Gölgelerin Ötesinde: Keats, Shelley ve Platonik Hakikat Arayışı

Year 2025, Volume: 15 Issue: 30, 275 - 296, 23.07.2025

Meltem Can

https://doi.org/10.33207/trkede.1650741

https://izlik.org/JA75PC38BB

Abstract

Tarih boyunca, insanoğlu ruhunun derinliklerini keşfederek maddi varlığını aşmaya çalışmıştır. İnsanın kaygılarıyla hem şekillenen hem de yansıtan edebiyat, farklı dönemlerde bu aşkınlık arayışını somutlaştırmıştır. Özellikle İngiliz Romantizmi, maneviyat, mistisizm, hayal gücü ve tefekkür ile olan derin ilişkisiyle, şiiri şair-kâhinin mistik deneyimlerini ortaya koyan bir araç olarak sunar. Bu geleneğin önde gelen temsilcilerinden Percy Bysshe Shelley ve John Keats, İngiliz şiirinde önemli bir yer edinmiş ve şiir kişilerinin sıradan bir gerçeklikten ulvi ve mistik bir âleme yükselişini tasvir etmişlerdir—ki bu yükseliş, Platon’un mağara alegorisi ile de örtüşmektedir. Ne var ki, bu Romantik kopuşların fiziksel gerçeklikten bir kaçış mı, yoksa hakikatle daha derin bir ilişki mi kurduğu sorusu, edebiyatın gerekliliğine dair süregelen tartışmalarla yakından ilişkilidir. Bu bağlamda, bu makale, Keats’in “Bülbüle Övgü” (1819) ve Shelley’nin “Bir Tarla Kuşuna” (1820) adlı şiirlerinin, aşkınlığı salt bir kaçış olarak değil, Platon’un alegorisinin öne sürdüğü gibi, gündelik varoluşun yanıltıcı doğasına meydan okuyan ve insan ruhuna dair gizli hakikatleri açığa çıkarmaya yönelik isyankâr bir girişim olarak tasvir ettiğini savunmaktadır. Ancak, Platon’un akıl yoluyla aydınlanmaya ulaşan filozofundan farklı olarak, Keats ve Shelley’nin şiirsel kişileri bülbül ve tarla kuşu ile sembolize edilen sanatsal yaratıcılık aracılığıyla özgürlüğe erişir. Bu anlamda, bu makale fiziksel ve ruhsal âlemlerin ikiliğini, şiir kişilerinin aşkın deneyimlerini ve Platon’un sanata yönelik şüpheciliğine karşı şiirsel yaratıcılığın özgürleştirici bir güç olarak rolünü ele almaktadır.

Keywords

Keats , Shelley , Mağara Allegorisi , Aşkınlık , Sanatsal Yaratıcılık

Beyond the Shadows Keats, Shelley and the Platonic Quest for Truth

https://izlik.org/JA75PC38BB

Abstract

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.

Keywords

Keats , Shelley , Cave Allegory , Transcendence , Artistic Creativity

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