Ode To A Nightingale Critical Analysis

Ode To A Nightingale Critical Analysis
"Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget What thou among the leaves hast never known, The weariness, the fever, and the fret." (Keats) In "Ode to A
Nightingale," John Keats is the narrator who is in a state of drowsiness and numbness when he sees a nightingale and then goes on to explain his
encounter with the bird. Although the surface level meaning of the poem is a man expressing his thought to and about a bird, there is a deeper
meaning that can be seen when you investigate the literary devices used. Keats uses imagery, tone, and symbolism to display the theme of pain and
inner conflict between life and death. Imagery is seen all throughout the poem, but can be seen specifically when Keats is referencing death. Through
the uses of the word "hemlock" which is a poison made of herbs, and "Lethe" which is, in Greek mythology, "a river in Hades (the underworld). Souls
about to be reincarnated drank from it to forget their past lives." (Melani) These words, along with others, paint a distinct picture of death and
forms a very dark image of Keats' inner thoughts. In the 2nd Stanza, Keats describes the real world with words such as "Flora" which is the
"goddess of flowers and fertility." (Melani) and Hippocrene which is, in Greek mythology, a "spring sacred to the Muses, located on Mt.Helicon.
Drinking its waters inspired poets." (Melani) Through the uses of these words, readers can infer that Keats seems to think that life, when enjoyed, is
blissful and pure. Imagery is used
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Imagination And Reality In Ode To A Nightingale
Hi my name is Dheer Bhatia, today I will talk to you about how Keats explores both imagination and reality in the poem Ode to a Nightingale. This
poem is about how Keats escapes reality and goes to an imaginative world with a nightingale where he hears her songs and lullabies before inevitably
returning to the real world. It's an expression of love, hence the word ode, to the nightingale and her songs. The creative piece I have chosen is an
illusion painting that is painted by Robert Gonsalves, and it illustrates the separation between imagination and reality, and its difficulty in its distinction.
Keats uses juxta positioning, imagery, structure and rhetorical questions to explore the two concepts of imagination and reality.
Discrepancy...show more content...
In the art piece, there is a bed of water underneath the ships and the boat. The fluidity and movement of the waves are symbolic of the transition
between imagination and reality. Keats' desire to escape is shown through the rough brush strokes of the blue waves in the foreground. This
suggests the transition to be difficult and problematic. The colour of the sea, blue, has connotations of serenity and peace suggesting the fate of
Keats once the transition is complete. Keats longs to escape reality as he describes reality as 'where men sit and hear each other groan'. This
depicts reality to be tedious and dreary, which results in him loathing this concept. The word 'groan' is an expression that conveys dread and despair,
therefore Keats feels this way towards reality due to its monotonous and depressing characteristics. The action of 'groaning' portrays an unappealing
view of the world that Keats is longing to escape when conversing with the nightingale. Furthermore, the elongation of the word 'groan' suggests the
tedious and tiring effort to stay within the normal world and emphasises Keats desire to escape from and seek asylum in the nightingale's world.
Keats expresses this through his actions when he goes 'Away! Away!', this makes the reader question the society and world they live in, as Keats' sole
desire is to escape the very world they stay in now. In

Ode To A Nightingale And John Keats Analysis
The verse of John Keats is loaded with individual investigations of profound and serious emotions and reflections on life. His sonnets concern an
assortment of topics, for example, time everlasting and the progression of time and the want to discover perceptual quality amidst constant
change. From pursuing his verse I trust that these topics are unmistakably vital to Keats, as they can every now and again be viewed as the
establishments on which quite a bit of his verse is based. Another essential part of Keats' verse is his utilization of rich, dynamic symbolism,
regularly identified with nature, which is utilized to give noteworthy bits of knowledge into life. In this exposition, I will talk about the above
topics, and how I reacted to Keats' treatment of them. The sonnets on which I will base this paper are, "Ode to a Nightingale", "When I Have
Fears That I May Cease To Be." While perusing some of his verse, it appears to me that Keats was exceptionally worried about beautiful motivation
and desire, and comparably, the creative energy and it's quality as methods for getting away life. At the point when Keats depicts his feelings of
trepidation of death before he can completely express every one of that his mind holds "When I have fears that I may cease to be, before my pen has
gleaned my teeming brain, before high pilГЁd books in character, hold like rich garners the full–ripened grain". , this shows to me an incredible
wonderful aspiration inside Keats and a

