What is the tone of the poem 'A thing of beauty' Endymion by John Keats?

Answer 1

A beautiful thing is a source of eternal joy, its attractiveness grows with the passage of time and its impact never fades away. It is as pleasant as a cool quiet bower or sound sleep with sweet dreams; or robust health and mental peace. It provides the beholder with a haven of tranquility and solace.

It is the beauty of nature that keeps us attached to this earth. Every morning we collect fresh lovely flowers and prepare garlands. The fascination for flowers is our bonding with the earth. It helps us steer clear of despondency and disappointments. We forget all our despair, of acute shortage of noble souls, of misfortunes that overtake us to test our forbearance. Life is full of trials and tribulations and we often find ourselves in the midst of gloom. It is at such depressing moments that a sight full of beauty dispels the pall of sadness from our spirits making room for hope and optimism.

The objects of beauty are countless. These include heavenly bodies like the sun and the moon, the old and young trees that provide cool shelter to sleep, the daffodil flowers encased in green leaves, the streams that flow through a shady passage which they make themselves with plants, and the bushes that bear fragnant flowers. These simple and even commonplace things lift the human spirit filling it with joy and delight. In addition to these objects of nature, there are wonderful tales of our legendary heroes, who lived and died heroically, which inspire us with their matchless beauty. These beautiful things are metaphorically an endless source of nectar that pours down to us from heaven bringing eternal joy for the soul's grandeur. They are like an elixir of life, a never diminishing source of pleasure and delight, an endless fountain of joy that seems to be a precious gift from Heaven.

Answer 2

This poem is a revolt against the commonplace reality.

According to Keats the object of beauty differs from an ordinary object.

The ordinary object appeals us only temporarily. Its effect is short lived and its loveliness decreases with the passage of time.

But the object of beauty appeals to our senses permanently.

It cannot be destroyed by time and space. It is a temporal and its loveliness does not fade.

It is a ray of light and hope that consoles man in his miseries and misfortunes. Then Keats mentions the objects of beauty one by one. The sun, the moon, the old trees, the daffodils, the clear streams and the forest which is rich with beautiful flowers-all these objects of beauty are a source of consolation in a world

"Where men sit and hear each other groan".

Keats further associates the object of beauty with a cluster of flowers and a group of shady trees. One can relax in these surroundings.

According to one version, Endymion was visited one night by the moon

goddess Selene as he slept on Mount Olympus. She was taken by his

beauty and lay with him that night. He awoke to find her gone, but the

dreams she gave him lingered and affected him so much that he asked

Zeus to grant him immortality so that he might live in that dreamlike

state.

Note the parallel between a dreamlike state and the process many artists

have compared to the ecstasy of creation. A thing of beauty, whether poem

or symphony, is immortal! Its mortal creator passes into nothingness!

Answer 3

The tone of the poem is calm and peaceful, a contemplation of nature and the beauty of nature. All of the things of beauty itemised in the poem are natural and not man-made. Keats was not a religious man and had a great fear of death and the passing of the seasons, but was a true naturist with a feel for the beauty of nature never surpassed by another poet. As the opening verses of a long work on the story of Endymion it has to set the scene for the tone of the whole story.