett 1967: 133) There is something curious about their feelings. They should be happy because they deeply love each other, but the poet’s verses are again full of woe: ‘Tis well nigh past man’s search their hearts to see; Whether they wept, or laugh’d, or griev’d, or toy’d – Most like with joy gone mad, with sorrow cloy’d. The couple stays in their swift flight until the moon swings upon the sky and Cynthia again escorts Endymion on his way. At the same time the young shepherd turns his head to look into the dark eyes of the fair beauty. In despair he can see how her body slowly starts to melt in the cold moonshine. He tries to kiss her hand and seize her wrist, but nothing helps. He is alone as he has prophesied in a few verses above. In this solitude he finds himself above a den which is made for souls suffering from glooms. The den is depicted as “the tranquillity of mind that lies behind all grief and sorrow.” (Pettet 1957: 189) Through the following verses readers can easily imagine to what kind of place the poet wants to lead them: There anguish does not sting; nor pleasure pall: Woe hurricanes beat ever at the gate, Yet all is still within and desolate. Beset with painful gusts, within ye hear No sound so loud as when on curtain’s bier The death watch is stifled. Enter none Who strive therefore: on the sudden it is won. Keats also describes the place with these impressive lines: Where those eyes are the brightest far that keep Their lids shut longest in a dreamless sleep. O happy spirit home!
59 This place is called the Cave of Quietude. But it seems that Endymion does not pay any attention to the depth below him. He feels happy because: “his lulled soul was there, although upborne/With dangerous speed: and so he did not mourn/Because he knew not whither he was going.“ (Bullett 1967: 135) Nothing can disturb him from his mental state, even not: “the aerial blowing/Of trumpets” (Bullett 1967: 135) which rises in the east. But the sound reaches the horse’s ears and so it with fierce alarm flies towards it. Since now Endymion can see the crowd of happily singing gods greeting the poor wanderer and approaching him: “in bright array.” (Bullett 1967: 135) This time Keats’s intention is to lead his readers among the stars. All the mighty deities mentioned in this part of Book IV were once famous on land and because of their noble and courageous deeds they were put in the shapes of stars or constellations in the evening sky. It is possible to find the conclusive piece of evidence in the following verses: Dissolve the frozen purity of air; Let thy white shoulders silvery and bare Shew cold through watery pinions; make more bright The Star Queen’s crescent on her marriage night. And so readers can see Hesperus who is merrily playing the lute or lyre. Hesperus was connected with the goddess Aphrodite. He is often depicted as the evening [Vesper] or morning star [Lucifer]. He is still visible in the western sky shortly after sunset or in the eastern sky shortly before sunrise. Keats portrays the deity as a merry man who: upon his silver wings He leans away for highest heaven and sings, Snapping his lucid fingers merrily! Neither Zephyrus nor Flora would miss such celebration. The former one stands for the West Wind which brings good weather. The latter one is the goddess of flowering – not only of flowers, but especially of grain and vine. “In Ovid she is the consort of Zephyrus who in return for the violent abduction of his spouse gave her a garden filled with flowers.” (Morford, Lenardon 1985: 473) Keats thus depicts this mighty couple and opens their charming garden:
60 Ah Zephyrus! art here, and Flora too! Ye tender bibbers of the rain and dew, Young playmates of the rose and daffodil, Be careful, ere ye enter in, to fill Your basket high With fennel green, and balm, and golden pines, Savory, latter mint, and columbines, Cool parsley, basil sweet and sunny thyme; Yea, every flower and leaf of every clime, All gather’d in the dewy morning. Then the poet addresses Aquarius: “the crystalline brother of the belt of heaven.” (Bullett 1967: 135) Aquarius stands for Ganymede, a beautiful prince of Troy. Readers have been already told that this handsome youth was taken by Zeus’s eagle [Aquila] to Olympus, where he got a position of a cup bearer. Therefore Aquarius is also called The Water Carrier. Ganymede loved riding on Aquila. He accompanied the great god on his travels, always carrying a golden cup. “Once when the land was without water the youth pleaded Zeus to send down rain. Since then Ganymede was glorified as Aquarius, god of rain, and placed among stars.” (www.heavens above.com.) The poet describes him as a being: to whom king Jove has given Two liquid pulse streams stead of feather’d