Ode To A Nightingale Essay
Ode to a Nightingale
In Ode to a Nightingale, John Keats, the author and narrator, used descript terminology to express the deep–rooted pain he was suffering during his
battle with tuberculosis. This poem has eight paragraphs or verses of ten lines each and doesn't follow any specific rhyme scheme. In the first paragraph,
Keats gave away the mood of the whole poem with his metaphors for his emotional and physical sufferings, for example: My heart aches, and drowsy
numbness pains
My sense (1–2) Keats then went on to explain to the reader that he was speaking to the "light–winged Dryad" in the poem.
This bird symbolizes a Nightingale that to many, depicts the happiness and vibrance of life with the way it seems to gracefully hover over...show more
content...
He expresses that with the phrase:
And with thee fade away into the forest dim (20) Keats explained that he had wanted to wander off into the forest so no one would've had to be
bothered by him. In paragraph four, Keats had spoken to the Nightingale and told it to go off and leave him alone because he already had known that
death was coming and didn't want to be reminded of his sad fate. Keats went on to say: I cannot see what flowers are at my feet, Nor what soft incense
hangs upon the boughs, But, in embalmed darkness... (41–43) This meant he didn't know what was about to happen, only that he was going to die. He
then illustrated all the creatures and things that would live long past him; The grass, the thicket, and the fruit–tree wild... (45)
In paragraph six, Keats had listened to the "Darkling" or Nightingale singing and this had reminded him of how at one time in his life he questioned
death and was even infatuated by it because death was an unknown universe when he composed: ...for many a time I have been half in love with easeful
Death, Call'd him soft names... (51–53) But quickly after he had recalled that memory he stated: Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain– To thy
high requiem become a sod. (59–60)
Here he was saying how the "Darkling" sounded beautiful when it sang but that was just a mask for the fate that it was taking him to; death. Thou was
not born for death, immortal Bird! (61) The immortal

John Keats' Ode on a Grecian Urn and Ode to a Nightingale
John Keats, in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "Ode to a Nightingale" attempts to connect with two objects of immortality to escape from the rigors of
human life. In "Ode to a Nightingale", Keats attempts to connect with a bird's song because the music knows nothing of aging and mortality. Keats has
the same motivation in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" while trying to connect with three separate images on a mysterious urn. Connecting in this sense means
to either fully understand the object or become the object itself. For example, when Keats attempts to "connect" with an image on the urn, he attempts
to fully understand the origin of the image. While...show more content...
The narrator believes that the bird's music has dated back to "ancient days" (64), when emperors and peasants filled Earth. It is even possible, Keats
says, that the biblical Ruth heard the same nightingale's song as Keats did at that moment, as Ruth gathered corn in the fields. Furthermore, Keats said
that the bird would continue to sing long after Keats' had "ears in vain" (59). By putting the bird's music in the past, the present and the future, Keats
universalized this song throughout time, making the bird immortal. Therefore, the song will live far beyond the "last gray hairs" (25) of man. It also
seems fitting that a poem that focuses around the celebration of music takes away sight in favor of other senses. Keats was captivated by the music
from the bird, not the physical flight of it. When he mentions flowers and the moon, he can only imagine them and cannot see them.
While Keats attempted to portray his connection with the immortality of music in "Ode to a Nightingale", "Ode on a Grecian Urn" explained his
relationship with the static nature of sculpture. Embedded in the urn is an image of revelry and the sexual pursuit, a piper and a lover in

Ode To A Nightingale Mood
Ode To A Nightingale
Choose a poem which you think could be described as a "quiet" or
"reflective" poem.
Show how the poet has achieved this effect and discuss to what extent you find it a suitable way of dealing with the subject matter in the poem. In
your answer you must refer closely to the text and to at least two of mood; theme; sound; imagery; rhythm or any other appropriate feature. "Ode To A
Nightingale" by John Keats is a poem which Keats wrote when he was dying. Due to this, the poem is extremely reflective on the things Keats
considers important to him, namely life, death and his imagination. By using the nightingale to embody these aspects, Keats is effective, in my opinion,
in attempting to deal with the...show more content...
Here, Keats seems to like the idea of dying. As this seems dreamlike, it adds to the reflection in the poem, and the subtle sounds of "soft" and "quiet"
add to this dreamlike, reflective quality. This incredibly idealistic view perhaps hides Keats' true feelings in an attempt to reduce his fear of death, a
method which, to me, seems quite a natural way to deal with impending death.
Along with death, the nightingale also seems to represent Keats' imagination. At the start of the poem, he wishes to fuel his imagination with wine, and
then embraces poetry and inspiration instead. "Away! away! for I will fly to thee,
Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the viewless wings of Poesy,
Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:
Already with thee! tender is the night"
Keats insists that wine will not be his stimulation for imagination, but that instead "Poesy" or poetry will be. Keats says he is inspired already when

