Ode On Melancholy Summary & Analysis By John Keats - LitCharts

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  • Introduction
  • Summary
  • Themes
  • Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis
  • Symbols
  • Poetic Devices
  • Vocabulary & References
  • Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme
  • Speaker
  • Setting
  • Context
  • Resources
  • Download PDF
  • Download Teacher Edition
  • Intro
  • Summary
  • Themes
  • Line-by-LineExplanations
  • Symbols
  • PoeticDevices
  • Vocabulary &References
  • Form, Meter, &Rhyme Scheme
  • Speaker
  • Setting
  • Context
  • Resources
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The Full Text of “Ode on Melancholy”

1No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist

2       Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;

3Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd

4       By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;

5               Make not your rosary of yew-berries,

6       Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be

7               Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl

8A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;

9       For shade to shade will come too drowsily,

10               And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

11But when the melancholy fit shall fall

12       Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,

13That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,

14       And hides the green hill in an April shroud;

15Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,

16       Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,

17               Or on the wealth of globed peonies;

18Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,

19       Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,

20               And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

21She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die;

22       And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips

23Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,

24       Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:

25Ay, in the very temple of Delight

26       Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,

27               Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue

28       Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;

29His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might,

30               And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

The Full Text of “Ode on Melancholy”

1No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist

2       Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;

3Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd

4       By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;

5               Make not your rosary of yew-berries,

6       Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be

7               Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl

8A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;

9       For shade to shade will come too drowsily,

10               And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

11But when the melancholy fit shall fall

12       Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,

13That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,

14       And hides the green hill in an April shroud;

15Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,

16       Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,

17               Or on the wealth of globed peonies;

18Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,

19       Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,

20               And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

21She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die;

22       And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips

23Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,

24       Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:

25Ay, in the very temple of Delight

26       Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,

27               Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue

28       Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;

29His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might,

30               And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

  • “Ode on Melancholy” Introduction

    • Read the full text of “Ode on Melancholy”

  • “Ode on Melancholy” Summary

  • “Ode on Melancholy” Themes

    • Theme Melancholy, Beauty, and Impermanence

      Melancholy, Beauty, and Impermanence

      • See where this theme is active in the poem.
    • Theme Intoxication vs. Nature

      Intoxication vs. Nature

      • See where this theme is active in the poem.

  • Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Ode on Melancholy”

    • Lines 1-5

      No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist        Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine; Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd        By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;                Make not your rosary of yew-berries,

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    • Lines 6-10

             Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be                Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;        For shade to shade will come too drowsily,                And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

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    • Lines 11-14

      But when the melancholy fit shall fall        Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud, That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,        And hides the green hill in an April shroud;

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    • Lines 15-20

      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.

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    • Lines 21-24

      She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die;        And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,        Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:

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    • Lines 25-30

      Ay, in the very temple of Delight        Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,                Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue        Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine; His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might,                And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

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  • “Ode on Melancholy” Symbols

    • Symbol Intoxicants and Poison

      Intoxicants and Poison

      • See where this symbol appears in the poem.
    • Symbol Insects and Animals

      Insects and Animals

      • See where this symbol appears in the poem.
    • Symbol Nature

      Nature

      • See where this symbol appears in the poem.

  • “Ode on Melancholy” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

    • Alliteration

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    • Allusion

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    • Anaphora

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    • Assonance

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    • Caesura

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      • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

    • Consonance

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      • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

    • Enjambment

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    • Repetition

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    • Personification

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    • Simile

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  • “Ode on Melancholy” Vocabulary

    Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

    • Lethe
    • Wolf's-bane
    • Tight-rooted
    • Thy
    • Nightshade
    • Ruby Grape of Proserpine
    • Rosary of Yew-berries
    • Death-moth
    • Psyche
    • Downy
    • Wakeful Anguish
    • Fosters
    • Droop-headed Flowers
    • Shroud
    • Glut
    • Sand-wave
    • Globed Peonies
    • Emprison
    • Rave
    • Peerless
    • Dwells
    • Bidding Adieu
    • Nigh
    • Ay
    • Veil'd
    • Sovran
    • Strenuous
    • Palate
      • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

  • Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Ode on Melancholy”

    • Form

    • Meter

    • Rhyme Scheme

  • “Ode on Melancholy” Speaker

  • “Ode on Melancholy” Setting

  • Literary and Historical Context of “Ode on Melancholy”

  • More “Ode on Melancholy” Resources

    • External Resources

      • Portrait of John Keats by Joseph Severn — A painting done of Keats by his friend and contemporary, Joseph Severn.

      • The Anatomy of Melancholy — A link to a book that Keats read frequently, published by Robert Burton in 1621. 

      • A Contemporary's Review of Keats — A link to John Gibson Lockhart's snarky review of Keats's poetry in 1818.

      • A Reading of "Ode on Melancholy" — A reading brought to you by the Keats Foundation. 

      • More by Keats — A link to a detailed biography of Keats as well as more poems, including his other odes.

    • LitCharts on Other Poems by John Keats

      • A thing of beauty is a joy for ever (from Endymion)

      • Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art

      • In drear nighted December

      • La Belle Dame sans Merci

      • Lamia

      • Ode on a Grecian Urn

      • Ode on Indolence

      • Ode to a Nightingale

      • Ode to Psyche

      • On First Looking into Chapman's Homer

      • On Seeing the Elgin Marbles

      • On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again

      • On the Grasshopper and Cricket

      • On the Sea

      • O Solitude! if I must with thee dwell

      • The Eve of St. Agnes

      • The Human Seasons

      • This living hand, now warm and capable

      • To Autumn

      • To Sleep

      • When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be

    • Cite This Page
Definition (read the full definition & explanation with examples) Close Ode on Melancholy Full Text

1No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist

2       Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;

3Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd

4       By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;

5               Make not your rosary of yew-berries,

6       Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be

7               Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl

8A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;

9       For shade to shade will come too drowsily,

10               And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

11But when the melancholy fit shall fall

12       Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,

13That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,

14       And hides the green hill in an April shroud;

15Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,

16       Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,

17               Or on the wealth of globed peonies;

18Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,

19       Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,

20               And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

21She dwells with Beauty—Beauty that must die;

22       And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips

23Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,

24       Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:

25Ay, in the very temple of Delight

26       Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,

27               Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue

28       Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;

29His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might,

30               And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

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Lines 3-4

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