Ode To A Nightingale Summary

Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats was published in 1819. Keats was the oldest of four and lost his parents at an early age. His father died when Keats was eight after he fell off a horse and cracked is head open, his mother died six years later of tuberculosis. In 1816 he became a licensed apothecary, although he never pursued that profession, instead he became a poet. One may ask why he went through all the trouble of getting licensed and then decided to write poetry for a living. In 1817, he had his first volume of poems published titled Poems by John Keats. At the age of twenty-five on February 23, 1821, he died of tuberculosis. His terrible health has often been linked to his broken spirits from the bad reviews of his poems. The poem itself is 594 words in total, 80 lines, and contains 8 stanzas. Without reading too much into it, the poem seems to be about a nightingale. As a whole the poem is about the speakers experience with the bird. The speaker becomes entranced by the nightingale. He imagines the nightingale’s world. Many generations have heard the song it sings so he believes the bird to be immortal. At once, the vision is ripped from him as the nightingale leaves him. He is left dazed, not able to distinguish reality from dreams. Keats explores major themes in Ode to a Nightingale. …show more content…
He talks about mortality and expression. When listening to the nightingale’s song, the speaker wished to abandon the human world to follow the bird’s carefree existence. The speaker believes the bird to be immortal. Generations have listened to the bird, imaginably, the same song helped many overcome sadness. The speaker, when referring to the nightingale, may be addressing his imagination. He imagines his adventure with the nightingale, and when he awakens, he wonders if he should wake up or go back to the dream. The overall mood of the poem is dark and mysterious. The speaker is depressed and thinking of death and human mortality. In the second stanza, he speaks of drinking something to fade away and die. “O for a beaker full of the warm South, / … That I might drink, and leave the world unseen, / And with thee fade away into the forest dim” (15,19-20). The poem specifies that it is an ode in the name Ode to a Nightingale. An ode is a type of lyrical poem that addresses a specific subject. An ode is a long, serious, and formal poem. This poem is about the nightingale and the speaker’s imaginative visions of death. Ode to a Nightingale is the poem I chose to read and analyze. I wanted to have a better understanding of the poem and its meaning. After reviewing the poem in its entirety, I came to the conclusion that my personal favorite line is “Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird! / No hungry generations tread thee down” (61-62). The speaker thinks the bird cannot die as many people have heard its song from emperors to biblical characters to fantasy characters. I like the idea of something lasting through the years and making a difference. A line in the poem I find confusing is “Away! away! for I will fly to thee, / Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards, / But on the viewless wings of Posey” (31-32). This poem does not necessarily remind me of any other art form as I do not interest myself too much in art. Poetry confuses me by itself without the 19th century words that this poem contains. The poem contains words that I do not know. For example, the word draught (noun) means a large sip of liquid, it is also the British spelling of draft. Casement (noun) is a window in literary terms. Finally, verdurous (adjective) is green with vegetation. Literary devices help get the theme or mood across to the readers. The rhyme scheme in this poem is: ABABCDECDE. An example of alliteration is “self-same song” (75). Alliteration/assonance “Fade far away…and quite forget/…the fever and the fret” (30, 32). There is plenty of imagery throughout the poem. “Tasting of Flora and the country green, / Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth! / … purple-stained mouth” (22-23, 27) The author is giving the reader a plenty of details to imagine the scene. Another big literary term used