MUST READ AGAIN AND
AGAIN
Great literature
including poetry is a thing of beauty which has eternal relevance. According to
the English romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) :
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
Therefore, on every
morrow, are we wreathing
A flowery band to bind
us to the earth,
Spite of despondence, of
the human dearth
Of noble natures, of the
gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and
o’er darkn’d ways
Made for our searching
yes, in spite of all,
Some shape of beauty
moves away the pall
From our dark spirits.
Such the sun , the moon,
Trees old and young,
sprouting a shady boon
For simple sheep; and
such are daffodils
With the green world
they live in, and clear rills
That for themselves a
cooling covert make
‘Gainst the hot season,
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;
An endless fountain of
immortal drink,
Pour into us from the
heaven’s brink.
The lines given above are in the
very beginning of Endymion,” a narrative poem by John Keats. They are full of aesthetic joy and sublime
poetic imagination. The poet supports his ideas by focusing on natural objects
like the sun, the moon, the flowers, and splendid dooms made for mighty dead.
There
is both pleasure and purpose for the reader. We should get connected with
beautiful things of the world to feel joyous and have a sleep full of sweet
dreams.
There are enough prose and poetic works in literature which are things
of beauty and a source of eternal joy.
We shall have a look at them in coming days. They deserve to be read
again and again.
********
G.R.Kanwal
9 August 2026
