Imagery on Ode on Melancholy

Imagery on Ode on Melancholy

Task One - THE LYRIC POEM

What's lyric poetry:

• a brief poem with one speaker (not necessarily the poet) 
• expresses thoughts and feelings
• it can be an elegy, a dramatic monologue or an ode
• often used in short songs or in brief TV commercials
• they're repetitive and several images are used, so that they stay in our memory 

Task Two - MELANCHOLY

How melancholic differs from sadness: Melancholy is beyond sad: as a noun or an adjective, it's a word for the gloomiest of spirits.

Task Three - READING THE POEM

No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist

       Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;

Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd

       By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;

               Make not your rosary of yew-berries,

       Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be

               Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl

A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;

       For shade to shade will come too drowsily,

               And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

But when the melancholy fit shall fall

       Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,

That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,

       And hides the green hill in an April shroud;

Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,

       Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,

               Or on the wealth of globed peonies;

Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,

       Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,

               And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die;

       And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips

Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,

       Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:

Ay, in the very temple of Delight

       Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,

               Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue

       Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;

His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might,

               And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

Notes on "Ode on Melancholy":

Stanza 1:

•  The first stanza is telling the reader what they shouldn't do when they feel melancholic.
•  Prosperine: Authors from the Romantic period are obsessed with myths from Ancient Greece.

Stanza 2:

•  Nature is constantly used to express feelings, as it's one of the main characteristic of Romanticism. Words as "cloud", "flowers", "green hill", "rose", "salt sand-wave", "peonies" are used which are clear images of nature.
•  "Weeping cloud": metaphor for rain.
•  "And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes": it's an assonance, which is the repetiton of vocal sounds in the words "feed", "deep" and "peerless". There is also a sibilance in "peerless eyes", as it's the repetition of "s" sounds. 

Stanza 3:

•  "aching Pleasure" is an oxymoron. 

Task Four - EXPLORING IMAGES

Stanza 1:

“By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine”

It's an allusion to Greek Mythology. Romantic poets were obsessed with Greek Mythology because of its mystery and constant relation to nature. In “Ode on a Grecian Urn” there is also a reference to Greek Mythology.

“And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul”

There is an oxymoron in the words “wakeful anguish” because of the clear opposition between the meanings of these two words. “Wakeful” represents something new, something pure and refreshing. On the other hand, “anguish” represents a dark feeling of hatred and melancholy. These two words are combined, giving emphasis on the apparition of melancholy in a person’s life.

Stanza 2: 

“Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud”

Melancholy falls into our lives like rain from the sky, unexpectedly. Nature is once again used to express the poet’s feelings. This is one of the main characteristics of romanticism. 

“And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes”

It's a repetition of vocal sounds, called an assonance, which draws the reader’s attention to the poem and its significance. There is also a repetition of the “s” sound, which is called sibilance. This emphasis's on these certain sounds creates a hypnotic effect such as the one the “peerless eyes” has upon us. 

Stanza 3: 

“Whose hand is ever at his lips”

What the poet wants to express is that whenever we experience joy in life, we are conscious that it's not going to last, and it is going to leave soon. Joy will not last for a long time in our lives, melancholy is always going to appear. The fact that the woman’s hand is never at the man’s lips represents the impossibility of actually experiencing joy. 

“She dwells with Beauty – Beauty that must die”

There is a repetition of the word “beauty”, which emphasizes the meaning of this word, which can be related to the joy in our life. The fact that it states that “beauty must die” also represents that everything that is beautiful in life or that gives us a certain feeling of happiness will eventually die or fade from our lives, being replaced by melancholy.