Lamia

Lamia   The poem “Lamia” by John Keats is about Lycius, a young man and Lamia who turns from a serpent into a woman. The serpent is in love with Lycius and wants to marry him. Therefore Hermes, as a return for a favor, changes her outer appereance. When the two meet Lycius falls in love with her and they plan on marrying. Lamia, who feels some bad vibrance from Appolonius, Lycius’ mentor, doesn’t want him to be present at the marriage and Lycius agrees to this. Appolonius but finally comes uninvited and tells Lycius the truth about Lamia upon which she disappears and Lycius dies. In the story Lycius can be seen as a representer for the common man or even Keats himself. He is a man who follows a dream, gets totally engrossed into it and gives up precious relations, like the one to his mentor. Keats was under medical training and going to be a doctor, but because he wanted to become a poet he gave this opportunity up for his dream. Lamia represents the dream or in Keats case his career of a poet. Lamia as a serpent is the career with all its difficulties of perhaps not being succesful, not earning enough money to live and other social problems. In the stage of a serpent, Lamia is not attractive, no young man would fall in love with her or give up anything. She is the dream in a shape, which somebody else, who doesn’t dream the dream, sees, mostly the reality. Lamia then as a woman is the life of a poet as Keats saw it. He saw a chance of expressing himself, felt attracted to the opportunities and therefore turned towards such a life, even though he knew all the coming problems. Keats got inspired by Shakespears’ and Spencer’s workings and saw the beauty in them in the same way Lycius got attracted by the beauty of the woman Lamia. The common man who has a dream of becoming or doing something, gets attracted by the possibilities or by things he might get. Its not the reality that makes him wanting to live the dream but future possibilities, which everyone sees as perfect as possible in the dream. Seeing the success of these other poets Keats turned away from his own part, where reason would tell him that it is not safe enough to depend only on a career as a poet. He saw in himself the ability and didn’t let count anything else what could speak against the life of poet. This alike attitude is seen in Lycius when he listens to Lamia not to invite Appolonius to the marriage, even though he had learned everything by Appolonius, had always listen to his advices and obeyed his words. It is as if Keats saw himself turning away from his reason, shutting it out from his dream-life. If someone is sure about his dream, often he refuses everyone who would differ from his opinion. He would not even want to listen to any negative side in his dream, let alone to take any advice. But reason and reality represented by Appolonius do what they have to do. In this manner Appolonius comes to the marriage and tells Lycius the truth about Lamia. Keats met the reality in the critics of his works. There he realized that even though he gave everything, he doesn’t get the succes he expected or he thought to deserve. In general life this situation is often considered a waking up. The person sees his dream suddenly with different eyes, with the eyes of his reason and the dream suddenly disappears. In the same way Lamia disappears in front of Lycius’ eyes. For Keats it was a change of style, at this point he left the product of his youth and his idealistic experimentations behind and turned to a new phase of his life. Just as Lycius died after having seen Lamia disappear, this part of Keats, with his romatic attitudes, seeing beauty everywhere, died or was left behind. Also the common man must feel as if something is dying as he must end a part of his life and start something new, after realizing that the dream doesn’t work. I feel that Keats as he has written the poem quite late in his life was kind of expressing his feelings about his failure and perhaps depression, he might have felt because of the not acceptance and recognition of his works. The poem might be seen as a selfanalyse and adaption of his life or also as an advice to people to live dreams carefully and always with the consideration of reason and reality.