A THING OF BEAUTY….
A thing of
beauty, says English romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821), is a joy for ever. He
further says:
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.
These lines are placed by
Keats in the very beginning of his long mythological poem ENDYMION, a young
shepherd-prince in love with the moon goddess Diana.The relationship is
dangerous and illegitimate because the goddess is pledged to remain chaste.
The
thing of beauty which Keats has in mind is extraordinary. Unlike average things it is
undeclinable. Time has no effect on it.
Its loveliness increases instead of decreasing,. It is exempted from ending
into nothingness. It is like the moon in the sky, The Taj Mahal in Agra, Shakespeare’s
plays in English literature, Ghalib’s verses in Urdu or Rumi’s poetry in Persian
language. Their beauty is eternal and truthful and a source of constantly ‘quiet bower, a sleep full of sweet
dreams, sound health and peaceful breathing.’ Keats wants us to love such
things of beauty and truth. This is how
he concludes his ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’:
“Beauty
is truth, truth beauty”, that is all ye know on earth and all ye need to know.
******
G.R. Kanwal
5th August 2023
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