he says he is "already with thee". This is also the nightingale he is talking about, and this is where the bird represents his imagination. Keats is
reflecting on his inspiration and its origins at this point in his life. This reflection of his life is, in my opinion, is very suitable.
The final thing which Keats uses the nightingale to represent is life.
Throughout the poem he presents very life affirming views, but ultimately, he sees life as painful.
"That thou, light–wingГ©d Dryad of the

Critical Note: Ode to a Nightingale
Ode to a nightingale critical note The speaker responds to the beauty of the nightingale's song with a both "happiness" and "ache." Though he seeks to
fully identify with the bird – to "fade away into the forest dim" – he knows that his own human consciousness separates him from nature and precludes
the kind of deathless happiness the nightingale enjoys. First the intoxication of wine and later the "viewless wings of Poesy" seem reliable ways of
escaping the confines of the "dull brain," but finally it is death itself that seems the only possible means of overcoming the fear of time. The nightingale
is "immortal" because it "wast not born for death" and cannot conceive of its own passing. Yet without consciousness, humans cannot...show more
content...
It is the disease of time which the song of the nightingale particularly transcends, and the poet, yearning for the immortality of art, seeks another
way to become one with the bird. Even death is terribly final; the artists die but what remains is the eternal music; the very song heard today was
heard thousands of years ago. The poet exclaims: "Forlorn! the very word is like a bell To toll me back from thee to my sole self!" The reverie
into which the poet falls carries him deep into where the bird is singing. But the meditative trance cannot last. With the very first word of the eighth
stanza, the reverie is broken. The word "forlorn" occurs to the poet as the adjective describing the remote and magical world suggested by the
nightingale's song. But the poet suddenly realises that this word applies with greater precision to himself. The effect is that of an abrupt stumbling.
With the new and chilling meaning of "forlorn", the song of the nightingale itself alters: it becomes a "plaintive anthem". The song becomes fainter.
What had before the power to make the sorrow in man fade away from a harsh and bitter world, now itself "fades" and the poet is left alone in the
silence. As the nightingale flies away, the intensity of the speaker 's experience has left him

Ode To A Nightingale Literary Devices
Flight, wings, songs, death, the moon and stars, and birds, among other earthly and celestial objects, are all controlling components used by the author,
John Keats, to display his dismal, painful, and despairing yet hopeful attitude towards mortality and reality. In the poem, Ode to a Nightingale, Keats
displays a conflicted attitude for human life. The speaker has an immediate concentration on sensations (feelings) and emotions; however, it makes the
reader question their sense of reality throughout the poem, as the speaker continuously enters and exits reality and an altered state of it. The speaker in
Ode to a Nightingale wraps himself into presuming that the nightingale is undying, along with its song being immortal as well. Furthermore, this seems
to give the speaker a reason to expostulate about mortality, which is a common complaint throughout this poem. The Nightingale songbird has been a
symbol of fairness, immortality, and rampancy of the world's troubles since the age of the ancient Greeks. "Now more than ever seems it rich to die, To
cease upon the midnight with no pain, While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad – in such an ecstasy! Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in
vain – To thy high requiem become a sod" (Keats 55–60). The words of this quote cause uncertainty as to why this songbird, who itself represents
immortality, would abruptly allow the speaker to fabricate the thought of his own death. Perhaps that the speaker wants the nightingale to

