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He thinks of leaving "the world unseen/and with the fade away into the forest dim" (19-20) and tells the bird that he "will fly to thee" (31) on the wings of poetry itself. Life and death are immersed in the song of the nightingale as the poet wrestles with his imagination.
Ode to a Nightingale" would not be Romantic in nature with out its attention to the poet and his awareness of his own sesibilities. It emphasizes, if not depends, on the senes - most notably the senses of hearing and sight - to be understood. The poet's imagination is captured by the song and, because of his experience - not the bird itself, he trancends this world. He writes, "In some melodious plot/of beechen green, and shadows numberless,/Singest of summer in full-throated ease" (8-10). The poem also examinies the beauty of nature by focusing on this simple song of the nightingale. The song and...
However, like all things beautiful, the song must come to an end. The bird takes flight and the poet is drawn back into world in which he lives. The images are seared into his memory, however, leaving him to wonder if what he experienced was real or just a dream. The powerful experience is a self-revelation in that the poet is aware of beauty that is of this world and beauty as it exists in his mind. It is this attention to the senses, along with an emphasis on nature that brings "Ode to a Nightingale" notoriety as a classic Romantic poem.
Works Cited
Keats, John. "Ode to a Nightingale." English Romantic Writers. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers. 1967. pp. 1184.
Perkins, David. English Romantic Writers. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers.…
Works Cited
Keats, John. "Ode to a Nightingale." English Romantic Writers. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers. 1967. pp. 1184.
Perkins, David. English Romantic Writers. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, Publishers. 1967.
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