Ah, indolence—the speaker loves to be idle so much that he spends six stanzas praising the… well, nothingness of doing nothing. But is it real pleasure that the speaker takes in laziness, or is it just the absence of pain? When we avoid living, we also avoid the troubles of living. The speaker prefers to stay numb and relaxed over engaging in the excitement, and the sorrows, of living. Therefore there'll be no striving for love, dreams, or recognition in his life. He'd rather just daydream under a tree.
Questions About Inertia
- What adjectives does the speaker use when describing the pleasures of inertia? What could Keats be trying to say about laziness by including these adjectives?
- What does the speaker give up, in order to remain inert? Why does he do this?
- Is the poem a celebration of inertia, or a condemnation of it? Both? How can you tell?
Chew on This
Try on an opinion or two, start a debate, or play the devil’s advocate.
The speaker couldn't have remained idle forever. He did, after all, write this poem. "Ode on Indolence" is a poem about not wanting to write a poem. It's one giant contradiction.