Theme Of John Keats And Ode To A Nightingale
The burdens and assiduous transgressions of humanity often prove to be an unbearable reality for many. However, under no different circumstances
and in the midst of death, poet, John Keats, composes some of his most powerful literature. In his "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn",
the persistent mention of immortality demonstrates his struggle with tuberculosis. Keats declares within both poems his desire to escape mortal
oppression and illustrates his longing for immortal sanctuary; however, the two explore contrasting means to such an end. "Ode to a Nightingale"
expresses longing to escape into the melodious world of a nightingale by utilizing numerous allusions to greek mythology, several metaphorical
techniques, and sensory–laden...show more content...
While both stimulate the audience's perceived senses, "Ode to a Nightingale" illustrates a seemingly direct experience; whereas, "Ode on a Grecian Urn
" navigates a fantasy vicariously. Keats, in an "Ode to a Nightingale", "[leaves] the world unseen" when he begins to indulge on "[the nightingale's]
happiness." Initially, Keats relates his journey to becoming drunk or overdosing on "some dull opiate." He paints this picture vividly with several
allusions to greek mythology, such as the "Lethe–ward" that intensifies his stupor state. To add to this effect, Keats also repeats certain words or
phrases, like "fade" and "away", which also accentuate the exclusive safe–haven he recedes into. Unlike this, an "Ode on a Grecian urn" emphasizes
Keats' intention by way of the urn's decorations. In the poem, he praises the urn's historical prominence and uses a combination of apostrophes and
rhetorical questions. Keats' inquiry––"What wild ecstasy?"––and others set the scene for the poem's progression and final revelation. Subsequently, in
"Ode on a Grecian Urn", Keats' clarifies his initial confusion, demonstrating his envy for the depictions' longevity. Unlike himself, the urn's portraits
remain "for ever young" and endure for generation to generation, the quality he yearns for himself. Another distinction involves the poet's state of
mind at the conclusion of the final lines. At the end of "Ode on a Grecian Urn", Keats exists in a perplexed position, unable to attribute his fantasy to
"vision" or "waking dreams." Because Keats enters the nightingale's "embalmed darkness" he engages in a world with a plethora of stimuli but
remains slightly disoriented. Also, paradoxes add to this confusion, such as the voice's (metonymy for the nightingale) "immortality" and its ability to
accompany Keats' "rich" death. Contrary to this, an "Ode on a Grecian" wraps up (after shifting tone in line 41)

Theme Of Ode To A Nightingale
Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats
"Ode to a Nightingale" is a regular ode written by John Keats in 1819. The ode is the longest one with eight stanzas with ten lines each. The poem was
composed at Charles Brown's house after John Keats heard a nightingale bird outside his window singing. This poem expresses different themes such as
the theme of mortality of human life, the theme of unhappiness and happiness, and various figures of speech like symbolism, to support the themes.
Throughout this poem, "Ode to a Nightingale," the author fully expresses the theme of mortality of human life. In this ode, the speaker convinces
himself into believing that the nightingale bird or its song is immortal. After hearing the nightingale's song, the speaker...show more content...
For instance, the word "nightingale" appears in the title, but it is used as a symbol of beauty, immortality, and freedom from the struggles of the world.
The speaker also uses metaphors like the metaphor of flight, to describe his imaginative journey to join the nightingale. Keats claims that he flies on his
metaphorical wings:
Away! Away! For I will fly to thee,
Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the viewless wings of Poesy, (Keats, 31–33).
The speaker uses imagination to expresses his urge to get away. The symbolism and metaphors help to show the theme of happiness and express the
experience of nighttime through the nightingale approach, surrounded by dark and fragrant trees. The poem, "Ode to a Nightingale" expresses various
themes like the theme of happiness and the theme of mortality of human life. Keats compares the life of the nightingale living in the forest to the
human life in the regular world. Throughout the poem, the poet expresses both manic and quiet mood. Also, the title of the poem lets the reader know
that it is an ode, where he addresses the nightingale. The poet uses different figures of speech such as symbolism and metaphor to bring out the themes
of the

Ode To A Nightingale Critical Analysis
Where does one go when he or she feels the need to disconnect from their reality ? People often seek to escape their reality physically, but also
mentally by using imagination. Imagination allows one to disconnect from the real world problems that may cause fear, despairs, or isolation. In
John Keats poem, "Ode to a Nightingale" discusses the idea of mortality and death throughout the poem by escaping reality. By looking at escapism,
one can see the poet's struggle with physical and mental state, which most readers don't see; this is important because it shows symbolism through the
nightingale. In " Ode to a Nightingale" Keats writes, " My heart aches,and a drowsy numbness pains/ My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,"
comparing his heart ache to the drowsy numbness pains because his pain makes him lack physical sensation. By drinking the hemlock it is known he
wants to escape and forget the heartache that does not make him feel by drinking the poison. The poets urge to forget is shown he drinks the poison
"One minute past, and Lethe–wards had sunk", which refers to the river of forgetfulness. By drinking the poison and drowning in Lethe–wards it
symbolizes his urge to drown in urge to feel by feeling numb to the pain. It shows how to does not seek to face reality with his sorrow. Moreover,
Keat arises the question of his mental and physical state by envying the nightingale by stating " Tis not through envy of thy happy lot, / But being too
happy in

