Endymion: A Poetic Romance

The initial, and most frequently excerpted, stanzas of Endymion introduce a central theme of the poem (which features in much of Keats’s work overall): the importance of beauty. Beauty is what inspires the speaker, usually considered Keats himself, to retell the Greek myth of Endymion in heroic couplets (pairs of side-by-side rhyming lines). The famous opening line, “A thing of beauty is a joy forever” (Line 1), empowers beautiful things. The entire first stanza sets out how things, both natural—like the moon—and crafted by humans—like stories—can bring lasting joy. Early in the first stanza, beauty is compared to a “bower” (Line 4), foreshadowing where much of the poem takes place: an island bower. There, the titular Endymion and his sister Peona will discuss the beauty of the moon, among other things.

The following stanzas also introduce imagery that is repeated throughout the poem. In the second stanza, Keats associates the joy that beauty brings with light: “the moon / The passion poesy, glories infinite / Haunt us till they become a cheering light” (Lines 28-30). Light imagery and symbolism runs throughout the poem, characterizing beauty as divine and associated with truth. The concept of beauty as truth is found in other poems by Keats, like “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” The third stanza introduces boat imagery, which recurs throughout the poem. Keats, as the first-person speaker of the poem, steers his “little boat, for many quiet hours, / With streams that deepen freshly into bowers” (Lines 47-48). This connects Keats with the characters in his poem: Peona steers a boat, with Endymion onboard, into a bower in Stanza 17.

The third stanza ends with a discussion that connects Keats’s composition of Endymion with the seasons. This is an allusion (literary reference) to earlier Romantic epic poetry, like Edmund Spenser’s Shepherd’s Calendar, which is concerned with the changing of the seasons. Keats’s characters are shepherds, which is a further connection to Spenser’s long poem. This allusion to earlier epic poems is echoed in Stanza 7, when Keats calls out to his muse to aid him in being able to “stammer where old Chaucer used to sing” (Line 34). Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is also associated with seasons. These allusions, as well as the invocation of the muse, places Endymion in the same genre as these other epics, preparing the reader for the mythic story.

In Stanzas 4-8, Keats describes the pilgrimage and preparation for a ceremony to Pan at an altar on the top of the mountain Latmos. The imagery of light continues throughout this section, presented alongside the color white in the clothes of the worshipers and sacred objects carried by the priest. The priest’s “milk-white” vase (Line 153) is later echoed in the Milky Way of Endymion’s celestial vision in Stanza 22 (Line 581). Elements, like milk (produced by sheep) and milk-colored pigment, found on earth are connected with celestial elements, like the Milky Way galaxy. The interconnectedness of nature and humans is a key aspect of many poems from the British Romantic era, especially poetry by Keats.

Music is also an important element in this section. Before the main procession arrives, children hear music of an ethereal or supernatural quality at the altar. Then, members of the procession play more earthly music on “ebon-tipped flutes” (Line 147). Dancers are moved by the “shepherd song” (Line 136). The lyrics of this song are not included; the speaker focuses on the movement of the group up the mountain, as well as introducing the priest and Endymion. This can be contrasted with the hymn to Pan. Five of Keats’s stanzas are simply lyrics to the hymn, while the earthly song of the shepherds is more about the people who perform it.

Stanzas 9-15 contain the ritual to Pan: a prayer from the priest, a ceremonial burning on the altar, and the long hymn sung by the chorus. The priest is thankful for the community’s bounty, due in large part to good weather. This stands in contrast with Endymion’s subtle gloomy demeanor. This foreshadows how Endymion’s concerns deal with the celestial and spiritual realm, rather than the earthly realm. The priest’s prayer includes the aspect of water in Stanza 9, including the “ocean” in Line 204 and “rains” in Line 216. This contrasts with the fire he creates on the altar in Stanza 10—“enkindling sacred fire” (Line 224). Water is a far more prevalent symbol and image throughout the poem, surrounding the one stanza focusing on fire. The burning stanza also stands out because it is notably shorter than many other stanzas.

