Ode To A Nightingale By John Keats

Essay, Research Paper

The Poem “Ode to A Nightingale” by John Keats is a unique poem, written sometime during the 1815- 1820’s while he was visiting at a friend’s house.This Romantic Age poem is well known for the way it is written. The main writing style Keats uses is imagery. This style is an excellent example of poetry writing in the Romantic Age, particulary its references to Greek mythological images and the

celebration of natural enviroment.

In the first part of the poem Keats forms a mental picture

of a hemlock,which signifies a poisonous herb. He also creates a picture of a river of forgetfulness in Hades. Basically, the imagery

Keats uses is that of Greek mythology and a fantasy world. In a different perspective, it is the end of one’s life. Keats paints a picture , the desire to end one’s life in a peaceful enviroment that is created by the Nightingale’s song and light, and smells of the

enviroment.

In the first five lines of the poem the narrator shows that

he hears the nightingale. As he hears the nightingale, his heart

aches and he feels drugged from the song and the beauty of trees and

plants. After a minute, he forgets about the nightingale. In lines five through twenty-five he is he joyous the nightingale’s ability to sing about summer. From the nightingale’s singing, the narrator becomes too happy because the nightingale can express its happiness that summer has arrived. The narrator says that he wants to have a drink, cool and tasting, like flowers. He would forget the world , fade away with the nightingaleinto the forest. To create this Romantic image, Keatscompares the nightingale to a “light-winged Dryad” and refers to the “tasting of flora” snd “Provelcal Song.”