Vale of Soul-making vs. Vale of tears

Essay by Cryptic318College, UndergraduateA, March 2002

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To George and Georgina Keats (The Vale of Soul-making)

The "vale of soul-making" seemed like an interesting choice to do. The letter and the ideas in it touched very closely to things I have personally thought about and debated, and with many of my beliefs. The term the "vale of soul-making" was used to describe how the soul becomes a soul. Keats explains that a soul becomes a soul through experience on earth. He says that the soul is initially just an "intelligence" and that through the hardships and experiences that one goes through it becomes more personalized, and gains an identity. His three key materials for soul-making are "the Intelligence, the human heart, and the World or Elemental space." The intelligence is a glimmer of a soul with which one is born. The heart is the means through which experience is had and the "intelligence" becomes a soul.

The "World" is the place or the breeding ground for the trials which will create the soul. Keats explains in his letter that the soul is not simply born with the being, but that it is something which evolves from the trials and hardships one goes through on earth. The different experiences that the person goes through give the soul its identity. This identity is what is used to determine placement in afterlife. I think that Keats' idea is a very profound one. It is something I personally hold close ties to in my beliefs. The idea he was trying to express was unclear at first, but later became evident. The letter was well written. Keats used an analogy which most could understand in trying to express his thoughts, which made the idea clearer. So far I've enjoyed Keats' writings.