John Keats’ s Holistic Ecological View

Abstract

John Keats was one of the representative poets of the second generation of Romanticism in England. During his lifetime, his poetic reputation was not recognized by society, and his works faced difficulties in publication, as well as frequent ridicule and reproach from critics. After his death, the poetic and theoretical value of his works was ultimately affirmed in literary history, with odes such as “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” “Ode to a Nightingale,” and “To Autumn” becoming timeless treasures in the history of poetry. Keats exerted a profound influence on the literary world, and Alfred Tennyson, the Poet Laureate of the Victorian era, held his poetry in the highest regard. This paper will employ ecocriticism to examine four poems— “O Solitude!” “Who Has Been Long in City Pent” “On the Grasshopper and Cricket ” and “Ode to a Nightingale”. By minimizing human subjectivity and amplifying the subjectivity of others (especially creatures of nature), Keats employed narrative strategies that reflect his emphasis on the importance of nature’s value. However, Keats occasionally reverted to an ego-centered narrative perspective, which was a necessary narrative strategy to critique anthropocentrism. Through this, Keats advocated an ecological holistic view: human beings should break free from the shackles of anthropocentrism, recognize the subjectivity of nature itself, and humans and nature can integrate as a whole and co-exist harmoniously.