Endymion (Book 2) - John Keats
A Lyrical Odyssey of Mythical Devotion
O sovereign power of love! O grief! O balm!
All records, saving thine, come cool, and calm,
And shadowy, through the mist of passed years:
For others, good or bad, hatred and tears
Have become indolent; but touching thine,
Though hallowed from all capture in a shrine,
Still, still the soul in moisten'd eye appears.
Can it be else, that our most tender sneers
Should be call'd expressions of depreciating scorn?
We are weak mortals, nor will try to shorn
Our gentle natures of their lowliness,
And our plain spirits of their studious stress.
Yet there is crime—a brotherhood of ill,
A partnership in wrongful hearts, to kill
The choicest bliss of life, or to entwine
An amorous poison with young Love's pure wine.
Let me not think such things can ever be,
Or that in tranced blindness I may see
Some dreamless weeping, when the dream is done.
Instead, I wander here from sun to sun
Absorb'd in circling joys—the while I breathe
These airs of starlight that around me wreathe;
For I have found, within a forest dim,
A place where I can rest in silent whim:
Where hush'd reflections glimmer and are gone
Like dancing eddies, as the breezes run
Along a silver brook. There hush'd I sat,
Nor sighed for any waking dream, but at
Its moorings calmly anchor'd my dull mind,
Content as any rover e'er could find
In the wide seas. I watch'd the flitting glow
Of shifting sunshine over branching rows
Of thick-set trees, while many a wonder grew
In those half-lights, the grateful shadows threw
Their silent shapes upon my spirit's breast,
And cast me in deep calmness, doubly blest.
[Excerpt from the public domain text of "Endymion" Book II by John Keats. Due to length, the full text is shortened here.]
John Keats’s “Endymion (Book 2)” continues the quest of the moon-struck shepherd Endymion, weaving together classical myth, romantic longing, and profound imagination. Building upon the first book’s introduction to Endymion’s yearning for his divine love, the second book delves into his inward reflections and outward adventures. Keats explores themes of beauty, love, and the interplay between human aspiration and celestial realms. The language is richly ornate and infused with classical references, grounding the poem in a mythic tapestry that resonates with the Romantic era’s fascination with nature, emotion, and the supernatural.
In this portion of the poem, Keats meditates on the transformative power of love, evoking a sense of both pain and ecstasy. Love becomes a force that transcends the ordinary, transporting Endymion—and readers—beyond mortal constraints. Through vivid imagery of forests, shifting sunlight, and hidden streams, Keats evokes the dreamy wilderness that mirrors the character’s internal journey: an interplay between despair and hope, longing and fulfillment.
Throughout Book 2, the narrative moves between moments of quest-like action and episodes of introspective rumination. This structural ebb and flow highlights the Romantic belief in the value of personal emotion and subjective experience as guiding forces. Keats also hints at the difficult nature of elevated ambitions, suggesting that the pursuit of transcendence often carries both sorrow and awe.
Ultimately, Book 2 is an essential stepping-stone in Endymion’s evolution, illustrating how the hero is shaped by his amorous devotion and profound introspection. It underscores that the path to sublime understanding is fraught with challenges, yet illuminated by an unwavering faith in beauty and the promise of love.
Key points
• Love as a transcendent force uniting mortal and divine
• The interplay of nature, myth, and deep introspection
• Romantic era themes of passion, imagination, and beauty
• The emotional intensity and poetic richness of Keats’s style