wings, Two fan like fountains, thine illuminings For Dian play. Castor, Pollux [Polydeuces] and Centaur are other three immortal beings. According to the myth Leda [the daughter of Night], the queen of Sparta, bore two children to the mighty god Zeus, who visited her in the shape of a swan, and at the same time two other to her husband Tyndorus. The four were born from two eggs. From the one sprang Pollux and Helen and from the other one Castor and Clytemnestra [the murderer of her husband, killed by her own son]. There are various myths about the two inseparable half brothers – Pollux and Castor. According to one of them Pollux, the son of the highest god, was immortal and Castor, the son of the king of Sparta, was mortal. Because they both were brave youths who voyaged in search of the Golden Fleece as the Argonauts, fought in the Trojan War and saved lives of many people, they were parted by death. When Castor died, Pollux pleaded Zeus to stay with his brother. “The mighty god acknowledging the heroism of both brothers decided that they would spend
61 one day in the underworld and the next with their father in heaven.” Maybe because of their inseparable part of each other these two are depicted as Gemini. In the following verses Keats uses the theme of bravery: Castor has tamed the planet Lion, see! And of the Bear has Pollux mastery. The planets Lion and Boar probably stand for the goddess Artemis who was often drawn in these two animal shapes. But according to Greek mythology the former one stands for Callisto, a nymph of Artemis’s retinue. She claimed that she would stay a virgin all her life, but Zeus seduced her. She was turned into a bear by the goddess Artemis who found out that one of her favourite companions is pregnant. Callisto gave a birth to Arcas whose name is also tightly connected with a bear. The latter one stands for the fearful gigantic Nemean Lion which was placed among stars by Zeus himself. The old myth says that once the people of Nemea were terrified by a huge lion. It was defeated by brave Hercules [Heracles] who killed it with his bare hands. After that the gallant hero used its pelt as a coat and the head as a helmet. Since then he is portrayed in this well known appearance. The third fellow who guards the crowd is the Centaur. The Centaurs are generally portrayed as violent beings, half man and half horse creatures, (as readers have already found out). The only exception was Chiron. He was wise and gentle, skilled in medicine and music. According to Greek mythology it was he who “first fashioned the constellations and taught humans how to read the sky. He placed a picture of himself in the sky to guide the Argonauts on their search for the Golden Fleece. He faces east holding a lance which he is using to defend himself from Lupus, the wolf.” (www.comfychair.org.) Keats depicts him as a courageous hero: The Centaur’s arrow ready seems to pierce Some enemy: far forth his bow is bent Into the blue of heaven. He’ll be shent, Pale unrelentor, When he shall hear the wedding lutes a playing. Keats also mentions the name of Andromeda, who had to be sacrificed to save her country from a big sea monster which was sent as a punishment by the god Poseidon to ravage the land. Andromeda was a beautiful woman and so Perseus fell in
62 love and rescued her when her parents promised that she would marry him. “Andromeda was put among the stars by the goddess Athena as a reward for keeping her parent’s promise.” (www.comfychair.org.) The poet writes about this mortal woman: Andromeda! sweet woman! why delaying So timidly among the stars: come hither! Join this bright throng, and nimbly follow whither They all are going. Perseus’s name is also mentioned in the following verse. This man was a courageous hero who cut off Medusa’s head and because of its power rescued his lover. The verses which follow describe Danae’s woe when he was refused by Andromeda’s parents: Danae’s Son, before Jove newly bow’d, Has wept for thee, calling to Jove aloud. Thee, gentle lady, did he disenthral: Ye shall for ever live and love, for all Thy tears are flowing. These fantastic figures plead Endymion to leave the place and hurry away. The description of the whole multitude is ended with the verse: By Daphne’s fright, behold Apollo! There is Keats inspired by the old myth in which Daphne was a beautiful fairy with whom Apollo fell in love. The god Eros hit her with his arrow, but unlike the Apollo’s one, this arrow had a blunt end and so she could not love anyone. The result was that the fairy took to flight when she saw the god. Once the Apollo’s hands nearly grabbed her, but her father helped her and changed her into a quite new tree. This tree is called laurel and since then laurel in sacred to Apollo.
