Throughout history, human beings have sought to transcend their material existence by exploring the depths of the soul. Literature, which incorporates human concerns, embodies this quest for transcendence across different periods. English Romanticism, with its deep engagement with spirituality, mysticism, imagination, and contemplation, presents poetry as a medium that reveals the mystical experiences of the poet-prophet. As leading figures of this tradition, Percy Bysshe Shelley and John Keats have carved out a distinguished place in English poetry and portrayed the ascent of their personas from a mundane reality to a sublime and mystical realm—an elevation that also resonates with Plato’s allegory of the cave. However, the question of whether these Romantic departures from physical reality represent an escape or a deeper engagement with truth is closely related to the long-standing discourse on the necessity of literature. This paper argues that Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale” (1819) and Shelley’s “To a Skylark” (1820) depict transcendence not as mere escapism but as a rebellious attempt to unveil hidden truths about the human soul that challenges the illusory nature of everyday existence, as Plato’s allegory suggests. Yet, unlike Plato’s philosopher, who reaches enlightenment through reason, Keats and Shelley’s personas achieve liberation through artistic creativity, symbolized by the nightingale and skylark. In this sense, this article examines the duality of the physical and spiritual realms, the transcendental experiences of the poems’ personas, and the role of poetic creativity as an emancipatory force against Plato’s scepticism of art.
Meltem CAN (Wed,) studied this question.