Ode to Psyche

Poetry | John Keats
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Write a short note on Psyche.

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Psyche ✪✪✪

Or, write a short note on Psyche.

In John Keats’s (1795-1821) poem “Ode to Psyche” (1820), Psyche is shown as the goddess of the soul. She is a gentle and lovely figure from Greek mythology. Keats sees her in a dream. He feels pity and love for her forgotten beauty.

Psyche as a Forgotten Goddess: Psyche was not worshipped like other goddesses of Olympus. Keats calls her, 

“O latest born and loveliest vision far.” 

She came too late to receive temples and prayers. The poet says sadly that she has, 

“No shrine, no grove, no oracle.” 

Through these words, he shows her loneliness. She is gentle but ignored. Keats feels it is unfair that such a pure soul was forgotten by men.

Psyche’s Beauty and Love with Cupid: Keats sees Psyche and Cupid

together in a dream. He describes them lying side by side in a quiet, peaceful forest. The place is calm, full of soft wind, flowers, and a gentle stream. Psyche rests beside Cupid, who is a winged boy and the god of love. Their love is pure, calm, and full of peace. It joins love and soul together as one. The poet feels great joy and tenderness while watching their holy union.

Psyche as the Goddess of Imagination and the Soul: Keats wants to give Psyche the temple she never had. He says, 

“Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane

In some untrodden region of my mind.” 

This means he will worship her in his imagination. His mind becomes her temple. He fills it with beautiful things like buds, bells, and countless unnamed stars. Psyche becomes a symbol of the creative soul and divine beauty.

Psyche in “Ode to Psyche” is not only a goddess but also a spirit of love, imagination, and purity. Through her, Keats shows that real worship lives in the heart and mind, not in temples of stone.

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