Archetypes and Creative Imagination in ‘Ode to Psyche’: A Jungian Analysis Literature Review

John Keats’ ‘Ode to Psyche’ is steeped in mythology and dream symbolism, which encourages us to understand it from the perspective of depth psychology/archetypal criticism. The odes of John Keats have been studied from historicist, feminist, and biographical perspectives. This paper aims to complement these perspectives by elaborating the mythical dream imagery of the poem as referring symbolically to the process of psychic integration and poetic creativity. The paper also views the poem as exemplifying the need for a complementary ongoing communication between the conscious and the unconscious aspects of the mind to maintain a holistic psyche. Archetypal theory is used to frame the figurative structure of the poem as a symbolic mythical variant of the process of poetic creativity. The paper employs three theoretical constructs, namely syzygy or complementation of opposites ; active imagination ; and individuation , as a framework to analyze the poem from an archetypal perspective. Employing a depth psychological perspective to understand poetry enhances the aesthetic pleasure derived from reading poetry and enhances the 'healing effect' of poetry by illuminating the psychological connotations of the poem. The paper concludes by attempting to answer two research questions explored in the analysis. First, does archetypal perspective contribute to enhancing readers' aesthetic pleasure derived from reading poetry? Second, what are the theoretical contributions of the current analysis towards contemporary Jungian literary theory?


Introduction
John Keats' extraordinary creative outburst in the six lyrical odes (henceforth Odes), composed between March and September 1819, has attracted critical literary analyses from different theoretical perspectives. Most of these perspectives have enriched our understanding of the Odes concerning the outer world. How Keats' poetry can be understood within the biographical, historical and political contexts of the time and with reference to the English Romantic Period of the 19 th century, has been fruitfully analysed (see, for example, Cox, 1998;Hühn & Kiefer, 2005;Stillinger, 1968;Swann, 1988;Underwood, 2002;Vendler, 1985;Wang, 2002;Wolfson, 1997). Analytical psychology, however, can complement this body of literary analyses by providing a depth perspective on how the process of poetic creativity unfolds in these poems. The following analysis, therefore, focuses on 'Ode to Psyche' (henceforth Psyche) by analysing __________________________________________________ CONTACT Imdad Ullah Khan at imdadullahk@gmail.com it from the perspective of analytical psychology and archetypal literary criticism. The aim of the paper is two-fold: First, to show how analytical psychology, and archetypal theory, can be employed as a useful methodological perspective that can help us understand the mythical texture of the poem as a symbolic variant of the workings of the poetic imagination of the speaker in the poem; second, to exemplify how this psychological perspective can be applied not as 'rigid dogmatism' based on the application of Jungian perspective to yet another literary piece but as a 'working hypothesis' which has the potential to enhance the range of a reader's responses to the poem (Dawson, 2008;Dobson, 2005). To this end, a close textual analysis will be maintained throughout the analysis while resisting the temptation of wandering away into Jungian theories and imposing them on the figurative tapestry of the poem.
A psychological perspective helps readers enrich their interaction with a literary work through engagement with its hidden symbolic structure (Tariq, 2019). This paper contends that dream, myth, and imaginative patterns are intricately woven into the symbolic texture of Psyche, giving it a rich and complex psychological undertone. To approach this texture with a critical lens, the paper uses three theoretical constructs, informed by Jungian and post-Jungian analytical psychology, to help us connect at a 'deeper' psychological level with the text of the poem. The constructs are: (i) syzygy or complementation of opposites in the psyche-in this instance, focused on complementation of animus archetype in the male psyche with energy from the unconscious anima archetype; (ii) active imagination, is used to analyse how the speaker, or the poetic persona in the poem, engages with the dream; and (iii) the will to individuate, focuses on how the poetic persona moves towards individuation through complementation of the male and female principles of the psyche. The paper argues that poetic creativity and imaginative 'fertility' in the poem can be viewed from a depth psychology perspective as resulting from psychic integration of the persona in the poem.
