The Satanic and Byronic Hero in John Keats

The Satanic and Byronic Hero in John Keats,from Letter to Tom
Keats,June 25-27, 1818
The Byronic hero is a variant of the Romantic hero as a type of

character,named after the English Romantic poet Lord Byron.In my opinion,the
best poets of the 19th century was Lord Byron,Percy Shelley and John
Keats.The very heart of Romanticism lives in their intense,modern and
compelling poetry that brings the feeling of
rebellion ,melancholy,individuality,nature and beauty to another level.This poets
signed that period as one of the best periods of British literature.
John Keats is one of the best poets of Romanticism of English
Literature.In my opinion,Keats is the intelectual essence and bare soul of
Romanticism,although without Byron's fireworks or Shelly's hyperbolic
lyricism.
Keats was quieter,but more perfect in the philosophical and equally
intense in the sensual,in less time.He died at 25 1821of Tuberculosis.
Keats decided to go with his friend,called Charles Brown,in late June
1818,on a six week long walking tour of northern England and Scotland.He
wrote more letthers,but only twelve letthers has survived.One of the letther is
dedicated to his younger brother Tom Keats.He lived in Hampstead and he was
sick with Tuberculosis.John Keats lived all the time in the city and in the letther
dedicated to his brother,he described his impressions of the Lake District.He
was fascinated of the mountain and a waterfall,because he had never seen all
these landscapes before.
Another attraction of the region was the possibility of calling on
Wordsworth at Rydal,and Keats enthusiasm for the topography is tempered by
disappointment over the older poet's politics.
Keatsian means melancholy as a central life force embedded in both
pleasure and thought,imagination and dream as delicate revelations of the
spirit,it means love as pain that magnifies free passion,beauty's perfection,art's
sublimity and a philosophy of truth, virtue and introspection poised before
mortality and time's destruction.
Keats is as much poet of the self as fine observer of nature and art.The
trademark traits of Keats are also the rich language,formal experimentation and
soft swings of tone.In his person you can see a powerful Romantic idiosyncrasy
influenced by Spenser and Shakespeare and Classic art.
My way of understanding this poet is the following.What is the essential
concept of Romanticism?In my opinion the answer is:Feeling.For the Romantic,
rational thought is just a crust that hides the much more intense flames of
sensation.The most explosive and most necessary feeling of this incandescent
mixture in ourselves is melancholy.
Therefore, let’s approach the statement transversally through this line
of thought. What do beauty and truth have in common? Both are intangible
concepts that most of us who live, not only exist, aspire to reach and enjoy.
Both seem to be unique but are dispersed in many places; both seem to be
eternal but appear only occassionally. Both are dangerous and are associated
with kinds of instability: beauty is a clockwork bomb that both admirer and
possessor fearfully know will end, uncertain of finding it again, whilst the
possessor must deal with the weight of his/her beauty, to the extent that it might
even absorb him/her completely; truth might explode in an unwanted way in the
face of its searcher and/or receiver, and often the discovery of truth is a painful
one with many obstacles, a weight for the searcher, who might even doubt about
the truth’s truthfulness. Therefore, melancholy is deeply embedded in the delight
of truth and beauty.
Beauty and truth fulfill and redeem, but ache. But for whom? Who do
they redeem in this way? As art is the best blend of truth and beauty, it is the
artists and those who appreciate art. Thus, true beauty and beautiful truth are key
elements in the artistic Romantic man, who is redeemed by them (the
poem implies it is a redemption, a comfort) to live a fuller, more passionate life,
nearer to the eternal drive in us that flowers in imagination, but only with
the inherent paradox that this also brings the melancholy and suffering of
thought, conscience of the threat of time and mortality.
The truth is beauty, because of the delight and admiration one feels
for its power and perfection, as if it were eternal, a joy for oneself, but when we
approach it with our mortal imperfection, then comes the paradox of its
instability, the aches it can cause, how it never truly is in our hands and
disappears if not engraved in art’s power.
John Keats was essentially the poet of the earth; he enjoyed the
beauty of the earth with all his senses wide awake. His imagery was sensuous,
concrete and real; his expressions were tangible and earthy. His poetry was
abundantly sensuous, yet he was a reflective poet. His poetry indicated a
contrast between the real world of sufferings and frustrations and the
imaginative world of ideal beauty and love.
Keats did not have the imaginative idealism of Wordsworth, the
metaphysical subtlety of Coleridge, the revolutionary theology of Shelley and
the patriotic fire of Byron. But he had more poetry, more melody and more
harmony than any of these great giants. Free from all moral dogma, his poetry
has the most compelling enchantment for lovers of pure poetry.
Poetry was clearly the dominant power and driving force behind
Keats’ short life. He writes passionately to his friends about his ambitions, about
poetry and death, and his dedication to literary achievement. At one point he
writes, “I read and write about eight hours a day.” and expresses his dedication
to perfection when he states, “…truth is I have been in such a state of Mind as to
read over my Lines and hate them.” In his letters to his colleagues and his
brother, his poetic outlook on life and nature is outstanding and shows that it is
possible to achieve the most perfect representation of poetic existence. On June
25-27, 1818, John Keats writes to his brother: “I shall learn poetry here and shall
henceforth write more than ever, for the abstract endeavor of being able to add a
mite to that mass of beauty which is harvested from these grand materials, by
the finest spirits, and put into ethereal existence for the relish of one’s fellows.”
Keats is seemingly aware of his gift and strives to perfect his existing talents in
order to achieve and exude what it truly is to be, in his mind, an enlightened
poet.

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The Satanic and Byronic Hero in John Keats,from Letter to Tom

Keats,June 25-27, 1818

The Byronic hero is a variant of the Romantic hero as a type of

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