What is negative capability?
Tradition and the Individual Talent is a notable literary work by T. S. Eliot. 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, to various questions of Tradition and the Individual Talent.
Answer
Question: What is negative capability?
Negative capability means the capability of negating oneself. Through this, Keats indicates a poet’s ability to keep himself aloof from his writings.
Definition of Negative Capability: In accordance with John Keats (1795-1821),
One who has negative capability, is capable of being uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.
Negative capability is also known as impersonality or objectivity. Although Keats was a writer in the age of subjectivity, he had objectivity or impersonality. His negative capability is seen greatly in the poem “Ode to a Nightingale.” Forgetting the stern realities of life, he shares the joy of the Nightingale and enjoys the joy of an ideal world in his imagination. Similarly, in the poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” Keats can take joy. The Grecian Urn symbolizes purity, which teaches him to absorb the eternal value.
Beyond Rational Understanding: Keats portrays the nightingale’s song as a transcendent experience that surpasses rational comprehension. He writes,
Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!
No hungry generations trample thee down.
This reflects Keats’s belief in the power of art and poetry to reach beyond the limitations of human understanding. The nightingale’s song becomes a source of solace and inspiration. Keats finds solace in the mystery and the inability to articulate the depth of his emotions fully. This revels in the enigmatic nature of the nightingale’s song.
In conclusion, negative capability is the ability of a poet to keep himself and his emotions aloof from his writings.