The paper attempts to answer two research questions. First, what contribution depth psychology makes to our understanding of Psyche from a mythological perspective? That is, how we can analyse the poem as a symbolic expression of the process of creativity at the psychic level. What are the implications of a depth psychology perspective for the reader in terms of a personal quest for psychic integrity and individuation? Second, what theoretical implications can be drawn from this analysis that might be of relevance to contemporary Jungian theory and its application in literary analysis.

Syzygy of Opposites: Complementation of Animus and Anima
Literary critics have discussed in detail whether the speaker in the six odes of John Keats can be considered as a single or multiple poetic personas (Vendler, 1973(Vendler, , 1985Wolfson, 1997). Whatever position one takes in the critical debate surrounding the nature of the poetic persona, it remains quite clear that throughout the Odes the speaker remains acutely aware of the dichotomous and conflictual nature of the outer and inner 'worlds' of the speaker. It remains a central preoccupation of the persona to understand, and see beyond, this 'duality' in the outer nature and in 'his' own subjectivity. Similarly, the Psyche portrays a vision of duality as the speaker tries to come to terms with his dream of 'the winged Psyche'. Commenting on the importance of conflict of pressing personal significance for the process of psychic integration, Jung said that 'Nothing is so apt to challenge our self-awareness and alertness as being at war with oneself' (Jung, 2014b: 546). Considered collectively, the Odes seem to move towards greater integration of these 'dichotomies' as we get nearer to the sublimity and wisdom of the ode 'To Autumn'. Here, the conflictual nature of outer reality, and by extension of the subjectivity of the persona, are not only accepted but also understood in terms of a cyclical integration of opposites into a harmonious whole. The realisation seems to stem from a mature understanding that the duality is not to be unified once and for all but to be understood as part of the cyclical pattern of the trajectory of life.
Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they? Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,- (Keats, 1899: 213, III, 23-24) 1 Addressed to the personified figure of the Autumn, these lines celebrate the 'music' of the Autumn, although it is marked by 'a wailful choir' in which 'the small gnats mourn' the death and decay of nature. These lines from 'To Autumn' put in perspective the dream which opens the symbolic, and mythical, configuration of Pyche. This dream incorporates an ontology of duality which the poetic persona determines to shape into a temple of wholeness in some 'untrodden region' of his mind. This determination expressed in Psyche takes other figurative and mythological forms in the 'Ode to a Nightingale', 'Odes on a Grecian Urn', and 'Ode on Melancholy', culminating in the cyclical structural and thematic ambience of 'To Autumn'. Psyche celebrates the beauty of the goddess Psyche. In Greek, 'psyche' means 'the soul', while 'anima' is its synonym in Latin. Psyche, as a symbolic mythical variant of the anima energy, can be understood to represent the attraction and emotive intensity for the feminine principle in the male psyche (see, for example, Jung & Campbell, 1971;Walker, 2014). However, at the start of the poem, the speaker is ambivalent about his encounter with a female figure in a halfforgotten dream, while wandering 'in a forest thoughtlessly': Surely, I dreamt to-day, or did I see The winged Psyche with awaken'd eyes? (143, I, 5-6) Jung's idea is relevant here regarding a poet's reaction to moments that are pregnant with imaginative inspiration. In his view, the poet can get "overwhelmed by a flood of thoughts and images which he never intended to create and which his own will could never have brought into being." (Jung, 2014c: 37). In his encounter with the feminine aspect of the psyche, the speaker grapples for words to express the incident. Such is the perplexity engendered by the encounter that the lines begin with surety that it was a dream but immediately turn into ambivalence that it might have been a waking moment of half-dreaming. Further, this encounter is 'doubly' wrapped in symbols connected with the unconscious in analysis through depth psychologyi.e. dreams and the forest. The above lines can be read as if in a state of lowered