Ode on Indolence Inertia Quotes

Keats borrows from the Bible here, using a verse that talks about how little the flowers toil. They are about as inert as anything, the verse says, and yet they still look beautiful. If the flowers can be lazy, why can't a poet?

The speaker wonders if the figures are conspiring to steal his idleness. And since the figures are his own dreams personified, he is really wondering if he himself is coming to interrupt his own laziness. His ambitions, love, and poetry keep coming to steal his precious nap time.

The speaker is so numb that he can feel neither sharp pain nor extreme pleasure. In fact, he may not really be able to feel anything at all. Is laziness just a way to avoid having feelings? The speaker seems to think so.

Choosing laziness means choosing nothingness, says the speaker. Is it even really a choice, then, or just a way to avoid making any choice at all? He prefers nothing to anything. It's a less risky way to live, that's for sure, but it also won't make him very happy (or, very sad, to be fair).

He wishes he could just live without having to work or obey his own common sense, which would probably tell him that he has to make money somehow. Nah, says the poet. He doesn't want to stay up late writing poetry. It's better just to be left alone, shutting out the voice of the outside world.

The figures visit a final time, and now the speaker is resolved not to interrupt his inertia. He doesn't understand why they even bother showing up anymore. He's got a lot of daydreaming to do, and isn't going to let anything interfere with his relaxation.