Keats, "To Haydon"

John Keats's "To Hayden" focuses on a poet who has lost his words and builds a series of confusing images that concentrate on displaced objects and concepts to emphasize Keats's respect for an old, fragmented piece of art and inadequacies of his own art..

Keats begins the poem by suggesting that he "cannot speak" (1), that he has lost the use of language to accurately describe what he feels upon looking at the Elgin Marbles. Keats experiences a de-evolution of language that is multifaceted, affecting every part of his poetic voice.  Keats's language first becomes conceptually ambiguous with "mighty things" (2) that could be referencing either the magnificent Elgin Marbles or Greek mythology, the "Heliconian springs" (7) and the "Hesperian shine" (13), and then becomes concretely ambiguous with the "rolling out upfollowed thunderings" (6), a confused mixture of both horizontal and vertical direction. The Marble's effect on Keats engufs him in both mind and body. Language is misused through redundancy with "over-meek" (5) when meek already implies an excessive quality, exhibiting that Keats has lost his artistic sense of terse poetic line.

The deterioration of Keats's poetic voice continues through his fantastical image, a human who wishes he has "eagle's wings" (3), depicting a monstrous figure that is half man and half beast. This displacement shows a break in language because if Keats had eagle's wings, he would have the appearance of an angel. He instead chooses a non-human object as a metaphor, emphasizing its monstrosity and its displacement from the world. Like an eagle without wings, Keats feels separated from the world because he cannot see past the broken images of the Marbles.

The two Greek references are confusing because they are not precise. The "Heliconian springs" (7) could allude to Pegasus who makes lakes by stomping on the ground, another reference to a winged beast. The springs could also be a reference to Narcissius, Keats being so enamored with the beauty of the Marbles that he is frozen. The "Hesperian shine" (13) seems to be attributed to the glow of the golden apples of the Hesperides, the Nymphs of the Sunset, but when the shine is described as a "star" (14), Keats reveals that he is actually referencing Hesperus, the evening Venus. Keats says the "star [is] in the east" (14), when it shines in the west, supporting the lack of direction that is displayed through the "upfollowed thunderings" (6). The misappropriation of Greek allusions by Keats signal that part of the reason why he cannot see past the broken images is not just an artistic failure of not having the complete work of art, but also a historic failure of not understanding the context of events on the Marble.

How do the similar images and language in between "To Haydon" and "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles" interact with each other in each poem? "I have not eagle's wings" (Haydon 3) to "Like a sick eagle looking at the sky" (Seeing 5), "Were I of ample strength" (Haydon 8) to "My spirit is too weak" (1), and "Even to the steep of Heliconian springs" (Haydon 7) to "each imagined pinnacle and steep/Of godlike hardship" (Seeing 3-4) especially. What does Keats mean when he says, "that all these numbers should he be thine" (Haydon 9)? It seems that this line is significant, but I am lost when it comes to its meaning.