63 4. Return to the ground of boyish days Endymion can hear no more because his steed takes him: “to the green head of a misty hill.” (Bullett 1967: 136) When he again touches the land, his words are full of anguish. He would be rather carried away by dangerous winds or dwell in Hell than feel the awful grief and sorrow again. He does not want to return to his friends, he wants to die. He calls back the Indian maid and asks his destiny whether she was only a cloudy phantom, a great dream. Suddenly the beauty again encounters the sobbing shepherd and “ecstasy once more flares up in him for her warm, flesh and blood reality.” (Pettet 1957: 189) Now after meeting the mortal lover Endymion announces his dream goddess Cynthia that he has decided for earth and earthly love: Adieu, my daintiest Dream! although so vast My love is still for thee. The hour may come When we shall meet in pure elysium. On earth I may not love thee; and therefore Doves will I offer up, and sweetest store All through the teeming year: so thou wilt shine On me, and on this damsel fair of mine, And bless our simple lives. Endymion starts to paint the place where he with his Indian maid will dwell. He imagines his new shelter: “under the brow/Of some steep mossy hill, where ivy dun/Would hide us up.” (Bullett 1967: 137) They will drink morning dew and eat fruits of wood. The god Pan will take care of them. Endymion will bring home honey and apples from places where no man has ever been to. He will: “fashion pipes on the syrinx flag” (Bullett 1967: 138) and so the moon goddess will always know where he wanders. Instead he asks her for letting him go and love the mortal girl. He promises to find a stream and donate it to Cynthia. She will stay there every time she will need a rest. Endymion will fill the stream with plenty of fishes and will plant: “dew sweet eglantine/And honeysuckles full of clear bee wine,” (Bullett 1967: 138) on its sides. In the following verses Keats uses various deities and their symbols which stand for the brave acts which Endymion wants to do for his immortal dream: I’ll kneel to Vesta, for a flame of fire; And to god Phoebus, for a golden lyre;
64 To Empress Dian, for a hunting spear; To Vesper, for a taper silver clear, That I may see thy beauty through the night. (Readers have already been informed about nearly all of these mighty figures). The only deity they have not been acquainted with yet is Vesta [Hestia] who was the goddess of hearth and home and fire on it. This deity provided refuge to all who needed help. Therefore Keats uses the words “flame of fire” (Bullett 1967: 138) as an allusion to her power. Vesta is often depicted with a sceptre in her hand which is a symbol of her protection of loyalty oath. The oath which Endymion promises to his Cynthia. Keats then continues: To Flora, and a nightingale shall light Tame on thy finger; to the River gods, And they shall bring thee taper fishing rods Of gold, and lines of Naiads’ long bright tress . Keats now mentions another bird – a nightingale. There is a myth connected with this bird. According to it Aedon [one of the Muses] in derangement killed her own son Ityla. She was jealous of her sister in low, who also bore a little boy. After such an awful act she was turned into the shape of a nightingale. And Naiads were water fairies who dwelt in springs, wells, rivers, lakes, bays and in the sea. They were the kindest and the most helpful creatures. Endymion swears that Cynthia’s “mossy footstool” (Bullett 1967: 138) will be his alter and her lips: “will mean for him Delphos”. (Bullett 1967: 138) Keats surely tries to make an allusion to the god Apollo. Delphos or Delphi was the place where the god was worshipped. He let there built a famous oracle where hundreds of wanderer annually came to bend to him and ask for advice: Thy mossy footstool shall the altar be ‘Fore which I’ll bend, bending, dear love, to thee: Those lips shall be my Delphos, and shall speak Laws to my footsteps, colour to my cheek. Suddenly Keats changes the mood of the poem and the verses which follow are again full of woe and sorrow because the Indian maid refuses to belong to Endymion. In her speech she turns to Eros: “young feathered tyrant,” (Bullett 1967: 139) and asks him
