Mikaela

The speech I heard tonight touched on the theme or
意象 of the coexistence of Joy and Pain in Love.
That reminds me of a poem by Keats which I really liked.
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Ode on Melancholy


No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist
Wolf's-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine;
Nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss'd
By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine;
Make not your rosary of yew-berries,
Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be
Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl
A partner in your sorrow's mysteries;
For shade to shade will come too drowsily,
And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.

But when the melancholy fit shall fall
Sudden from heaven like a weeping cloud,
That fosters the droop-headed flowers all,
And hides the green hill in an April shroud;
Then glut thy sorrow on a morning rose,
Or on the rainbow of the salt sand-wave,
Or on the wealth of globed peonies;
Or if thy mistress some rich anger shows,
Emprison her soft hand, and let her rave,
And feed deep, deep upon her peerless eyes.

She dwells with Beauty - Beauty that must die;
And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips
Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh,
Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips:
Ay, in the very temple of Delight
Veil'd Melancholy has her sovran shrine,
Though seen of none save him whose strenuous tongue
Can burst Joy's grape against his palate fine;
His soul shall taste the sadness of her might,
And be among her cloudy trophies hung.

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John Keats' poem is quite metaphisical and difficult to understand,
but I like the themes and atmosphere his poems give off.
This "Ode on Melancholy" is my favorite.
I remembered that we did a presentation on it. ( Claire and I and......)
It talks about the experience one person goes through in life.
Your ability to perceive emotions effects the degree of emotion you can feel.
That ability will build up as you grow and experience more and more of life.
Joy and Pain go hand in hand.
The greater Joy you perceive, the greater Pain you will feel, and vice versa.
if you are interested in this poem, here's a useful site you can go to,
it's even the site I researched when I did the presentation! I just came across it again^^
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/melancholy.html