Poetry · Chapter
The Burden of Itys explained
The speaker wanders through the English countryside along the Thames, contrasting its pastoral beauty with the grandeur of Rome and the ancient myths of Greece.
What happens
The speaker wanders through the English countryside along the Thames, contrasting its pastoral beauty with the grandeur of Rome and the ancient myths of Greece. He hears a nightingale's song and reflects on the sorrow of Philomel, the transient beauty of nature, and the enduring presence of classical gods and figures in the landscape. The poem weaves together themes of memory, art, and the intersection of the natural world with mythological past.
Themes in this chapter
Nature and the Seasons
The poem richly describes the English countryside—harebells, poppies, beanfields, daffodils—and the seasonal cycle of summer evening, dew, and harvest.
Classical Mythology and Antiquity
The speaker invokes numerous classical figures and myths: Philomel, Endymion, Artemis, Narcissus, Salmacis, Ariadne, Dionysos, and the gods of Grecian poesy.
Transience and Mortality
The nightingale's song is a requiem; the speaker reflects on fleeting beauty, the passing of day, and the ephemeral nature of life and art.
Art and Immortality
Music is described as 'the Art which is most nigh to tears and memory,' and the ancient myths are said to be 'not dead at all' but asleep, awaiting revival through song.
Characters to notice
- Antinous
Wandered through the vale with sad voluptuous smile, the red lotus of the Nile leaning from his hair.
- Artemis
Unravished Artemis bade her hounds give tongue and roused the deer from his green ambuscade.
- O Melancholy
Addressed directly: 'O Melancholy, fold thy raven wing!'
- Endymion
The moon knows Endymion is not far away.
- Narcissus
Lies on the clear river's marge at Tempe, wooing his own drifting image.
- Salmacis
Who is not boy nor girl and yet is both, fed by two fires and unsatisfied.
- Bacchus
Young Bacchus fled from the copse, but is invoked to return astride his Indian throne.
- Faun
Might raise his head by the green water-flags with reeded flute.
Key passages
“Lie still, lie still, O passionate heart, lie still! O Melancholy, fold thy raven wing!”
Calm down, my passionate heart; let sorrow be still and quiet.
The speaker commands his own emotions to be at peace.
“This English Thames is holier far than Rome”
The River Thames in England is more sacred than the city of Rome.
The speaker elevates the local English landscape above the religious grandeur of Rome.
“God is likelier there / Than hidden in that crystal-hearted star the pale monks bear!”
God is more likely present in the natural English scene than in the consecrated host carried by monks.
A critique of institutional religion in favor of nature's divinity.
“Sing on! sing on! let the dull world grow young, / Let elemental things take form again”
Keep singing, so that the weary world becomes youthful and the basic elements of nature are reborn.
The speaker invokes the nightingale's song to rejuvenate the world and revive ancient myths.
