ode to a pysche Flashcards
(34 cards)
what does the pysche represent?
the human soul made immortal through love
how is the pysche frequently depicted?
having the wings of a butterfly in order to suggest the lightness of the soul.
in ancient world when a man just died, how was his body portrayed?
as having a butterfly fluttering above it, emerging from his mouth.
in greek what does the word ‘pysche’ mean?
both soul and butterfly. Keats translates the idea of winged lightness into a dove in his ode
what is the myth of Pysche?
Pysche is presented as a mortal kings daughter with such beauty she caused people to forget Venus, the godess of love. This caused venus to want to destry her. Although pysche becomes the bride of Venus’s son Eros, she looses him and then wanders through the world being attacked by venus for whom she must accomplish fearful tasks. however Pysche was helped by thebgods and nature untill such time as she was reunited with Eros and forgiven by Venus, then eventually made immortal by Zeus.
what was keats rationalle for writing ode to pysche?
you must recollect that pysche was not embodied as a goddness. I a more orthodox than to let a heathen goddness be so neglected-letter to his brother in 1819.
how does the poem begin?
the speaker is addressing the goddess of Pysche asking her to fogive him for singing her secrets. He relates how while wondering through the forest that day he came upon ‘two fair creatures’ asleep in an embrace whom he recognised as a winged boy who was later revealed to be Eros and winged Pysche
what happens in stanza 2?
the speaker describes pysche as the youngest and most beautiful of all the gods and godesses living on Mount Olympus. However unlike trhe rest, pysche has none of the usual attributes of the gods, no tneple, no altar, no choir to sing her praises
what happens in stanza 3?
keats descines that Pysche is still young therefore misunderstood by the bast era, instead the poems speaker will make up for this lack of appreciation of Pysche, especialy the age he lies in ‘so far retir’d from happy peities’ needs her more than ever
What happens in stanza 4?
the speaker says he will become Pysches preist and buld her a temple ‘fane’ of the mind and imagination, with a garden of santuary cultivated by fancy (imagination) he promises pysche that when she is established in her new home (the poets mind) the window will remian open so her winged boy (eros) will be able to have free access to her
what did keats base his stanza design on?
the sonnet, although there is more irregualities in this poem compared to alter odes.
What rythm did keats use
foundation of iambic pentameter
which stanza is most like a sonnet?
stanza 3 as it has 14 lines, ryhming ababcddc in the occtave and eefgfg in the sestet
what was the effect of keats experimentation with stanza form?
it was about freedom rather than restriction, there is a mixture of predictability and the unexpected. The first stanza begins with regular alternate ryme -scheme which becomes more random incorpating unryhmed lines 10 and 14 , this gives an energy and a sense of harony to the verse seen as the alternting ryme scheme is returned at the end of the stanza
the repiation of what lines is heavy handed?
‘non virgin-choir to make a delicious moan’
‘so let me by thy choir and make a moan’
the poem is about the beauty of the soul, the speaker desire to ‘make a moan’ does not harmonise with the fluid music assocaited with the classical rye.
what is the effect of the two tableaux?
they operate as framing devixce for the side, keats recreates the forgotten pysche.
‘surely i dreamt today, or did i see the winged pysche with awakened eyes’
pysche is placed in the context of ancient mythology a place which exists outside the poets imagination and hwich is accessible through dream or waking vision
when does the second tableau occur?
in the final stanza, when the poet declarres he will serve as Pysches preist. The difference is that this time the context is not a wild classical landscape but rather ‘in some untrodden region’ of the poets mind.
what does the language of the poem capture?
the myth and magic of the ancient world, with refernces to zephyrs, dryads and temples.
how does the tone change?
from the warmth of pyschical love in stanza one to more structured langauge of religous observance in the final stanza.
repition
clearly intentional but a more clumsy device in Ketas first ode than is seen in more mature odes.
what is the diction of teh first stanza
soft and tender, with frequent sibilance and gendtele assonance. this captures the gentle meandering of the speakers body or mind between the boarders of realitya nd dream.
aural effect
‘soft cinched ear’ ‘fainting with suprise’ tender eye-drawn of auroean love’
at this stage he is also employing the kind of self conscious poetic diction and attidue the roamntic poets genderally sought to avoid
describition of the two after sex
conveys leisure and lack of tension by the hyypensated ‘cool-rooted’ ‘calm breathing’ and soft-handed’ the sounds are sesnous with long liquid vowels.
the whole scene is onomatapeotic- the elaves are ‘whispering’ the blossoms ‘trembled’ amnd the spoft breathing of the lovers suggested by the s sound is ‘hushed’ ‘silver’ ‘grass’ ‘arms’
