Hope: The Enforcer and The Saviour

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of hope being his saviour and that nothing could help him soothing except hope. The consoling nature of the aspiring force is taken to a further level when the speaker asks to “[…] wave thy silver pinions o’er my head!” (6). Keats symbolizes pinions as his source of lifting and freedom from the disparities of life. This combined in addition with euphony helps create the serenade mood of what the speaker believes that hope will do. In spite of life’s woes, he is able to live through them largely in part to the aspiring power of hope.

In addition, the speaker contemplates that hope is a mystic and holy presence, hence explicating its prowess. Through the assonance of “see[ing] thee stoop from heaven on wings […]” (41), the speaker displays hope’s empowering presence from above. This allusion of heaven also further displays the true holiness and sacredness of hope, for heaven is a place of only great spirituality. In essence, hope embodies its status as a saviour in the poem, exemplified when it “fills the skies with silver glittering” (42), visually displaying the mystic aura of hope.

Without hope, morbidity would take over. In this sense, hope is the one heavenly force that overcomes disparity. Keats successfully invokes the speaker’s great desire for hope throughout the poem. The speaker continually searches for soothing and protection under hope, for he believes that only the mystic abilities of hope could help him in his time of need. Perhaps one could also say that to hope, is to believe in a greater power.