Q - What is "Negative Capability"? Explain with one of the example of Keats' poem!
Ans
John Keats
Keats was one of the most promising figure of 19th century and one of the most pure hearted and most remarkable poet in the history of romantic literature.
He was not only the last but also the most perfect of the Romanticist. While other romantic writers were engaged in telling stories, reform poetry, defining moral law and political affairs, Keats lived apart from men and from all political measures, worshiping beauty and wrote what was in his heart. He had the novel idea that poetry exists for its own sake and suffers loss by being devoted to philosophy or politics, or indeed, to any cause, however great or small. As he says in "Lamia".
"... Do not charm fly
At the mere touch of cold philosophy? "
In the works of Keats we find immense influence of Greek classics and mythology because of his high ideals of poetry, Keats' last little volume of poetry is unrivalled by the work of any of his contemporaries.
Life - Career
Keats lived through 1795 to 1821 and died at very young age of 25 years, during his short life time he was only devoted to beauty and poetry. All of his works published in three short year from 1817 to 1820. He was a son of hostler and stable keeper and was born in the stable of the Swan and Hoop Inn, London. Before Keats was 15 his both parents died and he was placed with his brothers and sisters in charge of guardians. They have taken Keats from the school and bind him as an apprentice to a surgeon at Edmonton. For five years he has worked there and for two years he was surgeon's helper in hospital. He disliked his work and his thoughts were in other things.
"A thing of Beauty is Joy forever"
He abandon his work in 1817, and later that year published his first volume of poetry. The great poem Endymion was in the second volume, for this poem he received great criticism. But Keats was man of strong character, instead of replying back he went on to create more poetry. During these years Keats' illness begins with severe cold. He fell in love with Fannie Brawne, to whom he was engaged, but couldn't marry her on account of his poverty and growing illness. His last small volume, Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and the other poems (1820), especially "Hyperion" is most significant.
With the growing illness he settled in Rome with his friend Severn, the artist, but died soon after his arrival in February, 1821. His grave, in the Protestant cemetery at Rome, is still object of pilgrimage to thousands of tourists. On his epitaph written most famous line,
"Here lies one whose name was writ in water"
What is Negative Capability
John Keats, the renowned English Romantic poet, coined the term "negative capability" in a letter he wrote to George and Tom Keats in December 1817. Negative capability refers to an artist's or a person's capacity to accept uncertainty, doubt, and ambiguity without pursuing logical answers or resolutions.
In essence, Keats believed that true artistic greatness and a deep understanding of human experiences could be achieved when one can dwell in the realms of uncertainty and appreciate the beauty of not knowing everything. Instead of seeking rational explanations or trying to impose their own preconceived notions, artists and individuals with negative capability can explore and embrace the complexities of life and emotions.
Negative capability encourages a willingness to live with ambiguity, allowing creativity and empathy to flourish. It's a concept that has had a lasting impact on literature and the arts, emphasizing the value of embracing the mysteries of existence and the human condition
He describes it as “When a man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, and doubts without any
irritable reaching after fact and reason.” He stated that “great poets should have the willingness to remain in doubt or not to resolve conflicts or ambiguities. Some uncertainties were best left open to imagination and that the element of doubt and ambiguity added Romanticism. Keats believed that Shakespeare possessed the quality of negative capability. Negative capability is a concept in which the author/poet has to leave his origin and enter in his work as behaving as a character of it. He has not to think what he is. He has to empathize his characters.
Understand the Concept with "Ode to Autumn"
This poem records Keats' love for beauty and his love for nature. He written this poem when he felt the beauty of autumn. The concept of Negative Capability is perfectly relevant in this poem. In autumn all leaves are become reddish and yellow, fall from trees and covers the whole ground. Even though leaves are falling Keats sees beauty in them as new leaves will eventually come. It is a season of "Mellow-Fruitfulness".
Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;
To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells
With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,
And still more, later flowers for the bees,
Until they think warm days will never cease,
For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.
In this opening stanza, Keats captures the sensory richness and abundance of autumn. He describes the season's close relationship with the sun, the ripening of fruits, the scent of the air, and the industrious activity of bees. The language is lush and evocative, immersing the reader in the sensory experience of autumn.
However, Keats doesn't impose a singular meaning or moral lesson onto these descriptions. Instead, he allows readers to appreciate the beauty and complexity of the season, inviting them to find their own emotional and philosophical responses. This openness to interpretation, where the poem doesn't dictate a fixed message or conclusion, is a manifestation of "Negative Capability." It encourages readers to engage with the poem on a personal and emotional level, appreciating the ambiguity and mystery of the autumn season.
"Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they?"
Keats uses ambiguity and does not seek to provide a definitive explanation of autumn rather leave reader to interpret its meaning and significance in their own way. While it celebrates autumn's bounty it also hints at the melancholy and transient nature of life. Keats does not simplify these emotions but presents them in a nuanced and evocative manner. (ChatGPT)
Work Cited
- Long, William j. English Literature. Maple Press Limited, 2012.
You can refer to this video for better understanding.
.jpg)
.png)