Page 192 - DENG103_English - I

Unit 22: Explanation of Unseen Passages in Verse

• Talk about a weird. The speaker is still giving orders that only he can obey. Notes

• He tells the pipes not to play to his “sensual” or physical ear, but to the metaphorical
ear of his “spirit,” or imagination. This spiritual ear is “more endear’d,” or cherished,
than his flesh-and-blood ears.
• As if that weren’t strange enough, he asks the pipes to play “ditties of no tone,” that is,
songs that don’t have any notes or sounds, at least in the real world. Imaginary songs.
• Haven’t you ever composed an awesome song in your head, and you’re sure it’s as good
as a Top-40 hit, but you also know that if you ever tried to sing or perform it, the result
would be a total disaster? That’s kind of what’s going on here.
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
• Aha! The identity of our mysterious musician revealed! It was Colonel Mustard in the
Conservatory with the Lead Pipe. Oh wait, no: it was a good-looking young guy (“fair
youth”) sitting under the trees, and his pipe was probably made of wood.
• Here comes Keats’s trick again. He treats the urn like a real place, and because this place
never changes, it means that the guy under the tree will always be playing the same
song, in the same pose forever!
• It’s like Bill Murray’s life in Groundhog Day, but with even less variety.

• But for the speaker, this is actually a good thing. Because the seasons never change, the
weather will always be nice and the trees will never be “bare,” without leaves.

• It’s Eden. Eternal spring.

Task How you can distinguish between seen and unseen passages?

Self Assessment

State whether the following statements are true or false:

1. Good wine needs to be kept cool.
2. The bird is not free of cares.
3. The seasons never changes, the weather will always be nice and the trees will never be
‘‘bare’’ without leaves.

22.2 Summary

• O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cool’d a long age in the deep-delved earth,

The speaker longs for a drink of wine or some other spirit that has been kept cool deep
in the earth. “Vintage” wine is made from grapes from the same harvest, and people
often refer to a particular year at a winery as a “vintage.”

LOVELY PROFESSIONAL UNIVERSITY 185