Ode on Melancholy
No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twistWolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'dBy nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;Make not your rosary of yew-berries,Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth beYour mournful Psyche, nor the downy owlA partner in your sorrow's mysteries;For shade to shade will come too drowsily,And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.
But when the melancholy fit shall fallSudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,And hides the green hill in an April shroud;Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,Or on the wealth of globed peonies;Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.
She dwells with Beauty--Beauty that must die;And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lipsBidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:Ay, in the very temple of DelightVeil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongueCan burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;His soul shall taste the sadness of her might,And be among her cloudy trophies hung.
Words in this poem
- lethe n.
- A river of Hades whose waters when drunk caused forgetfulness of the past.
- rosary n.
- A bed of roses, or place where roses grow. [LL. rosarium a string of beads, L. rosarium a place planted with roses, rosa a rose: cf. F. rosaire. See Rose.]
- psyche n.
- A lovely maiden, daughter of a king and mistress of Eros, or Cupid. She is regarded as the personification of the soul.
- drowsily adv.
- In a drowsy manner.
- wakeful a.
- Not sleeping; indisposed to sleep; watchful; vigilant.
- shall v. i.
- To owe; to be under obligation for. [OE. shal, schal, imp. sholde, scholde, AS. scal, sceal, I am obliged, imp. scolde, sceolde, inf. sculan; akin to OS. skulan, pres. skal, imp. skolda, D. zullen,]
- wealth n.
- Weal; welfare; prosperity; good. [OE. welthe, from wele; cf. D. weelde luxury. See Weal prosperity.]
- aching a.
- That aches; continuously painful. See Ache.
- sovran a.
- A variant of Sovereign.
- strenuous a.
- Eagerly pressing or urgent; zealous; ardent; earnest; bold; valiant; intrepid; as, a strenuous advocate for national rights; a strenuous reformer; a strenuous defender of his country.
- sadness n.
- Heaviness; firmness.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
Ode on Melancholy is in the public domain. This text is taken from Keats: Poems Published in 1820 (Clarendon Press, 1909, ed. M. Robertson), Project Gutenberg ebook #23684; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: John Keats, Ode on Melancholy, in Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems (1820), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #23684, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/keats-1820/ode-on-melancholy.html, id L00192.
Form and metre
Ode on Melancholy is 30 lines in 3 stanzas of 10 lines each. The metre is iambic pentameter, as Wikipedia: Ode on Melancholy has it. 93% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 10.0 syllables. 4 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 27% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
See other poems in iambic pentameter.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ABAB------ twistA · wineB · kiss'dA · proserpineB · berries · be · owl · mysteries · drowsily · soul
- 2 ABABCDCCDC fallA · cloudB · allA · shroudB · roseC · waveD · peoniesC · showsC · raveD · eyesC
- 3 ABABCDEDCE dieA · lipsB · nighA · sipsB · delightC · shrineD · tongueE · fineD · mightC · hungE
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. Read against iambic pentameter. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
| Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine; | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd | 10 | ·/˘··/˘··· |
| By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine; | 10 | ·/·/˘····· |
| Make not your rosary of yew-berries, | 10 | ···/˘˘··/˘ |
| Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be | 10 | ···/˘····· |
| Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl | 10 | ·/˘/˘··/˘· |
| A partner in your sorrow's mysteries; | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘˘ |
| For shade to shade will come too drowsily, | 10 | ·······/˘˘ |
| And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul. | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| But when the melancholy fit shall fall | 10 | ···/˘·˘··· |
| Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud, | 10 | /˘·/˘··/˘· |
| That fosters the droop-headed flowers all, | 10 | ·/˘··/˘/˘· |
| And hides the green hill in an April shroud; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave, | 10 | ···/······ |
| Or on the wealth of globed peonies; | 10 | ······˘/˘˘ |
| Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows, | 10 | ···/˘··/˘· |
| Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave, | 10 | ˘/˘······· |
| And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes. | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| She dwells with Beauty--Beauty that must die; | 10 | ···/˘/˘··· |
| And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh, | 10 | /˘˘/·/˘/˘· |
| Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips: | 10 | /˘·/˘····· |
| Ay, in the very temple of Delight | 10 | ···/˘/˘·˘/ |
| Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine, | 10 | ·/˘·˘··/˘· |
| Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine; | 10 | ·······/˘· |
| His soul shall taste the sadness of her might, | 10 | ·····/˘··· |
| And be among her cloudy trophies hung. | 10 | ·····/˘/˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.