65 to: “devote this body to the earth.” (Bullett 1967: 139) She tells the poor shepherd that even if she wished to be his, it is not possible because she is forbidden to love someone: Twice hast thou ask’d whither I went: henceforth Ask me no more! I may not utter it, Nor may I be thy love. We might commit Ourselves at once to vengeance; we might die; We might embrace and die:voluptuous thought! Enlarge not to my hunger, or I’m caught In trammels of perverse deliciousness. No, no, that shall not be: thee will I bless, And bid a long adieu. Endymion does not say a single word. They both go hand in hand into the valleys until tired and thirsty sit down: “beneath a fair lone beechen tree.” (Bullett 1967: 139) Without one look at each other they gaze at the wide sky and through the “shedded leaves” (Bullett 1967: 139) can see merciless heaven. Despite of his enormous woe the handsome shepherd feels a small pulse of joy. He recognizes the place which they reached after their long way. It is his old garden: “ground of boyish days.” (Bullett 1967: 140) Not far from the tree is the stream by which he first dreamt about the silver queen. On the bark, they now lean against, he carved the shape of the moon with little stars around it. He can also see a silhouette standing in front of him. Yes, now he is sure, it is his sweet sister Peona who the fair lady embraces. Peona can see her brother’s sorrow and asks him what the reason of his tears is when all people on the isle of Latmos will be pleased to see their lord again. She cannot believe that his soul is in such a sad mood when he has returned to his native land accompanied by such a beautiful maid who will soon become a new queen. Peona assures Endymion that from now on no one will ask where he went to and she will not pray each night as she did since she last sang to him in her arbour. Keats adds: O Hermes! on this very night will be A hymning up to Cynthia, queen of light; For the soothsayers old saw yesternight Good visions in the air. Hermes was the maker of a lyre which he gave to Apollo as the compensation when he stole his herd. Therefore Apollo made him the messenger of the gods and a patron of all his herds. He also gave him a golden mace with which this winged
66 messenger brought to people affluence and happiness. He also used the golden mace to escort mortals on their last way to the underworld. Keats probably means by his words “good visions in air,” (Bullett 1967: 141) the luck which Hermes brought to his wards. Cynthia, as the goddess of the moon, is surely connected with the word “yesternight.” (Bullett 1967: 141) In her face the wise old shepherds could read the promise of perpetual health to all shepherds and their flocks, her will belong: “these vesper carols” (Bullett 1967: 141) which all people of Latmos will sing this night. Peona is sure that they all will be immensely happy to see their young prince alive. But seeing her brother mourning Peona asks the fair lady what she can do:”to espouse/This wayward brother to his rightful joys!” (Bullett 1967: 141) Endymion cannot stand no more and calmly announces his dear sister that he wants to give up all pleasures on land and become a hermit for the rest of his life. Keats describes this decision of his: A hermit young, I’ll in mossy cave, Where thou alone shalt come to me, and lave Thy spirit in the wonders I shall tell. Endymion asks Peona to take the young maid with her and behave to her like to her own sister. He assures her that everything he does is his wish and therefore she should not weep any longer. The youth reveals that inside his heart is empty place which he wanted to dedicate to the goddess Cynthia, but since now: “in that same void white Chastity shall sit.” (Bullett 1967: 142) He wants to spend his future days in moral purity and in praying to Dina’s fame. After the youth’s last words they all feel like that one who is eager to: “kneel to Lucifer or Baal to obtain a little sleep” (Bullett 1967: 142/143): As feels a dreamer what doth most create His own particular fright, so these three felt: Or like one who, in after ages, knelt To Lucifer of Baal, when he’d pine After a little sleep. Lucifer is again mentioned here as an allusion to the Morning and Evening Star. Baal stands for Pan or for a priest from Syria who helped to destroy what remained of Roman religion. He was one of those who brought and spread Christianity in Roma. Baal can also mean a Christian demon or Satan himself.
