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John Keats
Letter to Richard Woodhouse, October 27, 1818
Selection
General introduction
Keats wrote several letters to relatives and friends during his brief lifetime: most of them are a precious source of information not only about his life, but, more consistently, about his aesthetic and literary ideals.
The proposed selection is taken from a well-known text, in which the author goes deep into the analysis of some points that he considered to be of the greatest importance: what is the role of the poet? What is his relationship with poetry itself and its subject-matter, i.e. beauty? Are there any different attitudes towards these questions?
The intensity with which these crucial points are put at the stake leaves the impression that they were deeply felt and discussed among the poet and his acquaintances.
Read the text
October 27th, 1818
My dear Woodhouse,
Your Letter gave me a great satisfaction; more on account of its friendliness, than any relish of that matter in it which is accounted so acceptable in the 'genus irritabile'. The best answer I can give you is in a clerk-like manner to make some observations on two principle points, which seem to point like indices into the midst of the whole pro and con, about genius, and views and achievements and ambition and cetera. 1st. As to the poetical Character itself (I mean that sort of which, if I am any thing, I am a Member; that sort distinguished from the wordsworthian or egotistical sublime; which is a thing per se and stands alone) it is not itself - it has no self - it is every thing and nothing - It has no character - it enjoys light and shade; it lives in gusto, be it foul or fair, high or low, rich or poor, mean or elevated - It has as much delight in conceiving an Iago as an Imogen. What shocks the virtuous philosopher, delights the camelion Poet. It does no harm from its relish of the dark side of things any more than from its taste for the bright one; because they both end in speculation. A Poet is the most unpoetical of any thing in existence; because he has no Identity - he is continually in for - and filling some other Body - The Sun, the Moon, the Sea and Men and Women who are creatures of impulse are poetical and have about them an unchangeable attribute - the poet has none; no identity - he is certainly the most unpoetical of all God's Creatures. If then he has no self, and if I am a Poet, where is the Wonder that I should say I would write no more? Might I not at that very instant have been cogitating on the Characters of Saturn and Ops?
ACTIVITIES
Comprehension and interpretation
How many kinds of approach to the role of the poet does Keats identify? Go through the following points:
- how does he define them respectively?
- as for the first one, how does she/he relate with reality? what is her/his conception of her/his role? Hwo is said to be the champion of this typology and why?
- Keats counts himself among the poets of the second type. What are the main differences between their attitude and the one discussed above? Why do you think the author chooses to place himself in this category?
- What does the image of the chameleon stand for? In your opinion, does the author mean to suggest a positive or negative quality?
Textual and linguistic analysis
How would you define the language used in this letter? Choose one or more of the following alternatives and give reasons:
- formal and detatched
- colloquial and emotional
- trivial
- hermetic
- coldly professional
- aggressive
- abstract
- cryptic
- ironic
Sources and materials
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English History: a vast and well-organized selection of Keats' most known letters to relatives an friends.
[E1]
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John-Keats.com: the full text of the letter freely available
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