The presence of dreams/imagination was a popular rhetoric in the Romantic era. The dream sequences helped tap into the emotions and fears of the readers/poets by transmitting them to the lives of fictional characters. In this regard, Keats was known for using this trope in many Odes and Ballads. His precise reasoning is unknown, but may perhaps be reflected in his real-life experiences. The emotional toll of losing both his mother and brother to tuberculosis weighed heavily on Keats. Creating dream sequences in his poetry helped him escape from his inner demons. Additionally, the frequent dream sequence may refer to Keats's "chameleon poet" terminology, in which one temporarily changes one's surroundings and imagines oneself having different characters to hide from the real world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay A Passage from Adam's Dream to the Cessation of Desire by Carol Yao: A Buddhist reading of John Keats's "Hymn to the Nightingale" hypothesized that John Keats has "an abiding interest in dreams and motives of seeking during throughout his career, which reveals his concerns with the nature of human agency in a narrative of atonement and self-redemption." The dream theme is strongly conveyed in Ode to a Nightingale. Keats sees the speaker in a desolate state of mind and the only things that would help him out of this sleep are suicide, taking drugs, or intoxication. Suddenly, he hears the song of a dull nightingale and becomes very inspired to reach the pinnacle of happiness that this creature holds. The speaker realizes that the bird's carefree spirit is due to the absence of any need to escape the difficulties that define humanity and therefore has the ability to fly away from anything that does not bring joy. In doing so, he imagines growing wings to join the bird in flight: “Go! Distant! For I will fly to you / Not on the chariot of Bacchus and his pards / But on the invisible wings of Poetry” (Keats 31-33). At the end of the poem, the speaker returns to reality by shouting the word “Forlorn.” The speaker then realizes that this melancholy was achieved through the power of dreaming or imagination. Scholar Jason Mauro suggests that Ode on a Grecian Urn “is a site for the reader's ritual transformation, where we are allowed to participate in a transformative vision, rather than witness a poet's dream.” It is true that the Ode does not reflect on someone's dream, yet Keats appeals to the dreamlike qualities by personifying the images on the urn, “Forever playing songs… Forever panting… All breathing human passion far above. .. A burning brow, and a parched tongue” (Keats). Furthermore, Keats imagines that, unlike humans, the figures in this illusion will always be young and beautiful: “Bold lover, never, never can you kiss… Her it cannot fade, even if you do not have your bliss / Forever you will love, and let it be right!”. The final stanza expresses how the speaker has escaped his daydream and has now returned to reality. The shift from reality to fantasy makes him remember that when his generation dies, the art on the urn will always be available to the new generation and those people will be able to imagine their own interpretations of the urn as they wish. Judith Weismann criticizes it "La Belle Dame sans Merci' is “so bare, so disturbing, so close to the world of magic and fairy tales” and indeed it was. Keats builds this ballad around dream phenomena, such as fairies and Elfin Grots. "La Belle Dame sans Merci" adopts this technique of negative fiction to present the complex relationship between dream and waking, transcendental sublimityand transitory world of ordinary experience. When the knight first saw the supernatural creature, he was clearly infatuated: "His hair was long, his foot was light, and his eyes were wild." The image represents a setting where everything is melodic and full of wonder, imitating a celestial paradise. In the end he abandons the Knight, who is then catapulted into a nightmare environment “Alone and pale, loitering…”. Soon after, the knight wakes up and realizes that the happiness he once had is gone and complains of his pain to the speaker. Keats indicates that the only way one can experience the subliminal feeling of love is only through dreams. The fairy woman does not exist in reality, so it is impossible for them to have a relationship outside of the Knight's imagination. sexual experience (Weismann 14). Similar to “La Belle,” Keats argues that it is better to experience affection in person than to experience it within a dream. Furthermore, this ballad contains vivid images: all garlanded with graven images of fruits, flowers, and bunches of gnarled grass, and diamonds with glasses of picturesque stratagems, innumerable stains, and splendid dyes.” Keats likely used this technique as a method of teleporting the reader into the world of Madeline and Porphyro. The first 23 stanzas speak of a certain reality, and based on Keats' description, this setting is no picnic. The twenty-fourth stanza begins the dream sequence and Keats describes Madeline's dream as subliminal juxtaposed with reality on earth. Her fantasy is interrupted by the sound of Porphyro's lute and she is disappointed that she has to escape her "spiritual perfection". Then she realizes that Porfiro is her “dream come true” in the literal sense and they run away together. After the escape of the two lovers, Keats returns to reality and seems to "curse" the castle: the baron and his guests have nightmares; Angela dies and Beadsman sleeps in the ashes again. In “Ode to Melancholy” Keats reaches the conclusion where joy and sorrow go hand in hand. Unlike “Ode to a Nightingale” and “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” in which the dreamer attempts to escape from a harsh reality through imagination, Keats argues that anguish and misery should not be invaded but overcome with the beauty of nature. thy sorrow upon a morning rose/Or upon the rainbow of salt-sand wave/Or upon the richness of globular peonies” (Keats 15-17). This is another Ode that does not follow a dream sequence, but uses more and more images and intensities of sensations.” In the final stanza, Keats turns food into literary metaphors. He can no longer "pop Joy's grapes", so using his imagination, he moves to a realm where he is immortal. Keep in mind: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a custom essay To conclude, The poet John Keats often turned to poetry as a means of escaping depression. Within this poem, dream sequences have made numerous appearances Fitting this trope, Keats manages to express how dreaming can be a cure for the difficulties humanity faces. Furthermore, Keats argues that no happiness lasts forever, so it is better to imagine that happiness is eternal through inanimate objects than to have him in reality, because that way you wouldn't be depressed once he's gone. Works CitedKeats, John. “Hymn to Melancholy” The Longman Anthology British Literature” David Dasmoch. Pearson. New York. 2011.Keats, John. “Ode to a Grecian Urn” The Longman Anthology British Literature” David Dasmoch. Pearson. New York. 2011.Mauro, Jason. “The form of desperation: structure and vision.