Hyperion is an abandoned epic poem by 19th-century EnglishRomantic poetJohn Keats. It is based on the Titanomachia, and tells of the despair of the Titans after their fall to the Olympians. Keats wrote the poem from late 1818 until the spring of 1819, when he gave it up as having "too many Miltonicinversions." He was also nursing his younger brother Tom, who died on 1 December 1818 of tuberculosis. The themes and ideas were picked up again in Keats's , when he attempted to recast the epic by framing it with a personal quest to find truth and understanding.
Plot
The Titans are a pantheon of gods who ruled prior to the Olympians, and are now destined to fall. They include Saturn, Ops, Thea, Enceladus,, Oceanus, Hyperion and Clymene. The poem opens with Saturn bemoaning the loss of his power, which is being overtaken by Jupiter. Thea leads him to a place where the other Titans sit, similarly miserable, and they discuss whether they should fight back against their conquest by the new gods. Oceanus declares that he is willing to surrender his power to Neptune because Neptune is more beautiful. Clymene describes first hearing the music of Apollo, which she found beautiful to the point of pain. Finally, Enceladus makes a speech encouraging the Titans to fight. Meanwhile, Hyperion's palace is described, and we first see Hyperion himself, the only Titan who is still powerful. He is addressed by Uranus, who encourages him to go to where Saturn and the other Titans are. We leave the Titans with the arrival of Hyperion, and the scene changes to Apollo weeping on the beach. Here Mnemosyne encounters him and he explains to her the cause of his tears: he is aware of his divine potential, but as yet unable to fulfill it. By looking into Mnemosyne's eyes he receives knowledge which transforms him fully into a god. The poem as usually printed breaks off at this point, in mid-line, with the word "celestial". Keats's friend Richard Woodhouse, transcribing this poem, completed this line as "Celestial Glory dawn'd: he was a god!"
Style
The language of Hyperion is very similar to Milton's, in meter and style. However, his characters are quite different. Although Apollo falls into the image of the "Son" from Paradise Lost and of "Jesus" from Paradise Regained, he does not directly confront Hyperion as Satan is confronted. Also, the roles are reversed, and Apollo is deemed as the "challenger" to the throne, who wins it by being more "true" and thus, more "beautiful."