consciousness, the dreamer accesses a vision of the feminine potential for creative production. While wandering 'in a forest thoughtlessly' he faints with surprise by seeing 'two fair creatures' as: They lay calm-breathing, on the bedded grass; Their arms embraced, and their pinions too; Their lips touch'd not, but had not bade adieu, (143: II, 15-17) The imagery of sexual union, and romantic endearment, invoked in these lines can be understood in terms of symbolic representation of the desire of the speaker to achieve union with the feminine aspect of the mind. This complementation, or the syzygy of duality, signifies interaction between psychic 'polarities', such as anima and animus (cf. Caputo, 2013;Ulanov, 1997). According to depth psychology, the union of a conscious aspect of the mind with its unconscious complementary opposite can result in the release of positive energy which may take the form of artistic inspiration (Wali, 2011). Complementation of the masculine-feminine aspects of the mind is a symbolic realisation of the process of psychic integration of opposite aspects of personality (Jaban & Umme-Habiba, 2018). The energy, and the mythic symbols made available to the poet as a result of better integration of the unconscious, can be considered as the root of creative outburst in the poetic career of Keats. His astonishing poetic maturity in a year, i.e. 1819, when all his famous Odes were composed, can be understood in terms of the Jungian concept of complementation of psychic dualities. When ego-consciousness receives energy from the collective unconscious made accessible through the integration of anima archetype, the flow of imaginative outburst can be seen in lines like: Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane In some untrodden region of my mind, Where branched thoughts, new grown with pleasant pain, Instead of pines shall murmur in the wind: (143: V, 50-53) These lines can be viewed to foreshadow the astounding creative outburst in Keats' poetic career when he was able to compose in a period of a few months lyrical odes which built for him a 'fane' among the English poets. Jung's ideas about the feminine source of creativity in the unconscious are relevant here. 'The creative process' Jung says, 'has a feminine quality, and the creative work arises from unconscious depths-we might truly say from the realm of the Mothers.' (Jung, 2014c: 103). The temple that the speaker wishes to build will be surrounded by 'branched thoughts' and not 'pines'. This inward referencing of the imagery further encourages us to see the poem from the perspective of depth psychology as a symbolic text referring to the process of creative endeavour. The poem weaves a figurative and thematic structure, using dream and mythical imagery, which can be read as an internal odyssey of poetic creativity (see Salman, 1997;Ulanov, 1997). The next section analyses whether we can further understand the subject of the dream (the speaker) as the object of its message.

Staying with the Dream: Active Imagination
The thematic structure of Psyche hinges on a dream, or a dream-like state of awareness. As discussed above, the persona in the poem struggles at first to figure out how to relate to the dream. The first two stanzas describe this struggle of the persona. In the subsequent two stanzas, the speaker stays with the dream by eulogising its central figure-Psyche. The last, and the longest stanza, describes the resolve of the speaker to be a 'priest, and build a fane' to the goddess, surrounded by 'branched thoughts' 'murmuring in the wind'. The initial ambivalence of the speaker, and his subsequent resolve to stay with it to elaborate messages from the unconscious in conscious terms, are akin to what Jung called active imagination (Jung, 2014). To elaborate on the meaning of a dream, Jung would encourage his patients to lower their ego-consciousness and relocate themselves within a recent dream that they had. This exercise aimed to trace back the autonomous development of the dream to understand its implications for the dreamer (Dawson, 2012). While engaged in active imagination, the subject remains very close to a dream-like state of mind. Dawson (2012: 89) describes the products of active imagination as 'characterised by dream-like situations, a tendency of impasses to metamorphose into new situations [...]'. Active imagination can thus be seen as a process of 'co-creation mediated by better flow of creative energy between the unconscious and ego consciousness.