In his poem "Ode to a Nightingale," John Keats uses powerful, distinct symbolism and imagery. The nightingale, for instance, is interpreted by many
to be a symbol of Keats ' poetic inspiration and satisfaction. This symbolism can be seen by the vivid descriptions Keats hives the nightingale.
However, the nightingale is definitely not the only item of symbolism in "Ode to a Nightingale." In a short piece of art, Keats apparently has mastered
using many different items, phrases, and brilliant, descriptive metaphorical text to symbolize something he yearns for. Countless pieces of the poem
indicate that he also wishes for immortality and the ability to escape from reality and into another state of consciousness and the ecstasy of the...show
more content...
By an effort of the imagination, Keats attempts to suppress all knowledge of the human
suffering made evident in stanza three. He seeks to completely enter into the ecstasy of the nightingale 's song so he becomes nothing more than an
instrument recording the tiniest of physical sensation. For example, in stanza five, Keats describes the beauty of a place in the most minute detail.
Since he is unable to actually "see" this place, he is using the sheer force of his imagination. In this particular stanza, the use of imagery is indeed
present. The soft sounds and descriptions of flowers yield a very enchanting and beautiful atmosphere. Where Keats says, "Now more than ever seems
it rich to die, / To cease upon the midnight with no pain, / While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad / In such an ecstasy!" (lines 55–58), is an
indication of how he believes it would be marvelous for his life to end in such a state of blissful heaven. However, the irony of this is that, in Keats '
case, death would mean the end of the nightingale 's song. He realizes this when he says, "Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain – / to thy
high requiem become a sod." (lines 59–60). This piece is an indication of Keats ' enchantment with the nightingale and its song.
In

Comparing Keats Picture this: you have been told by doctors that you have a few years left to live. You will live the rest of your life in increasing
pain and difficulty, knowing your death may be right around the corner. This was the exact situation John Keats faced in 1819 at the age of
twenty–four. Upon hearing his diagnosis of tuberculosis, which was considered a death sentence at the time, Keats decided to dedicate his life to writing
poetry. His work is viewed with high esteem and he is considered one of the great Romantic poets. Two poems Keats wrote in the short time he had
left on earth were "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn." These poems both tell different stories unrelated to one another. Although their
stories are unrelated, both "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn" have unique tones, structures, and themes that should be examined and
compared.
Keats chose to use different tones in "Ode to a Nightingale" and "Ode on a Grecian Urn." Keats used a melancholic, dreary tone in "Ode to a
Nightingale." The character in this poem longs to disappear from his life. He wishes more than anything that he could fly away with the Nightingales
and be freed of the pain and suffering he faces in the real world. Keats uses phrases such as "my heart aches," "drowsy numbness pains," "fade far
away, dissolve, and quite forget," "last grey hairs," "weariness...fever...fret," and "leaden eye despairs" to illustrate the dismal feelings the man
experiences

Edleen Begg was in 1948 among the first to question Keats's supposed love for nature. Her study, taking aim primarily at Keats's travel correspondence,
concluded that natural beauty rarely impressed him other than through literary mediation or association. If the letters in question might come off as
suspicious by Romantic standards of scenic devotion, they describe – with a hint of Heinrich Heine's irreverent travel writing – experiences that must
be considered emblematic to the modern sightseer. While Keats deplores the tourist invasion of the Lake District, disfiguring the "noble tenderness"
of Lake Windermere with its "miasma of London" (KL, I, 299), he also expresses a longing for "a seat, and a Cup o'tea" when picturesque
"mountains, castles and Lakes" have become "common" (KL, I, 351) goods. In the renditions of his spontaneous Scottish impressions into verse, a
more important kind of positioning can nonetheless be discerned. Describing his eagerness to visit the...show more content...
The "Ode to a Nightingale" is exemplary in this regard. To follow the bird in its ascent, the speaker in a Dante–like movement descends along an
underground path to a garden of "embalmed darkness" (43) – trading bacchic ecstasy for the musk rose's "dewy wine" (49): a more appropriate
substitute of the nectar from "blushful Hippocrene". Through the appearance of the Rosa Moschata, poetically associated with the wild, but in fact
known only through human horticulture, the poem's circle of origins – from the source of divine inspiration to the "deep–delved earth" of the grape
vine – closes in what appears to be the subjugation of nature under aesthetics. One might thus agree with Helen Vendler who stresses that this dwelling
of Keats "can represent nature only as it exists in the repository of memory and

