BEAUTY
AND JOY
Beauty is defined as “the quality of
being pleasing to the senses or to the mind.” Some of its synonyms are :
loveliness, prettiness, handsomeness, charm, grace, glamour, and allurement.
It is a general source of joy which
means: happiness, pleasure, delight, gladness, rapture, bliss, ecstasy,
gratification and enjoyment,
The
English romantic poet John Keats (1795-1821) says in his long poem from Endymion
Book I :
A
thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its
loveliness increases; it will never
Pass
into nothingness.
According
to a proverb: “Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”, therefore what is beautiful or admirable for one may not
be so for another. In spite of this belief there are some universal components which
make something beautiful for most of the people. They are : symmetry, physical structure,
inner charm, attractiveness, artistic grace and impressiveness.
The
English novelist Jane Porter (1776-1850) said: The beauty of form affects the
mind, but then it must not be the mere shell that we admire, but the thought
that this shell is only the beautiful case adjusted to the shape and value of a
still more beautiful pearl within. The
perfection of outward loveliness is the soul shining through the crystalline
covering.
Jane
Porter’s point is that a thing of beauty must be attractive both externally and internally.
Keats
has listed in his poem many beautiful
things which are a source of eternal joy.Some lines of his poem have already been
quoted above. Here is the complete poem:
A
thing of beauty is a joy for ever:
Its loveliness increases; it will
never
Pass into no``Athingness; 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 inhuman
dearth
Of noble natures, of the gloomy days,
Of all the unhealthy and
o'er-darkened 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;
All lovely tales that we have heard
or read:
An endless fountain of immortal
drink,
Pouring unto us from the heaven's
brink.
******
G.R.Kanwal
7th March 2026
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