Extraordinary Poetry to the Literary World: John Keats and Samuel Taylor Coleridge - Research Paper Example

A poem that provokes thought and arouses questions worthy of further exploration, is a poem well written. Since the beginning of time, love and torment have been a prevalent theme in poetry, lending a true look into the poet’s soul. Romanticism was born into literature during the years of 1785-1830, producing such literary greats as John Keats and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. With their daunting and mysterious prose, Keats and Coleridge have coined the classic gothic tale of love and loss. The poetic words of Keats are exhibited in his work, La Belle Dame sans Merci, the tale of a knight who dreams he finds love at his death. The French title translates into “The beautiful woman without mercy,” exposing the root of the poem. The beautiful woman is so powerful that warriors cheer “Hath thee in thrall,” suggesting every man is her slave and she also possesses the power to “starve their lips in the gloam.” Love lacks mercy in the poem Christabel, as well. Christabel falls under spell, and falls in love with Geraldine, disgracing her father and the family name, while dishonoring her engagement to her knight. This poem is teeming with characters tormented by love, loyalty, and disgrace. Romantic theme flows throughout both poems, and Keats and Coleridge emphasize how the moods of human beings and nature coincide. The Romantic period also consists of betrothed knights, tortured with illusions of mythical love and fairies. The similarities of the poems are clear in their poetically romantic suspense. The conflict of making a decision regarding love and consequence are the struggles the protagonist faces in Christabel and La Belle Dame sans Merci. The verse in the fifth sonnet of La Belle Dame sans Merci, “Full beautiful—a faery’s child, her hair was long, her foot was light, and her eyes were wild.” Men (knights) carry the illusion of woman as a strong, mythical being, possessing the ability to manipulate through mystery and romance. Nobility being a strong strain in the poem, the knight chivalrously “made a garland for her head,” crowning her to be his own. Romanticism laced with fairies delight is referred in Christabel also. The last sonnet of the poem apprises the mythical fairy saying, “A fairy thing with red round cheeks, that always finds, and never seeks….” The romantic illusion of woman glittered and flushed, light as air, is the image the reader assumes when reading the verses of both Keats and Coleridge. However, while the recurring theme of tortured romance is the same in Christabel and La Belle Dame sans Merci, the endings vary greatly. Neither end happily, but Christabel and Geraldine are able to surpass familial torment and find a way to love forever. Not so for the betrothed character of La Belle Dame sans Merci, who is bequeathed only one night with his dame fairy, only to be left alone and heartbroken. Keats’ verse “And this is why I sojourn here, alone and palely loitering,” gives insight to the loneliness of this man and he is left to wonder if he could have dreamed or imagined his romantic experience with the beautiful woman in the night. Keats resolves his romantic conflict with the man losing the woman goddess. The reader can infer that many have been left in the wake of the woman he loves, with “horrid warning gaped wide.” He wasn’t any different from the warriors the beautiful woman left behind. Coleridge, however, demonstrates a very real love theme in Christabel: the familial struggle. Christabel’s father is terribly disappointed in her for falling in love with Geraldine and dishonoring Sir Leoline. “His heart was cleft with pain and rage,” allows the reader feel the suffering that this father feels after such a betrayal. “Dishonored by his only child,” speaks volumes as to the emotion of anger and hate that is inflicted upon Christabel after she is caught in the torrid affair. The price of love is dear for her and Geraldine. The forest holds a great deal of symbolism within Christabel and La Belle Dame sans Merci. The “forest bare” infers that the character is alone and exposed, waiting for someone to come along and fill his empty void. The moon and the brightness of its shine are reminiscent throughout the works of both Keats and Coleridge. The interpretation lends itself to the dark side of love and emotions, rendering torture and dismay. Both poets allude to “elfins” and “fairies” leaving the reader not quite sure if the love affair was in the imagination of the character or if the liaison truly took place. Elves, the “elfin grot,” and fairies are products of mythical, romantic tales where people become hypnotized under the enchantment of such beings. “The latest dream I ever dream’d,” is an example of mystery implemented my Keats in La Belle Dame sans Merci. Throughout Keats poem, the reader is experiencing the emotional high along with the character, only to be let down when he awakens alone “on the cold hillside.” He is so alone that “no birds sing,” signifying loneliness and despair in the lowest and truest form. Coleridge also writes with passion and imagination, referring to “snake eyes,” encouraging the character to experience extreme human emotion. The characters of Coleridge appear mythical and imaginary, quickly transcending from love to hate. While Coleridge is writing about rage in the “serpent’s eye,” Keats was allows nature guide his reader. Hints lie within the verse, “the sedge has wither’d from the lake,” illustrating that not only is the lake dried up, but the character’s heart has also dried and hardened. Keats also describes despair and utter tiredness in “The squirrel’s granary is full, and the harvest’s done,” inferring the character is so worn and “haggard” that he either receives help from the knight in the woods, or suffer death. Artistic expression and creative emotion were products of the Romantic period, and both Keats and Coleridge relegate a daunting human interest poem. Each poet rightfully applies Romanticism to his work, seizing the movement and bucking a society that labeled them “anti-classists.” Both Keats and Coleridge stay artistically true to their poetry, writing about real human conflict and human resolutions, where the resolution is not always pleasant. Keats and Coleridge use Romanticism in its simplest form: relating beauty and nature, love and emotion; the basics of primal human feeling. Such poets have defined emotions such as awe and horror, giving modern day poets a “gothic guideline”, so to speak. Their refusal to conform socially, artistically or idealistically is what has anointed them as poetry legends. Finally, both John Keats and Samuel Taylor Coleridge each deliver a poetic voice in their work. They have each have contributed extraordinary poetry to the literary world, implementing romanticism and myth, while respectfully maintaining artistic independence. Works Cited Coleridge, Samuel Taylor. Christabel. 1797. 14 April 2006. Keats, John. La Belle Dame sans Merci. 1884. 14 April 2006. “Romanticism.” Artencyclopedia.com. April 2006. . “Christabel.” Coleridgepoems.com. April 2006. . Hirsch, Edward. How to Read a Poem. North Carolina: Double-Take Books, 1999. Elizabeth, Mary. Painless Poetry. Barron’s: 2001. Read More