Alaysia Murphy ENG 134–04 Prof. Palmioli 11/3/15 Explication for "Ode to a Nightingale" Literature often reflects real life. The world of
imagination is a euphoric release from the world of actuality but paradoxically this world of imagination makes the world of actuality even more
painful than what it is. Human life is often full of conflicts for example, the interconnection or mixture of pain/joy, intensity of feeling/numbness or
lack of feeling, life/death, the actual/the ideal, and separation/connection. In the poem "Ode to a Nightingale" written by John Keats, the poet seems to
be praising the nightingale for its melodious tune but upon further investigation it is revealed that he is actually using the nightingale and its song as a
means of escaping the realities of human life. This poem is about the intense feelings the poet has about the transience about the nature of reality.
Keats discovers the creativity of human life and the morality throughout the poem. The poet is in search of the pure joy and ecstasy sung in the
nightingale's song which is completely unaware of the anguish and suffering of reality. The poet believes that if he lives a life similar to that of the
nightingale that he will be removed from all pain and anguish. As the poem progresses the poet ponders different ways of joining the nightingale and
what he considers paradise. He comes to the conclusion that he cannot escape the realities of the human world. Keats probably wrote this poem when he

John KeatsвЂ™ Ode to a Nightingale Essay
John Keats' Ode to a Nightingale
As a poem, distinguished by a beauty that contrasts "real melancholy" with "imaginary relief" (Wullschlager, 4, quoting Leigh Hunt), Ode to a
Nightingale was written at a time in his life when Keats found himself caught at the junction between two worlds. Published in the spring of 1819
(May, 1819), Keats' poem is written soon after a previous December that marked both the death of his brother Thomas Keats and an engagement to
Fanny Browne. Struggling between "imaginative escape" and "human limitation" (Sperry, 264), Ode to a Nightingale pits tensions echoed in Keats'
personal life. These are tensions that reflect a universal dichotomy of human experience in mortality and the sublime. Similarly, Keats'...show more
content...
After his brother's death in early December, Keats seemed at a loss for words, unable to write nor complete any of his pieces. Under the urgings of
his friend and companion Charles Brown, Keats decided to return home and renew his downtrodden spirits among familiar faces. It worked, as
Keats began his epic poem Hyperion that he later described as a Vision of the divine, although eventually published only in fragments (Milnes, 163).
Following Hyperion, Keats struggled to write down a series of shorter works, which were ultimately only destined for the truth. As Richard Milnes
describes, "it seemed as if, when his imagination was once relieved, by writing down its effusions, he cared so little about them that it required a
friend at hand to prevent them from being utterly lost." (Milnes, 163) That friend turned out to be Charles Brown. During his period of greatest
productivity, approaching the early spring of 1819, Keats began what later would be coined his four Great Odes, arguably the "greatest short poems in
Romantic Literature" (Hilton, 102). Brown describes one of these odes, Ode to a Nightingale in the following commentary on its origination:
"In the spring of 1819 a nightingale had built her nest near my house. Keats felt a tranquil and continual joy in her song; and one morning he took his
chair from