The hymn to Pan runs from Stanza 11 through Stanza 15. He is associated with the flora and fauna of earth, as well as water, from the “dank moisture” of “desolate places” (Line 240) to “a firmament reflected in a sea” (Line 300). While fire is useful for ritual and cooking, large, elemental fires are harmful to agriculture, including burning up what the sheep graze on. Therefore, the prayer and the hymn are focused on the elements that benefit the shepherds and their farming—earth and water. The hymn also extends beyond earth, into the spiritual and celestial realm of “heaven” (Line 295). This later becomes the focus of Endymion’s vision of his moon-love, which he recounts to Peona in the island bower.

In Stanza 16, the post-ritual activities of the shepherds’ community are interspersed with references to Greek myths. While many dance and have sex, others play games. The mood of the people watching the game is defined by the tone of the myths they are thinking about. Stories and emotions are interconnected, and myths are close to these characters. They are later inspired to talk about their dreams of the afterlife, Elysium, developing the theme about the nature of dreams. Keats’s inclusion of “Their fond imaginations” (Line 393) demonstrates the importance of imagination in the British Romantic Era of literature. However, there is a darker turn at the end of this stanza. Endymion, in a trance, is unresponsive.

Stanzas 17 and 18 are Peona tending to Endymion—a representation of sisterly love. Here, the bower from Stanza 3 returns. Endymion and Peona’s journey to the island bower develops the water and boat symbolism and imagery. Peona captains a “little shallop” (Line 423), echoing the speaker’s “little boat” (Line 47). Water imagery blends with arboreal (tree and bush) imagery in the bower. Peona moves from guiding the boat—confident and able to move on the water—to being compared to a “willow” (Line 446) tree keeping watch over a stream. She patiently watches over Endymion in the bower without moving. The arboreal simile (comparison) demonstrates her concern and love.

Stanza 19 focuses on Endymion coming out of his trance and beginning the dialogue with Peona that lasts until the final stanza of Book 1. The theme of dreams is also developed here. In contrast with the imaginary constructions of Elysium that the shepherds describe while awake, Endymion is healed by sleep and the dreams therein that contain natural elements, like trees, waves, and moonlight, as well as “golden palaces, strange minstrelsy” (Line 457), and labyrinthine enchantments. These dreams contain familiar elements alongside fantastic elements that heal Endymion.

Endymion wakes and addresses Peona, associating her further with elements from the earth. After the speaker compares her to a tree that was visited by birds in Stanza 18, Endymion compares her to a bird—specifically, a “dove” (Line 467), which is a symbol of peace and love. Her tears, which Endymion compares to dew, keep the element of water mixed with the element of earth. Her love and concern have inspired him to return to his normal, earthly activities, like archery and tending his sheep.

In Stanza 20, Peona plays music and probes further into Endymion’s mental/ emotional state. Music is connected to myths—allusions to Greek stories of Dryope and Delphi are used to describe the music. This can be compared to how myths are used to set a mood among the game-watching crowd in Stanza 16. After playing a song on her lute, Peona asks Endymion what mysteries he knows and how he has sinned. One potential sin she guesses is taking a sacred dove, which harkens back to his description of her as a dove in the previous stanza.

In Stanzas 21-23, Endymion describes his dream to Peona, developing the theme of The Nature of Dreams. He enters this dream by lying in a “magic bed” (Line 554) of poppies, which symbolize dreams, as well as intoxication. This can be contrasted with the “flower leaves” (Line 438) that Peona arranges in the bower for Endymion. The dream brings together water imagery and celestial imagery—moving through space is like moving through water, as well as air. Endymion sees “where the milky way / Among the stars in virgin splendour pours” (Lines 579-80). The diction (word choice) of “pours” gives the lines a liquid quality, highlighting the milk of the Milky Way galaxy. This is the echo of the priest’s “milk-white” vase (Line 153) earlier in the poem, together offering liquidity in the idea of pouring out of a vase.

As he moves through the galaxy, the central celestial figure, the moon, shines silvery for Endymion. Then, she transforms into a beautiful woman. After going into a “dark and vapoury tent” (Line 597), the moon reemerges in a human form that Endymion describes at length. The long description of female features—starting with her “golden hair” (Line 609) and ending at her “hovering feet” (Line 624)—is a literary device called a blazon. This catalog of features is characteristic of love poetry, dating back to the medieval era. It conveys the intense and overwhelming quality of Endymion’s love for beauty, specifically the beauty of the moon goddess.