67 Their thoughts are also similar to the thoughts of a person who gets into the underworld, where he meets his old friends, but they do not recognize him. This allusion may depict Peona’s feelings because she cannot understand her brother’s change. They are not able to move or even say Adieu to each other; finally Endymion is the first one who takes his leave of the tender pair. While the sad girls walk slowly away, the youth’s eyes start to pain and cover in tears. He cannot help and shouts: “Stay!” he cried,”ah, stay! Turn, damsels! hist! one word I have to say. Sweet Indian, I would see thee once again. It is a thing I dote on: so I’d fain. Peona, ye should hand in hand repair Into those holy groves, that silent are Behind great Dian’s temple. I’ll be yon, At vesper’s earliest twinkle.
68 5. The lovers’ encounter Now readers can see Endymion patiently waiting for the right time to spot his lovely maid for the last time. Then he stands up and lamenting slowly walks towards the temple. Keats compares Endymion’s death to the death of summer because nobody cries knowing that next year this season will come again. The poet talks about the beauties of the hot summer as if they all were Endymion’s kingdom with which the shepherd was ready to pass away: Night will strew On the damp grass myriads of lingering leaves, And with them shall I die; nor much it grieves To die, when summer dies on the cold sward. Why I have been a butterfly, a lord Of flowers, garlands, love knots, silly posies, Groves, meadows, melodies, and arbour roses; My kingdom’s at its death, and just it is That I should die with it. When he reaches the sight of the temple, his: “tongue becomes sober and he utters” (Bullett 1967: 144): “Ha!” I said, “King of the butterflies; but by this gloom, And by old Rhadamanthus’ tongue of doom, This dusk religion, pomp of solitude, And the Promethean clay by thief endued, By old Saturnus’ forelock, by his head Shook with eternal palsy, I did wed Myself to things of light from infancy; And thus to be cast out, thus lorn to die, Is sure enough to make a mortal man Grow impious.” Why does Keats let Endymion to address himself the King of the butterflies? According to Greek mythology Prometheus created a first man from water and clay and the goddess Athena breathed in his body a soul which was in our language called psyche. Maybe Keats’s intention is to make from Endymion the king of the human souls because of his wish to become a pour hermit. Maybe a butterfly means for Keats a pure symbol of the summer season.
69 There is another myth which refers to Prometheus and Epimetheus who were responsible for division of abilities among mortal beings created by gods under earth. Because Epimetheus wished to do this task on his own, Prometheus could only watch the disaster which the hot headed god made. Epimetheus gave all human skills to animals. Prometheus did not wait a single while and stole from Hephaestus and Athena’s temple the god’s fire and the goddess’s skill and gave it to people. Therefore Keats uses the word “thief”. (Bullett 1967: 144) Saturnus is another name of the great god Cronus [Cronos]. He defeated his father Uranus and became a new ruler over the world. Before Uranus died he had cursed his son to be defeated by one of his own sons, too. Cronus was an excellent ruler, but after the birth of his first child with his wife Rhea [Ops], he started to fear of his father’s curse. He swallowed all his children – three daughters and two sons – except the last one – the god Zeus – and so the old words were filled up. Therefore Keats may use the words “eternal palsy”. (Bullett 1967: 144) Suddenly the poor Endymion changes his decision, kneels down and prays. He prays so vehemently to his goddess Cynthia that he cannot see, not hear the two joyous maids. Peona calls her brother and asks him why he forced them to come here. This is Endymion’s answer: “Sister, I would have command, If it were heaven’s will, on our sad fate.” Hearing this: “the dark eyed stranger” (Bullett 1967: 144) says in a new voice that she is sure he would keep his word and died, but it is not necessary to do it now. And she suddenly starts to change her appearance and to the shepherd’s amaze she turns into his loving Cynthia, who continues on her speech with words: “Drear, drear Has our delaying been; but foolish fear Withheld me first; and then decrees of fate; And then ‘twas fit that from this mortal state Thou shouldst, my love, by some unlook’d for change Be spiritualiz’d.” The happy goddess promises Peona that these forests are now safe for her: “as was thy cradle” (Bullett 1967: 145) and that she can come to this place whenever she would like to see them both happy together. Keats makes from his youth in love a sort
70 of a god who will immortalized dwell in heaven and from there takes care of his sister’s destiny. The whole poem is ended with these impressive verses full of longed for love: She gave her fair hands to him, and behold, Before three swiftest kisses he had told, They vanish’d far away! – Peona went Home through the gloomy wood in wonderment.