Analysis Of Ode To Nightingale
The following findings were carried out after analysing the data in the light of given objectives:
First starting from "Ode to Nightingale" which is a Keats ode influenced by Greek mythology, I found that Nightingale is a symbol of beauty,
immortality and freedom from the depressing and tiresome world. In Greek and Roman myths, Nightingale refers to Philomela. Philomela in Greek
mythology is a figure symbol used in literary and artistry works. She is identified as the daughter of king of Athens. According to Greek mythology
she was raped and after she took back her revenge she transformed into Nightingale.
In "Ode to Nightingale" word as 'Lethe' is used this refers to a river in Greece, Hades. 'Dryad' refers to a female spirit attached to...show more content...
In the same line I also found other ancient references. 'Beetle' was regarded as a sacred figure of resurrection and 'Scarabs' were regarded with
representation of new life.
"Ode to Autumn" is also loaded with the elements of Greeks. In ode to Autumn, Keats personifies nature. In this case, Autumn is a personification of
human shape sometimes works as gleaner and some other times as a reaper etc. Keats also provided some symbols of ancient Greek deities such as
'Ceres', 'Demeter' (goddess) and 'Pan' (demi–god of wilds).
I found Keats all poems full with the themes of beauty, art and nature which were the characteristics loved by Ancient Greeks. In this ode, metaphors
which personifies the beauty of a season are also used such as 'mellow', 'rich' and 'splendid' in the shades of Autumn scattered throughout the poem
which dwells on the idea of perceiving the

Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on a Grecian Urn, and Ode to Autumn
The casual reader of John Keats' poetry would most certainly be impressed by the exquisite and abundant detail of it's verse, the perpetual freshness
of it's phrase and the extraordinarily rich sensory images scattered throughout it's lines. But, without a deeper, more intense reading of his poems as
mere parts of a larger whole, the reader may miss specific themes and ideals which are not as readily apparent as are the obvious stylistic hallmarks.
Through Keats' eyes, the world is a place full of idealistic beauty, both artistic and natural, who's inherent immortality, is to him a constant reminder of
that man is irrevocably subject to decay and death. This theme...show more content...
In this case, the visionary action is the poet slowly lapsing into the nightingale's world, opening his senses to the true nature of the bird while other
"men sit and hear each other groan" (Norton 1845). This state of semiconsciousness allows for his understanding that, although it is mid–May, the bird
"singest of summer in full–throated ease" (Norton 1845). The nightingale, whose song so perfectly embodies a particular season that the poet is
unable to be mistaken about it's meaning, expresses the beauty of nature in a way which man is incapable. The poet is also seeing the bird as timeless,
for the summer exists within the nightingale regardless of it being mid–May. In stanza seven the poet reveals the nightingale for what it truly is: a
symbol nature's immortal beauty. The bird has now entirely escaped the physical limitations of the poet's world where all is subject to death and
decay, for it "wast not born for death", and is an "immortal bird" living in an imaginary realm. It lives outside of the human world "where beauty
cannot keep her lustrous eyes", yet still affects the poet so profoundly that he wonders if it was "a vision or a waking dream?" (Norton 1847). Keats, in
experiencing the song as he describes, idealises the nightingale and elevates the bird to a singular embodiment of unchanging natural

Essay on "Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats
"Ode to A Nightingale" is a poem in which Keats uses detailed description to contrast natural beauty and reality, life and death. In the opening verse,
the writer becomes captivated by the nightingale's peaceful song. Throughout, the song becomes a powerful spell that transcends the mortal world of
Keats. Interwoven throughout the poem are his thoughts about death. It is important to note that Keats' father & mother died when he was young and
his brother had recently died of tuberculosis, which probably accounts for this focus. In the first stanza, Keats' mood is low and depressed but the
nightingale's song creates a state of euphoria in him that allows him to escape reality. He is not envious of the bird's happy "lot" but is...show more
content...
The nightingale never has to face the aging process and loss of loved ones. Here, Keats explains in detail the facets of reality that emotionally
distress him: The weariness, the fever, and the fret Here, where men sit and hear each other groan; where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,
where youth grows pale, and spectre thin, and dies; (L 23–26) Fortunately, it seems that the drug–like effect of the nightingale's song relieves him of
these sorrows. Feeling that he can recreate the effect of the nightingale's song, the poet now views his poetic imagination as having a similar effect
as the "vintage wine" mentioned in stanza two. However, his "dull brain perplexes and retards" (L 34) while "Already with thee!" (L 35) being with
the nightingale he is already in a place where he is happy. He realizes that the nightingale's song is actually more powerful than his own imagination
and it requires less effort on his part to continue listening to the nightingale's song. He obviously wishes to stay with the nightingale, perhaps because
the song makes him happy, but perhaps because he is lonely: Queen–Moon is on her throne Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays; But here there is no
light, Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown (L 36–39) The queen moon with her starry

Ode To A Nightingale Critical Analysis

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Ode To A Nightingale Critical Analysis