Background of the Poem “Ode on Melancholy”
"Ode on Melancholy" is a notable literary work by John Keats. A complete discussion of this literary work is given, which will help you enhance your literary skills and prepare for the exam. Read the Main texts, Key info, Summary, Themes, Characters, Literary devices, Quotations, Notes, and various study materials of "Ode on Melancholy".
Answer
Background of the Poem “Ode on Melancholy”
Harold Bloom said this poem by John Keats is based on negative capability. Negative capability is to get lost in the fantasy world and forget the world’s sorrows for temporary peace. John Keats’s life is full of sadness. His younger brother died very young age. His father died in 1804. Two months later, his mother got married elsewhere. However, his mother divorced her new husband shortly after. John Keats and his brothers began living at his grandmother’s house. Then, in 1810, John Keats’s mother died of tuberculosis. Again, the relationship between Fanny Brawne and John Keats was not going very well. Because John Keats was physically very ill. And so, financially, he was in dire straits. John Keats was completely devastated by all this. So to forget his life’s sorrows, he wrote this poem sheltering negative cavability.