3 h 36 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if a dream of love draws you away from ordinary life and deep beneath the earth?
On Mount Latmos, the shepherd prince Endymion is haunted by a vision he cannot put aside. His sister Peona tries to ease his sorrow and bring him back to ordinary life. But Cynthia, the moon goddess, draws him onward through dream and voice. He sets out to find the love that gives him no rest.
In Endymion: A Poetic Romance, John Keats turns Greek myth into a wandering poem of desire and wonder. From a green hillside during a festival, the poem leads into caves beneath the earth and a palace under the sea. Its flowing rhyming couplets explore the lasting force of beauty and the pull between earthly love and something higher.
What you’ll discover
- A dream worth following Follow Endymion as a vision of a goddess unsettles his life on Mount Latmos.
- Earth and sea below Enter underground caves and a palace beneath the sea, where the search for love continues.
- A sister's gentle care Meet Peona, whose wish to comfort her brother draws him toward ordinary life.
- Beauty that offers rest Explore Keats's idea that beauty offers lasting joy, quiet shelter and sweet dreams.
- A young poet's music Let loose, flowing couplets carry you through rich descriptions of nature, longing and wonder.
Who will love it
For readers who love Greek myth, rich description and the early Romantic poets, and for anyone curious about how Keats began.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A shepherd prince is haunted by a dream
- He follows his dream beneath the earth
- An old man under the sea needs his help
- Two loves pull him in different directions
- Beauty, love and the pull of the ideal
- A young poet's music, flaws and all
Who’s who
- EndymionA young shepherd prince of Mount Latmos who is haunted by a vision of a goddess and sets out to find her.
- PeonaEndymion's gentle sister, who tries to ease his sorrow and bring him back to ordinary life.
- CynthiaThe moon goddess, also called Phoebe, who appears to Endymion as a dream and a voice that draws him on.
- GlaucusAn old man of the sea, cursed by Circe, who needs Endymion's help to gather the drowned lovers and be freed.
- The Indian maidenA sorrowful woman from India whom Endymion meets in the last book and comes to love.
- CirceThe sorceress who cursed Glaucus with age after he refused her love.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print hardcover
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Endymion : romance poétique
by John Keats · 1818
A shepherd prince follows a vision of a goddess beneath the earth and sea, drawn between earthly love and the ideal.
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From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A shepherd prince is haunted by a dream
The poem opens with a statement about beauty. Keats says that a lovely thing is a joy for ever, that it does not fade into nothing, and that it keeps a quiet place of rest for us, full of sweet dreams and health. From this idea he moves into the story. Endymion is a young shepherd prince who lives on Mount Latmos in Greece, and the people of the region are gathering for a festival of the god Pan.
At the festival the old priest leads the crowd in a hymn to Pan. Keats pours his best nature writing into it. Pan is the god of woods, flocks, hills and the quiet corners of the countryside, and the hymn praises him as the one who stands behind all of these. The crowd kneels, the singing ends, and the games begin.
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What is Endymion by John Keats about?
It tells of Endymion, a young shepherd prince who dreams of a lovely goddess and travels over land, under the earth and sea, and through the sky to find her. Along the way he meets other lovers and learns about suffering.
Who was Endymion in Greek myth?
In Greek myth Endymion was a beautiful young shepherd, often placed on Mount Latmos, whom the moon goddess Selene, called Cynthia or Phoebe in Keats, loved as he slept. Keats builds his own story on this tale.
What does A thing of beauty is a joy for ever mean?
It is the opening line of Endymion. Keats means that true beauty never really fades and goes on giving comfort and happiness, which sets up the poem's belief that beauty has lasting value.
The author
John Keats
1795–1821 · English Romantic poet
John Keats was an English Romantic poet who, before his death at twenty-five, produced some of the most celebrated verse in the language. Lamia, his narrative poem of a serpent transformed into a beautiful woman, showcases his lush imagery and fascination with myth.
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