71 VII. Conclusion Despite his short life and career, John Keats is one of the “major authors” who influence young poets struggling to find firm ground and whose poetry still pleads contemporary readers. Because his marvellous verses are full of rich classical allusions and myths, it may see to be a challenging task to reveal their precise meaning. Therefore the main aim of this thesis is to make an attempt to analyse the real literary legacy of John Keats’s poem Endymion . John Keats tried to embody in this remarkable work much of the essential Greek spirit. Maybe this is the reason why he based the main theme of the whole narrative poem on one of the ancient Greek tales. Therefore this great poet through his vivid imagination makes possible for contemporary readers to peep in the past times which are nowadays shrouded in mystery. Readers find the brave Latmian prince among his friends on the isle of Latmos and join him on his sorrowful journey to find his only love Cynthia. First of all Endymion will show them around his boyish ground and will lead them to the Feast of Pan where simple country people pay homage to their patron who brings them good luck and happy life. In return, readers together with Endymion’s loving sister Peona will try to soothe his sorrow and woe and patiently listen to his interesting, but sad story. Then they will willingly accompany the youth on his long pilgrimage through the underworld, the water kingdom and finally return back to his native land. In each place of their exceptional journey they will meet various heroes and gods who will charm them by their courageous deeds and mighty power. In the underworld readers will spot the golden gate of Hell and hear the fearful bark of Cerberus. The sleeping youth Adonis and his charming goddess Venus [Aphrodite] will share with them the wonder of renewed life and re birth of nature. On the contrary, the sad life story of the stream god Alpheus and his beautiful fairy Arethusa will provoke in them signs of fruitless endeavour and frustration. But the promise of Aphrodite, who protects Endymion’s poor soul, will make their spirits rise up and together with the young shepherd enter the water world. There, under the sea surface, readers will admire the miraculous objects hidden on the seabed and will try to touch the golden vase lying in their way. Then they may be stunned by the awful appearance of the poor wretch Glaucus and the sad fate of his love Scylla. But when they see their brave leader to take part in Glaucus and Scylla freeing
72 from the horrible spell, at the end of Book III, they will again happily join the heart broken prince and escort him on a forsaken meadow. There readers will quietly listen to the sad hymn of the beautiful Indian maid crying for her native land and for someone to love her. Therefore they will not be very surprised when their main hero fall in love with her and decide to spend the rest of his life by her side. They will understand the grieving shepherd’s decision to stay and dwell in the mossy cave with the mortal girl. Nevertheless, they will not leave him in such a happy mood, but swing up into the saddle of his raven horse to greet all the marvellous and proud stars in the evening sky. They will say hello to Hesperus, Pollux and his half brother Castor, even the warning pose of the old Centaur will attract their attention. Everything once has to end and even the adventurous journey through the ancient world is slowly getting to the final part of the whole poem – to the end of Book IV. Readers will see how happy Endymion will become when he finally finds the beautiful goddess of his dreams – Cynthia and will be astonished by his sudden change into the immortal god surrounded by all the mighty deities who he met on his sorrowful journey. After all these impressive moments readers will be surely obliged to Keats for the rare opportunity to enter the world of his imagination. No wonder then that this marvellous poem became one of the principal works of such a talented poet as Keats really was. Even if you try hard to find the mysterious world full of green forests, clear streams and rivers, courageous heroes and their brave deeds and finally all the sublime deities depicted by Keats’s charming verses in nowadays society, it will be an impossible task.
