Dr. Ram Shankar Yadav
Associate Professor,
Department of English,
J. N. M. P. G. College, Barabanki (U.P.)
The youngest and loveliest of the Romantic poets- John Keats stands out amongst his contemporary poets by dint of some special traits of himself which were innate ones. Keats wants liberation of self through the negation of the agility of the mind. He is in search of light (Prakash), though his mind is totally enthralled in the ‘Rajas’ and the tamas’ activities of the brain. Patanjali opines that man’s mind is always wavering in its thoughts. A serious study of Ode to A Nightingale’ shows that the poem is based on the yogic philosophy as propounded by Patanjali. We see that the poet who is badly caught up in the web of senses, attains supreme bliss through the poetic yoga that is, the pure art of poetry which is parallel to the yogic process.
Key Words: John Keats, Nightingale Yoga.
The youngest and loveliest of the Romantic poets- John Keats stands out amongst his contemporary poets by dint of some special traits of himself which were innate ones. Keats was, undisputedly, pure poet but at the same time, one should bear the fact in one’s mind that he was a great meditator also. Even Wordsworth and P.B Shelly could not do so intensely as Keats did. The art of transporting himself to an imagined world was matchless in Keats.
For example, Keats’ most popular Ode- Ode to A Nightingale is specially remarkable in this respect. It explores the concept of yoga as laid down by Patanjali in Yoga Sutra. The basic theme of the yoga Sutra’ is liberation through renunciation by means of yoga. Maharshi Patanjali is of the view that one should have complete control and command over one’s thought waves and sense organs for perfect meditation. He writes:
Þ;ksxf’pÙk o`fÙkfujksèk%ß 1
The ode being discussed here, presents a contrast between the body and mind. The poem presents the process of yoga which ultimately brings about Parmanand (the blissful pleasure). The poem may be discussed in three main parts at our ease:
(A) The Material world full of pains and anxieties.
(B) The process of escape of soul.
(C) The realisation of the supreme bliss.
Keat wrote the poem in 1819 while he was passing through many anxieties, cares and pangs of unrealised Love. Hence, it is but natural that the personal experiences of the poet, left their impressions on the poem also. To guess how Keats was spending his life in hostile circumstances, we should have a glance at one of his letter written to his & friend Georgiana in March, 1819:
“Circumstances are like clouds continually gathering and bursting while we are laughing, the seed of some trouble is put into the wide arable land of events – while we are laughing it sprouts, it grows and suddenly bears poison fruit which we must pluck.” 2
Apart from the mentioned one, his different letters written under different states of mind, have one thing in common that Keats was undergoing various thought waves but trying his best to come over them and get rid of the worldly shackles for ever. The thought waves create hurdles against his quest for the immortal vision of divinity. In the very beginning of the poem, we find that the poet is very dull and melancholic and envious of the song bind. The recollections of the past which have been sad and unpleasant, collectively overwhelm Keats with Sorrows The Poet wants to forget the bygone and present days also as they bring nothing except tears and miseries. For this purpose, he wants to drink to the extent of forgetfulness;
“O for a draught of vintage!
that hath been,
Cooled a long age ……………….
………………………………………….
With beaded bubbles winking
at the brim”.3
Here in the afore mentioned stanza, the poet shows his ardent desire to forget the worries of the world under the intoxication of wine, but just in the next stanza, he gives up the idea of doing so because, this type of influence is only sensual and short lived. He affirms;
“Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, But on the viewless wings of poesy”. 4
To ride the viewless wings of poesy, is the poet’s preparation for yoga by means of which he may be capable of leaving the physical world and transporting himself into dream-land.
Keats wants liberation of self through the negation of the agility of the mind. He is in search of light (Prakash), though his mind is totally enthralled in the ‘Rajas’ and the tamas’ activities of the brain. Patanjali opines that man’s mind is always wavering in its thoughts. It is so agile and mistakable unstable that it can not listen to the voice of (atman) soul. When the process of yoga starts, there is always a tussle between mind and soul.
Soul wants to soar in the eternal world of divinity where as mind creates obstacles by taking interest in sensual and material world which does not yield any lasting pleasure. Keats realises it:
“Away! away! for I will fly to thee………………………………………….
Though the dull brain perplexes and retards” 5.
As a matter of fact, it is very difficult to turn a deaf ear to the calls from mind and listen to the murmurs of conscience. But one, who succeeds, becomes a yogi in real sense.
Likewise, a great poet is Yogi who spreads light of love and humanity for every living being. If a poet wants to give universal message, he must have a cosmopolitan vision and to develop it, he should give up his personal attachments. It has been said in holy volumes of India and other nations as well. This is what T.S. Eliot is describes as the theory of ability:
“The continual self sacrifice or continual extinction of personality”.6
When Keats reaches the world of the nightingale, enjoys permanent bliss. In the same way, when someone reaches this stage through yogic process, one gets rid of all worldly bondages. One transcends worldly limitations and illusions. A serious study of Ode to A Nightingale’ shows that the poem is based on the yogic philosophy as propounded by Patanjali. We see that the poet who is badly caught up in the web of senses, attains supreme bliss through the poetic yoga that is, the pure art of poetry which is parallel to the yogic process.
REFERENCES
1. Patanjali: Yoga Sutra, Edited by Prabhavandana, Mylopore Madras. Page-01
2. Keats’Letter to Georgiana in March 1819.
3. Keats: Ode to a Nightingale (Line 11 to 17).
4. Keats: Ode to a Nightingale (Line 42 & 43).
5. Keats: Ode to a Nightingale (Line 41 & 42)
6. T.S Eliot: Tradition and Individual Talent, Edited by Shiv k Kumar, Oxford University Press, 1987, P.20.
