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'Ode on Melancholy' by John Keats; Brief-answer Questions

Ode on Melancholy

1. From what source does Keats' get the idea of “Ode on Melancholy?”

Ans: Keats gets the idea of “Ode on Melancholy” from Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy.

2. "No, no, go not to Lethe" – Whom does Keats address here?

Ans: Keats addresses every melancholic person and asks him/her not to go to Lethe for getting rid of melancholy.

3. What is Lethe?

Ans: Lethe is the river of forgetfulness.

4. What is Wolf's bane?

Ans: Wolf's bane is a highly poisonous flowering plant. 

5. What is nightshade? [NU 2018]

Ans: Nightshade is a poisonous plant, the leaf and root of which are used to make medicine. 

6. Who was Proserpine?

Ans: Proserpine was a Greek goddess, daughter of Zeus and the earth-goddess Demeter.

7. What is peony?

Ans: Peony is a large, showy flower. 

8. Where according to Keats, is true melancholy found?

Ans: According to Keats, true melancholy is found in beauty, joy and pleasure.

9. What is the source of melancholy?

Ans: Anything that beautiful, joyful, pleasing or delightful is the source of melancholy.

10. Whom does Melancholy dwell with?

Ans: Melancholy dwells with Beauty that must die.

11. What dwells with beauty as Keats says in 'Ode on Melancholy'?

Ans: As Keats says in 'Ode on Melancholy', melancholy dwells with beauty. 

12. Where does true melancholy live?

Ans: True melancholy lives with dying beauty, parting joy and aching pleasure.

13. What is the theme of the poem “Ode on Melancholy”?

Ans: The theme of the poem “Ode on Melancholy” is how to embrace melancholy and depression and how to make the most of it.

14. What does melancholy conquer?

Ans: Melancholy conquers the soul of the person who has perceived the actual nature of melancholy. 

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