In reading the first few sentences of the first Keat's letter on the web site that Sexson sent out to us- that on the "Authenticity of Imagination"- I immediately recalled this very important poem of his that we looked at in classic literature while studying greek mythology: "Ode on a Grecian Urn"
Wow!
Re-reading this for the first time in almost 2 years- since Classical Lit Spring 07- I recall how much this poem moved me the first time I read it, oh! These lines in particular...
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
There's Anagogical for you! As we reviewed in class today, Anagogy is a wording of the highest thoughts, the highest thing imagineable. In works of art, like this grecian urn, beauty is preserved for all time as it cannot be in reality, which is why Keats and the other anagogists defend that poetry and art are above reality, because while nature's beauty changes, conforms, and dies out, beauty and truth are preserved in art and therefore better and ever-lasting.
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