The human form of the moon goddess allows her to demonstrate love through physical affection. She embraces Endymion as they travel through the stars and skies to land in a flowerbed on a mountainside. He is able to kiss her and lay with her among “violets, and blossoming limes” (Line 667). Endymion does not only love her for her beauty, which is conveyed through the eyes, but also for the sensations that are conveyed through touch. This sensuality is part of love’s power over Endymion; the dream changes his whole demeanor, as noted by his sister. At the end of recounting his dream, Endymion thanks his sister for helping him overcome the dream’s power and regain some of his former positive habits and attitude.

In Stanza 24, Peona questions why the dream has such power over Endymion’s waking life, further developing the theme of The Nature of Dreams. She argues in favor of earthly honor over dreams, as well as pursuing love. Peona’s opinion of the nature of dreams aligns with the speaker’s in Stanza 19. Her descriptions of “gold rocks [...] palaces / And towers of amethyst” (Lines 743, 745-46) echo the speaker’s description of dreams that appear in healing sleep, including “golden palaces” (Line 457). While these kinds of dreams are appealing, Peona thinks chasing after them is a sign of weakness. She asks Endymion why he would abandon earthly honor “For nothing but a dream” (Line 761). Endymion is temporarily conflicted by her admonishment.

However, he supports his claim about the nature of dreams, as well as the importance of love, in Stanza 25. He argues that there are different kinds of dreams. She, and the speaker, describe “slumberous phantasm” (Line 772), or a base kind of dream. Endymion’s dream of the moon goddess is not in this category. Instead, it is a connection to nature and heaven, or “fellowship divine” (Line 779).

Furthermore, the overwhelming and powerful experience of love is the most important human endeavor, he argues. It is how “souls interknit” (Line 813). Beyond this connection between people, Endymion argues, love also “might bless / The world with benefits unknowingly” (Lines 827-28). He proposes that love plays a role in the growth and existence of natural things, like flowers blooming and earth having rivers, combining the elements of earth and water. Also, love—specifically “kiss[es]” (Line 843)—are part of music, agriculture, and pleasure.

In Stanza 26 (the longest stanza of the poem), Endymion continues to argue that immortal love is more important than mortal fame. He assures Peona that his dream was more than just a nocturnal fantasy, because the beautiful moon-goddess appeared to him multiple times after his initial dream. She comes to him a total of three times, a number that has magical significance. During the day, her face appears in a well: “The same bright face I tasted in my sleep, / smiling in the clear well” (Lines 896-97). Endymion, once again overwhelmed by love, nearly jumps into the water after her. Water and boat imagery and symbolism saturate this scene that he describes. For instance, water, specifically “plenteous showers” (Line 900) of dew, is what brings him back to his senses.

On another day, Endymion ends up in a watery cave—a grotto. He asks Echo to take his vows of love to the moon goddess. He receives an answer that includes how Echo will carry the sound of his hand as it “trembles through my labyrinthine hair” (Line 970). This daytime voice directly recalls the goddess’s “golden hair” (Line 609), which was “gordian’d up and braided” (Line 614) in his dream. This references the gordian knot, which is a kind of labyrinth. These daytime experiences he offers as proof to Peona that his dream is more real, complex, and significant than the dreams she and the speaker describe.

Yet, at the end of his speech, Endymion vows to not neglect his earthly duties due to these visions of his lunar love. He contrasts the intense watery imagery in these moments with a “flame of hope” (Line 985). This recalls the sacred fire that the priest lights in the ritual to Pan. Overall, the elements of water and earth are more prevalent than fire, but there are significant moments that use flame in the poem. Fire is used to call Pan into a circle of worshippers and to describe the feeling of the moon goddess’s divine presence.

However, the poem ends with Endymion and Peona reboarding the boat and sailing out over the water to return to the mountain where the ritual was performed. The final lines of Stanza 27 focus on water over both fire and earth, including mists and sailing away “from land” (Line 993). This aligns Endymion (and Peona) with Keats in his boat in Stanza 3.