John Keats is an English romantic poet who is also known as the "poet of beauty". He is famous for his influential literary works on the beauty of nature and human life. In his ‘Odes', he has presented various topics such as nature, arts, beauty, desire as well as mortality. An Ode is a kind of lyrical poem which is mainly intended to praise something. Through his writings, he mentioned the nature and consequences of human life. After reading his Odes like “Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on a Grecian Urn, Ode to Autumn”, we can realize that he has presented an inevitable connection between desire and mortality in each of his Odes. Now here I'm presenting the interpretation of the conflict of mortality and desire in Keats' ‘Odes’ below.
Firstly, if we notice Keats' ‘Ode to a Nightingale', the speaker was standing in a dark forest and intensively listening to the sweet song of a nightingale bird. It made the speaker feel numb as he had taken drugs at that moment. The speaker didn’t feel envy rather felt an unknown bliss listening to the song of the nightingale. The song fascinated the speaker so much that he desired to have some wine and be blended in the dark forest. He wished to forget all worldly difficulties and troubles. At that moment speaker was in a sense that he had no sufferings. He started to feel that he could get closer to the nightingale through his poetry. But when the bird flew away and the song stopped, the speaker came back into reality. He felt that all of it was a kind of daydream. Through this Ode, Keats focuses on human life and its inevitable consequences. We can never run away from the responsibilities and difficulties of our life. Poet here tries to interpret metaphorically the song of the nightingale as life and its end as mortality of human life.
Secondly, ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn' is another popular ode by John Keats where he has alluded the same matter. Basically, an urn is a kind of vase that used to gather ashes after the funeral in ancient Greece. Keats has wonderfully explained the beauty of the Grecian urn and those pictures depicted around it. The beauty of the urn fascinated the speaker. Those pictures were of a couple representing rural life of ancient Greece which had long since passed and yet remained around the urn as art. Time seemed to be stopped for them. Keats got a sense of immortality from that art. He believes, they will never get affected by any worldly difficulties because they were the creation of art. Immortality is the most desired thing in human life. The urn at a time indicates both immortality and mortality. The urn which is used for a funeral gives the sense of mortality and the arts around it give the sense of immortality. Keats has realized that mortality ultimate truth of human life. He has mentioned that truth is beauty and beauty is truth.
Thirdly, if we read ‘Ode to Autumn' we can find that Keats has praised the Autumn season through his writing. While describing autumn, the speaker addressed autumn as a season of growth and beauty. Because in autumn, trees become overloaded with full-grown fruits, beehives become full of honey, fields become full of crops. Speaker characterized autumn by a rich abundance of life. Speaker praised autumn for its beautiful and festive environment. But he also interpreted mortality through autumn's beauty. Autumn comes with beauty and fullness because it appears at the end of the growing season. Full-grown crops and fruits will be harvested and winter will come with its harshness after autumn. In winter nature will lose its beauty and abundance which clearly indicates death. Beauty and abundance are desired, it is true but mortality is inevitable it is also true. In ‘Ode to Autumn, the speaker has explained both of these.
John Keats has beautifully described how desire and mortality are inextricably linked with human life through his ‘Odes’. Through his ‘Odes’ we find an extraordinary description of beauty, desire, and mortality which plays important role in our life.