AHSEC| CLASS 12| ENGLISH| A THING OF BEAUTY
UNIT
– 6
FLAMINGO
POETRY
(A THING OF BEAUTY)
CHAPTER SUMMARY
John Keats is one of the main romantic poets of English literature, his power of imagination and beautiful images used in his poems are like gems for us readers. This poem is loose from his poem "Endymion: A Poetic Romance" and a famous poetic sentence in the world is the first line of this poem, also the title here: 'A Thing of Beauty is a Joy Forever.'
Keats says that
a beautiful thing is a joy that lasts and never fades. The pleasure derived
from a beautiful thing increases and never ends. It uplifts us and helps us to
breathe freely to live beautifully. In fact, a beautiful object can be a soothing
pool for us, into which we can move as we wish. This can equal for us a restful
sleep filled with sweet and pleasant dreams. A beautiful thing gives us
abundance of health and lovely breath. In other words, it can bring everything
good and positive in our life.
Keats says that
the world is full of new challenges and every day we must face a new day full
of troubles. Therefore, we need something strong and permanent that can bind us
to the new day on this earth. A beautiful thing like a flowery band can get us
ready for any new tough day. It helps us to keep moving forward in life and
look forward to every moment of the future. We are surrounded by moments of
direction and despair. We have become devoid of nobility and goodness. The
world has dark nights and unsafe ways. But one beautiful thing can help us to
smile amidst these difficult situations and human beings learn to live in spite
of many sad and undesirable situations. Therefore, some of the beautiful things
in the universe are certainly eternal.
The poet now
names the beautiful things that he feels give us joy and vivacity. He talks
about the age-old Sun and the beautiful Moon; Varieties of shade give to trees
– be it old or young. Ordinary sheep get cool shade from these trees. Then
there are the lovely daffodil flowers that inhabit the world of green.
Mischievous clear streams of water are capable of turning hot weather into cold
days for animals hiding among the bushes, water quenches the thirst of so many
lives on earth. There are also low-lying plants within the thickest forests,
and beautiful white roses bloom here and there near those plants. The whole
sight is so magnificent that it can give everlasting bliss to anyone.
Other beautiful
things described by Keats are not physical in nature. He talks about the
greatness of the Day of Judgment on which God rewards the greatest of the dead
on the graves. How interesting and lovely to think about the day after someone
has died. Also, there are many old stories in our culture that we listen to,
get carried away and enjoy endless delightful moments. He expresses that these
are pieces of the foundation of some immortal drink that is being showered upon
us by heaven, the Lord himself. In other words, Keats says that the beautiful
things in the world were created by God to ensure happiness, joy and excitement
for human beings. We get as much pleasure from these beauties on earth as the
angels get from the immortal drink of heaven.
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