The Worship of Nature in "O Solitude" and "Ode to Nightingale" Anonymous 12th Grade

With reference to John Keats, Sidney Colvin comments that “the spirit which animates him is essentially the spirit of delight: delight in the beauty of nature and the vividness of sensation.” Indeed, Keats’ treatment of nature- truthful to the Romantic tradition- elevates the supreme and omnipotent natural landscape to an immortal goddess in her own right, worthy of pagan worship; for it is the eternal element of the sublime which provides temporary relief from the urban setting of the early 19th century, allowing the poet within the landscapes of his imagination to explore the mortality of the human condition, and in his imaginary gardens embrace Poesy and love.

In the epicenter of Keats’ celebration of nature lies a desire to free his mind from a dreadful reality at the heart of the industrial world: London. Such is arguably the case in “O Solitude! If I must with thee dwell” where the effective images associated with the city are juxtaposed with and come to heighten the therapeutic qualities of nature; Written at a time when Keats was working in central London as an apprentice at Guy’s hospital, his despair of having moved out from Enfield is made evident from the title alone. Addressed and hence personified, “Solitude”...