The Tragic Elements in Ode to a Nightingale

Submitted by: Najmul Hassan

Supervisor: Professor Sulaiman Khan

Department of English

Govt. Postgraduate College Dargai Malakand

Affiliated with University of Malakand

Session (2012- 2016)

 By

Najmul Hassan

Thesis submitted to the Department of English Govt. Postgraduate College

Dargai Malakand in partial fulfillment of the requirement for degree of

BS in English

Department of English

Govt.Post Graduate College Dargai Malakand

University of Malakand

KHYBER PAKHTUNKHWA

PAKISTAN
 In The Name
OF
ALLAH
The Most Merciful,
Compassionate the Gracious
And Beneficent whose help and Guidance
We always solicit at every step and
At every moment.

CERTIFICATION
This is certified that this thesis entitled “The Tragic Elements

in “Ode to a Nightingale” submitted by Mr. Najmul Hassan

is accepted in its present form by the Department of English
Govt. Post graduate College Dargai Malakand, as satisfying the
thesis requirements for degree of (BS) in English.

Supervisor: ´
Prof essor Sulaiman Khan

External Examiner: ´
Prof essor Shafi−ul −Haq

Chairman: Prof essor ´Fazli Sadiq

iv
 DEDICATION

This Humble Effort Is Dedicated to

My affectionate Parents, who wish to see

the bud of their wishes grow and pray for

it to bloom

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I am very thankful to my Almighty Allah who has created me and the whole

universe. I have no words to thank my All-Merciful Allah for giving me strength

and courage.

I am highly thankful to the faculty members of Department of English

Postgraduate College Dargai who were always a source of inspiration for us, who

always taught to us sincerely and wholeheartedly. They always encouraged us in

our academic endeavors. They were always a strong pillar for us throughout our

BS academic career.

First of all I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Mr. Fazli Sadiq

Chairman Department of English for providing us fatherly care and guidance .He

was a source of inspiration for our BS students .He was the person who accepted

the challenge of starting the BS English program at GPGC Dargai. He was the

living spirit of the Department. He tried his best to provide every possible facility

and opportunity for our education and brought up.

Secondly, I would like to extend my deep gratitude to Assistant Professor

Sulaiman Khan for being my supervisor. He provided me guidance care and full

cooperation in completing my research work.

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He left no stone unturned to facilitate me during my research work and he was

there at any odd hour when his guidance was needed.

My thanks also go to Prof. Jalaluddin who was a source of encouragement for us

during our academic session at the campus. My thanks also extend to Assistant
Professor Abdurrazaq and Lecturer Ziarat Khan who taught us dedicatedly and

supported us in our academic journey.

Najmul Hassan

Vii

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Certification............................................... …………………...iv
Dedication…………………………………………………..…v
Acknowledgement ....................................................................vi
Table of contents..................................................... ………...viii
Abstract...................................................................................... x
Chapter No.One Introduction.................................................1
1.1 Introduction of the Study…..................................................1
1.2 Scope and Significance of the Study…….…………..….....2
1.3 Objectives of the Proposed Study…………………….........3
1.5 Research Questions…...……………………........................3
Chapter No.Two Literature Review………………………...4
Chapter No.Three Research Methodology…………………7
3.1 Population…………………………………………….…...7
3.2 Delimitation…………………………………………….....7
3.3 Research Planning………………………………………....7
3.4 Nature of Research………………………………………...8
3.5 Data Type and Resources……………………………….....8
3.6 Data Collection Tool……………………………………....8
3.7 Research Instrument………………………………...….….8
Chapter No .Four The Tragic Elements ……………………9
4.1 Escapism………………………………………………….16
4.2 Life is a Trouble…………………………………………..21
4.3 Love is Lacking………………………………………..…23
4.4 Fear of Death……………………………………………..24

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4.5 Melancholy……………………………………………….27
4.6 Palsy (Disease)……………………… …………………..29
4.7 Shortness of Beauty………………………………………31
4.8 Shortness of Life…………………….……………………32
4.9 Torture in Imagination……………………………………33
Chapter No.Five …………………………...…...……….......36
5.1 Findings…………………………………………………..36
5.2 Conclusions……………………………………………….41
References………………………...………………………….42

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ABSTRACT
The researcher has tried to develop an analysis of the tragic

elements in the poetry of John Keats. John Keats’s all poems are

full of sorrows and sufferings. But here the main concern of the

researcher as to find the tragic elements in the “Ode to a

Nightingale”. The researcher has pinpointed the gloomy aspects of

the actual life of John Keats. In the Ode to a Nightingale the

researcher has searched and found out the tragic aspects of fear of

death, diseases, despair in love, shortness of human life, and also

short span of youthful days. There is mention of the gloomy aspect

of his failure in love reflecting the actual failure of his love with

Fanny Brawne. There is also mention of the tragic element of palsy

which was a deadly disease in his time. He also deliberates on the

trials and tribulations of human life. The poem is the human drama

of pain. He had spent a stressful life suffering himself as well as his

brother from tuberculosis which was a constant source of suffering

and fear from the imminent death. The state of Nightingale has

been held as a reference point by Keats and longing for the world

of Nightingale. So the poem is an epitome of the tragic aspects the

life of John Keats. The researcher has enumerated the tragic

elements in the Ode to a Nightingale and correlated those elements

with the life of the Keats.