Active imagination provides a useful psychological construct through which we can approach the dreamlike states of mind in which poets and artists have outbursts of imaginative production, such as in 'Kubla Khan' by S. T. Coleridge. Similarly, in Psyche the boundaries between the wakeful reality and dream-reality are blurred right from the beginning of the poem: Surely, I dreamt to-day, or did I see The winged Psyche with awaken'd eyes? (143: I, 5-6) This sets the tone for the rest of the poem. The poem seems to hinge on ambivalence and uncertainty. The speaker stays with this 'half-remembrance' from a recent dream or waking fantasy. This exercise in active imagination seems to allow for the autonomous development, and amplification, of the dream contents by the persona, resulting in the imaginative and mythological richness of the rest of the poem. The poem can also be understood as flowing out of the engagement of the speaker with the contents of the dream in a state which Jung called 'creative fantasy'. Jung accorded significance to creative fantasy as a bridge between the unconscious contents of the psyche finding expression through calling upon 'corresponding formations by availing themselves of the existing conscious material' (Jung, 2014a: 173).
Engagement with the figures of the dream, and its mythological setting, seems to allow the persona to connect with its implications for the exercise of poetic creativity. As the poem progresses, the persona engages in more confident claims about his creative capabilities. The richness of the dream seems to unfold in the form of a future vision of creative possibilities for the speaker: So let me be thy choir, and make a moan Upon the midnight hours; Thy voice, thy lute, thy pipe, thy incense sweet From singed censer teeming; (143: I, 5-6) Religious devotion shown in these lines, combined with imagery of sensuous richness, seem to stem from a better correspondence between the persona and the dream-contents. The allusion to 'incense sweet' evokes images of collective ritualistic practices where fantasy and a state of frenzy might be induced through burning incense-bearing herbs. These lines occur at the end of the second-last stanza as the persona shows increasing confidence about his creative capabilities. At this point, 'teeming' brings to mind connotations of a vessel being full to the brim; of a mind pregnant with ideas that it cannot wait to express. The transformation of the persona from a confused subject who is not sure about the meaning and contents of a recent dream-fantasy to an eloquent devotee to Pysche requires what Wali (2011) calls 'spiritual participation'. Wali emphasizes: 'The archetypal images are potentials to be felt and experienced through active imagination, or one may say, through spiritual participation ' (196). This means that the process of complementation of archetypal principles of animus and anima, as discussed in the previous section, can be viewed as resulting from the exercise of active imagination by the poetic persona.
As discussed above, we can discern a gradual transition from ambivalence at the beginning of the poem to more confident assertiveness by the middle of it as the persona assimilates into consciousness implications of the contents of the dream. As the dream unfolds in Psyche, ambivalence and uncertainty in the face of duality give way to an integrated vision, as elements of the unconscious are assimilated by the conscious poetic persona. Jung accorded importance to dreams. As he wrote, 'The dream does not conceal'; we need to 'understand its language' (Jung, 1935: 82). Active imagination can be regarded as a bridging technique for psychological integration and conscious assimilation of the contents of 'creative fantasy'. Psyche can be taken as an example of this process of assimilation of apparently ambiguous unconscious contents into an integrated vision of poetic significance.
To expand this frame of analysis further, Keatsian Odes as a whole can be viewed in terms of this pattern of transformation from ambivalence and painful awareness of duality to integrated poetic realisation. The other odes ('To a Nightingale', 'On a Grecian Urn', and 'On Melancholy') can be seen as characterised by figurative variations of the theme of uncertainty and pain that springs from resistance to duality in nature. However, in 'To Autumn' duality and pain seem to give way to greater psychic serenity in the process of poetic production. There the mythic elements fuse seamlessly with the natural phenomenon and with the cyclic progression of nature. The speaker is now in better accord with the creative impulses coming from the unconscious realm which are woven into the symbolic texture of the poem (see Jung, 2014c). Beginning with Psyche, the persona in the lyrical odes of John Keats continues to struggle with the theme of duality in the other odes. It, however, seems to evolve into a mature vision of the human condition in 'To Autumn', symbolised by diversity and cyclical repetition of the seasons of nature.