73 VIII. Bibliography Works cited: 1. BULLETT, Gerald. John Keats: John Keats´s Poems. London: Everyman´s Library, 1967. 2. MORFORD, Mark P.O., LENARDON, Robert J. Classical Mythology. New York § London: Longman, 1985. c.576. ISBN 0 582 28541 0 3. PETTET, E.C. On the Poetry of Keats. Cambridge: University Press, 1957. 4. BELL, Cathy. The mythology of the Constellations. 1997. Princeton University. 12 Aug. 2006 http://comfychair.org. 5. PEAT, Christ. Mythology of the constellation Aquarius. 2006. 12 Aug. 2006 http://heavens above.com/myth.asp?con=Aqr 6. Window to the Universe. 2000. The University Corporation for Atmospheric Research. 10 Aug. 2006 http://www.windows.ucar.edu. Works consulted: 1. FRONEK, Josef. ANGLICKO ČESKÝ.ČESKO ANGLICKÝ SLOVNÍK. Praha: LEDA, 1999. 1277 s. ISBN 80 85927 48 9 2. KERÉNYI, Karl. Mytologie Řeků I: Příběhy bohů a lidí. Praha: OIKOYMENH, 1996. 247 s. ISBN 80 86005 14 3 3. KERÉNYI, Karl. Mytologie Řeků II: Příběhy héróů. Praha: OIKOYNENH, 1998. 349 s. ISBN 80 86005 00 3 4. MERTLÍK, Rudolf. Starověké báje a pověsti. Praha: Svoboda, 1989 5. PETIŠKA, Eduard. Staré řecké báje a pověsti. Praha: Albatros, 1961 6. POLLARD, Elaine, LIEBECK, Helen. The Oxford Paper Dictionary. Oxford: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1994. c. 938. ISBN 0 19 280012 4 7. Chesil´s Favourite Poetry: John Keats: Endymion. 4 Jun 2006 http://www.photoaspects.com/chesil/keats/keats9.html
74 Appendix 1. Appendix n.1 = Selen and Endymion (painting) SELENE. Slumbering devotion. 7 Aug. 2006. The Fonlisting.org. 12 Aug. 2006 http://www.forsaken faith.org/selendy 2. Appendix n.2 = Venus and Adonis (painting) Venus and Adonis. 14 Jul. 2006. Olga’s Gallery. 12 Aug. 2006 http://www.abcgallery.com
75 1. Appendix n.1 = Selene and Endymion (painting)
76 2. Appendix n.2 = Venus and Adonis (painting)
77 X. Resumé Hlavním cílem této bakalářské práce je zjistit a vyložit skutečný význam veršů obsažených v působivé básni Endymion, jejímž autorem je John Keats.Tato práce se především zaměřuje na staré řecké báje a pověsti, starověké řecké bohy a odvážné hrdiny, kteří inspirovali tohoto neobyčejného básníka a staly se hlavní tvůrčí myšlenkou pro napsání jeho stěžejního díla. Hlavní hrdina Endymion, který se rmoutí pro svou velkou lásku k bohyni měsíce Selené, provází čtenáře světem záhadné mytologie. Spolu s tímto zkroušeným mladým mužem se čtenáři dostávají do míst, které jsou zahalené rouškou časů dávno minulých.Vstupují s ním do hlubokých lesů, do podsvětí, vodního království nebo cizokrajných zemí a na každém jejich kroku je doprovází bozi a bohyně uctívané řeckým národem. Je zřejmé, že je velmi složité pro dnešního moderního člověka, porozumět skutečnému významu těchto mocných božstev a jejich symbolů pro Keatsovu generaci. Hlavní snahou této závěrečné práce je tudíž přiblížit tento tajemný svět skrz výklad básnikových veršů. The main aim of this bachelor thesis is to find out and explain the precious meaning of the verses which are covered in the impressive poem Endymion whose author is John Keats. This work is mainly concerned on old Greek myths and tales, ancient Greek gods and courageous heroes who inspired this extraordinary poet and became the main creative idea for writing his principal work. The principal hero Endymion who grieves about his great love to the moon goddess Selene guides readers through the world of mysterious mythology. Readers can together with this young man flattened by grief enter the places shrouded in the veil of the past times. They enter with him the deep woods, the underworld, the water kingdom or the foreign countries. On each their step they are accompanied by gods and goddesses worshipped by the Greek nation. It is obvious that it very difficult for contemporary modern person to grasp the correct meaning of these mighty deities and their symbols for Keats’s generation. The
78 main attempt of this final thesis is therefore to approach this mystery world through the explanation of the poet’s verses.
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