Ode to a Nightingale

Chapter Summary

Ode to a Nightingale was written by Keats when he was in an uncomfortable condition of drowsiness. The poet becomes envious of the happiness of the bird and he here longed for a drought of wine. He thought the wine can take him out of himself as well as help him to join with the existence of the bird.

Keats was aware of the pain and sorrow of life, aware of the death of young ones, and the sufferings of the old and that were the reason he wants some wine to get rid of the painful world for some time. Later he realised that the wine was not enough to release his pain as well as give him an escape from the world of suffering. Here, the imagination of the poet was enough for giving him the taste of escapism.

The realisation of the poet of this fact of imagination makes him filled with spirit and he was able in climbing up the trees, can see the stars as well as the moon. This was a great realisation of the poet and he was physically presented beneath the tree. Although the poet was not able in seeing what kind of flowers were growing around him he can see them by their fragrance.

The poet listened to the song of Nightingale and he felt that this can be a great time to die where he has no pain in life and it was a great realisation for the poet. He presents the nightingale as immortal because the song of the bird was listened to by the emperors in the past time, and the peasant, as well as Ruth, heard the song.

The word forlorn brings the poet back to consciousness and he realised that he could not escape even with the help of imagination. He realised that the bird’s singing fainted with time and died. This experience of the poet made him confused about whether it was a vision or a daydream.

How does the nightingale’s song plunge the poet into a state of ecstasy?

Keats was sitting under a tree of plum in the garden of his house. Then the compositions of the poem happen and here he gets inspired by the song of Nightingale. The poem starts with a melancholic mood and expresses the word heart aches. He feels like he had to get poisoned but the song of the bird gives him happiness.

What are the unpleasant aspects of the human condition that the poet wants to escape from?

The poet goes into the dipper thought when founding the song of the nightingale. He wishes to escape from the sorrow of life with the help of the bird’s humming. The ultimate truth of death is realised by the poet and realised that the material gains only give pain to humans. He talks about the birds that have no pain as well as sorrow in their life and plays the song of happiness. Therefore, the poet wants to escape from the physical world and wanted to a world of happiness.

What quality of ‘beauty’ and ‘love’ does the poem highlight?

The beauty of nature was always get appreciated by the Romantics and they search for solace in the embrace of nature. The poet John Keats in the poem Ode to a Nightingale realises the ultimate truth of life which is death. The poet celebrates nature’s beauty and enjoyed the song of the bird. Here the poem presented the travel of the poet from mortality to immortality.

The poet’s realisation lies in the fact that beauty lies within and he presented the beauty of nature. The beauty of the song of the bird is presented here and he also realised that nothing in the world is permanent.

How does the poet bring out the immortality of the bird?

The bird, nightingale is presented as an immortal bird and here Keats cherishes the song of the bird. The humming of the bird as well as its beauty is called immortal because its song does not get fade away with age and death. The poet expresses his feeling about death because he wanted to fly to the bird and live with it.

However, the poet soon realises that his imagination is quite impossible and he praises the bird. Another reason for calling the bird immortal is that in the past times, the bird is charming to the emperor, the peasants, as well as Ruth through his singing. Later the poet use personification for describing the song of the bird. Keats gets enchanted with the beauty of the song of the bird.

The poet has juxtaposed sets of opposites like numbness pains, waking dream. How does this contribute to the poetic effect? What is this figure of speech called? List other such pairs from poems that you have read

The juxtaposition of the opposite words helps the poet in expressing his poetic feeling and it creates the difference between the reality as well as bitter truth of human life. The words help the poet in describing the sorrow feeling and making comparisons with happiness. These words helped the poet in making an effective distinction between the things.

This figure of speech is called the Oxymoron that is used in this poem and it refers to the juxtaposition of two opposite words.

Some other pairs of this category include death immortal, happiness sorrow, and wakesleep.

The poet has evoked the image of wine—why has this image been chosen?

Keats here presents the image of wine because he wanted to escape from the world with the help of wine. He used the word “drink” and said that - I might drink, and leave the world unseen. This line signifies that the poet wants to escape from the world.

The poet addresses the nightingale and talks to the bird throughout the poem. What is this kind of poem called?

This kind of poem is called an ode and the name of the poem Ode to a Nightingale itself suggests that. Ode is considered to be a long serious poem which is written in praise of someone and in this poem the admiration of the Nightingale bird is seen.

FAQs

Q1. What kinds of adjectives are presented in this poem?

Ans. The adjectives are numbness, happiness, blushful, as well as weariness. These adjectives helped the poet in expressing his thoughts with the expression of feeling.

Q2. What is Ode?

Ans. An ode is a kind of long narrative poem that is used to make praise something or someone. The name of the poem itself suggests the nature of the poem and here the praise is made about a nightingale.