'Untrodden Region' of the Mind: Towards Individuation
The realisation of opposites-joy and pain, life and death, light and dark, male and female etc.is the basis of the human experiential realm. It enables us to take positions vis-a-vis objective and subjective realities in the world, enabling us to realise ourselves as individuals (cf. Dawson, 2012). In Jungian terms, however, individuation refers to the integration of psychic opposites through a process of complementation. It is a state of integrity and wholeness that allows the individual psyche to realise itself more fully and in accord with the realities around it (Wali, 2011: 14). Following the foregoing line of analysis, we can understand the two constructs discussed above-syzygy of animus and anima archetypes and the exercise of active imagination-to indicate the possibility of individuation for the persona in the poem. As the persona moves beyond the duality of Cupid and Psyche as symbolic variants of animus and anima archetypes respectively, he assumes a prophetic role-someone who can see far into the future: So let me be thy choir, and make a moan Upon the midnight hours; [...] Thy shrine, thy grove, thy oracle, thy heat Of pale-mouth 'd prophet dreaming. (143: IV,[44][45][46][47] The imagery becomes increasing 'pious' and 'mystical' as the poem nears the end of the fourth stanza. The speaker partakes in the divinity of the goddess more and more as he takes her into himself to complement his teeming imagination (see Ulanov, 1997). To be worthy as a devotee to Psyche, the persona first assigns to itself three roles of 'choir', 'shrine', and 'grove', all of which are in some sense subsidiary roles. However, afterwards, he envisages a visionary position for himself as 'oracle' and as 'pale-mouth'd prophet dreaming'. The prophetic role of the persona realises itself more as a participation mystique between him and his object of desire-the goddess, runs deeper into him.
Psyche can also be viewed as primarily a poem about the pleasures of indulging in creative imagination, even though that imagination is not yet projected onto aspects of nature ('Ode to a nightingale') or onto artefacts of artistic value ('On a Grecian urn') or the seasonal cyclical patterns of nature ('To Autumn'). Although preoccupied with the process of poetic creativity, the imagination of the persona in the poem is directed inwards towards its psyche and creative fantasy. The quest for integration that takes its roots in Psyche will come to full bloom in later odes. However, the poem in itself provides a symbolic pattern that can be understood in terms of accessing anima energy through active imagination which facilitates a vision of individuation: And in the midst of this wide quietness A rosy sanctuary will I dress With the wreath'd trellis of a working brain, With buds, and bells, and stars without a name, With all the gardener Fancy e'er could feign, Who breeding flowers, will never breed the same: (143, V, 57-62) The persona wishes to honours the goddess not with the objects of nature per se but rather with the produce of his poetic imagination. 'The wreath'd trellis of a working brain' can be understood as pointing inwards to a state of individuation of the mind with productive imaginative capacity stemming from the unconscious realm. However, the goddess will not be served with the same flowers of imagination repeatedly as the speaker promises never to breed the same flowers again. Conceiving the different kinds of flowers mentioned here as metaphorical variants of the other Odes, it can be said that, later in his poetic career, Keats indulges his poetic persona in producing all kinds of flowers that 'the gardener Fancy e'er could feign'. The inward journey that began in Psyche, after the persona comes out of a mood of apathy and withdrawal in 'Ode on Indolence', foretells a magnificent trail of poetic production in the future in the form of other odes, culminating in the serenity and calm of 'To Autumn'.

Theoretical Implications
Having analysed significant odes by John Keats, this section attempts to address the two research questions mentioned earlier in the paper. First, what implications can we draw from analytical psychology and archetypal criticism to develop a deeper understanding of the symbolic and mythical structure of Psyche? The following points are pertinent to answer this question.
 This perspective helps us understand the imaginative figures of the ode in terms of different aspects of the psychic makeup of the persona (cf. Faflak, 2009;Woodman & Faflak, 2005). The 'syzygy' of the opposites in terms of complementation of the animus by energy from anima gives us a theoretical construct to view the inwardlooking thematic force of the poem in terms of the process of poetic creativity. The poem thus becomes not just descriptive of imaginative flights of the speaker, but as a symbolic metaphorical rendering of the workings of an energetic psyche as it comes to terms with its imaginative contents.  It offers a reading of the poem as an account of psychological tension which has potential for positive energy in the form of poetic production (cf. Ali Shah & Khattak, 2014;Dawson, 2012). We can apply the construct of active imagination to understand how a dream can be a source of access to latent unconscious material. When approached with a lowered state of consciousness, staying with the dream can be seen as a 'royal road' to creativity. The persona in Psyche opens the poem with the dream and stays with it until he gains a flow of integrative energy from it and is inspired to higher goals for his poetic future.  As a poem that describes the process of individuation, depth psychology connects Psyche with the personal experiences of every reader. According to depth psychology, every individual is on a personal journey towards the integration of conscious psychic elements with the unconscious Self (see Dobson, 2011: 6). Archetypal reading of the poem brings it to life not just as a beautiful piece of poetry from the Romantic Age but as a personal quest for wholeness and psychic individuation which may speak to every reader differently in terms of their journey towards integration with the Self.  This perspective sensitises us to the inward-looking interpretation of the poem. As the 21 st century moves deeper into the digital age, and images and technological know-how assume immediate importance, we might be drawn away from taking heed of what happens within-in the psyche. In our pursuits of the social roles, we might wander too far away from the nourishing energy of the unconscious (ur Rehman & Khattak, 2012). As a complementary perspective, along with socio-political and historicist interpretations, archetypal criticism has the potential to sensitise the reader to his/her psychological wellbeing. Second, what general implications can be derived from this analysis that may be of interest to archetypal theory and contemporary Jungian and post-Jungian critics? This article attempts to respond to what Dawson (2008) advocate in terms of change of approach in Jungian criticism if it is to stay relevant in the contemporary literary theory (see also, Dobson, 2005). According to him, this school of literary criticism has lost its relevance in the mainstream literary theory due to several reasons, one of which is what he calls resorting to 'instant Jung' while analysing literary works. By 'instant Jung' Dawson refers to the application of Jungian ideas to fit in yet another literary production into the mould of analytical psychology. This, according to him, has done much harm to the perception of this perspective. Dawson (2008) advocates a return to what Jung insisted upon repeatedly that his ideas must be treated not as a 'dogma' to be imposed upon a phenomenon but as a working hypothesis that may have some interpretive value. Unfortunately, that is not what happens in practice as often as it should. Jung (2014) insisted on staying close to the text and letting it speak instead of taking theoretical ideas from analytical psychology and finding selective support for them in the text. The current paper and its approach to the application of Jungian analysis is an attempt to stay close to the text of the poem and let it speak for what it contains. This paper attempted not to impose theory upon the text but to use the theoretical framework as a flexible tool to help approach the poem from a psychological perspective. Perhaps, this intention may not have translated into practice as much as it could in this paper. Like any research attempt, this work remains in need of critique and anticipates future research to improve upon it. Holy the air, the water, and the fire; Yet even in these days so far retired 40 From happy pieties, thy lucent fans, Fluttering among the faint Olympians, I see, and sing, by my own eyes inspired. So let me be thy choir, and make a moan Upon the midnight hours; 45 Thy voice, thy lute, thy pipe, thy incense sweet From swingèd censer teeming: Thy shrine, thy grove, thy oracle, thy heat Of pale-mouth'd prophet dreaming. V Yes, I will be thy priest, and build a fane 50 In some untrodden region of my mind, Where branchèd thoughts, new grown with pleasant pain, Instead of pines shall murmur in the wind: Far, far around shall those dark-cluster'd trees

Appendix
Fledge the wild-ridgèd mountains steep by steep; 55 And there by zephyrs, streams, and birds, and bees, The moss-lain Dryads shall be lull'd to sleep; And in the midst of this wide quietness A rosy sanctuary will I dress With the wreath'd trellis of a working brain, 60 With buds, and bells, and stars without a name, With all the gardener Fancy e'er could feign, Who breeding flowers, will never breed the same; And there shall be for thee all soft delight That shadowy thought can win, 65 A bright torch, and a casement ope at night, To let the warm Love in! (Keats, 1899: 143)