Ode to a Nightingale

BY JOHN KEATS

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains

         My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
         One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
         But being too happy in thine happiness,—
                That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees
                        In some melodious plot
         Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
                Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been

         Cool'd a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,
         Dance, and Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth!
O for a beaker full of the warm South,
         Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
                With beaded bubbles winking at the brim,
                        And purple-stained mouth;
         That I might drink, and leave the world unseen,
                And with thee fade away into the forest dim:

Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget

         What thou among the leaves hast never known,
The weariness, the fever, and the fret
         Here, where men sit and hear each other groan;
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,
         Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;
                Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
                        And leaden-eyed despairs,
         Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes,
                Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.

Away! away! for I will fly to thee,

         Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the viewless wings of Poesy,
         Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:
Already with thee! tender is the night,
         And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,
                Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays;
                        But here there is no light,
         Save what from heaven is with the breezes blown
                Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,

         Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs,
But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet
         Wherewith the seasonable month endows
The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild;
         White hawthorn, and the pastoral eglantine;
                Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves;
                        And mid-May's eldest child,
         The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,
                The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time

         I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Call'd him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
         To take into the air my quiet breath;
                Now more than ever seems it rich to die,
         To cease upon the midnight with no pain,
                While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
                        In such an ecstasy!
         Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain—
                   To thy high requiem become a sod.

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!

         No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
         In ancient days by emperor and clown:
Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
         Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
                She stood in tears amid the alien corn;
                        The same that oft-times hath
         Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam
                Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell

         To toll me back from thee to my sole self!
Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well
         As she is fam'd to do, deceiving elf.
Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades
         Past the near meadows, over the still stream,
                Up the hill-side; and now 'tis buried deep
                        In the next valley-glades:
         Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
                Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep?

Notes
.
1.....Lethe: In Greek mythology, the river of forgetfulness, which flows through Hades. Drinking its
water results in loss of memory.
2.....Dryad: In Greek mythology, a forest nymph (minor goddess).
3.....beechen: (1) Having to do with beech trees; (2) having to do with hardwood trees of the beech
family.
4.....draught: Cup; glass; drink.
5.....Flora: (1) In Roman mythology, the goddess of flowers; (2) flowers.
6.....Provençal: Having to do with Provence, a region in southern France. Provençal troubadors
(poet-musicians) were renowned for the love songs they sang.
7.....Hippocrene: In Greek mythology, a fountain on Mountain Helicon favored by Muses. Drinking its
water inspired poets.
8.....Bachus: Roman name for Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and revelry.
9.....pards: Leopards or panthers.
10...embalméd: Fragrant; sweet-smelling.
11...eglantine: Rose, usually with pink flowers.
12...Darkling: In the dark.
13...requiem: Hymn for the dead.
14...Ruth: Subject of the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament. A resident of Moab in the south of
present-day Jordan, she left her native land to live in Bethlehem, five miles south of present-day
Jerusalem, where she worked as a gleaner (one who gathers a grain harvest). She marries a Jew
named Boaz and becomes the great-grandmother of Israel's King David. 
15...The same . . . casements: The same nightingale song that passed through magical windows

Type of Work

......."Ode to a Nightingale" is a romantic ode, a dignified but highly lyrical (emotional) poem in which
the author speaks to a person or thing absent or present. In this famous ode, the speaker addresses
a nightingale while developing his theme, death. The romantic ode was at the pinnacle of its
popularity in the nineteenth century. It was the result of an author’s deep meditation on his subject. 
.......The romantic ode evolved from the ancient Greek ode, written in a serious tone to celebrate an
event or to praise an individual. The Greek ode was intended to be sung by a chorus or by one
person. The odes of the Greek poet Pindar (circa 518-438 BC) frequently extolled athletes who
participated in games at Olympus, Delphi, the Isthmus of Corinth, and Nemea. Bacchylides, a
contemporary of Pindar, also wrote odes praising athletes. 
.......The Roman poets Horace (65-8 BC) and Catullus (84-54 BC) wrote odes based on the Greek
model, but their odes were not intended to be sung. In the nineteenth century, English romantic
poets wrote odes that retained the serious tone of the Greek ode. However, like the Roman poets,
they did not write odes to be sung. Unlike the Roman poets, though, the authors of nineteenth-
century romantic odes generally were more emotional in their writing. The author of a typical
romantic ode focused on a scene, pondered its meaning, and presented a highly personal reaction to
it.

Composition and Publication Dates

.......John Keats completed "Ode to a Nightingale" in May 1819 in the Hampstead section of London.
The London firm of Taylor and Hessey published the ode in 1820 as part of a collection
entitled Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St Agnes, and Other Poems.

Summary of the Poem

.......So exquisite is the song of the nightingale in the shadowy forest that it makes the speaker's
heart ache with joy and numbs his senses like a drug. The singing kindles in him a desire for a drink
made of flowers and greenery and spiced with dance, the music of southern France, and days spent
in the sunshine. The speaker says he would also enjoy a drink from the fountain of Hippocrene,
which is sacred to the goddesses who inspire poetry. Then he would disappear into the forest with
the nightingale on a journey toward death.
.......Among the shadows, he would forget about the afflictions of the world--weariness, fever, worry,
old age. In this life, to think is to be sad and despairing. And love and beauty are all too brief.

.......The speaker bids the nightingale to fly away so that he may accompany it--not in the leopard-
drawn chariot of Bachus (the god of wine and revelry) but on the wings of poetry. The speaker says,
"tender is the night" (line 35) as Queen Moon sits on her throne, surrounded by her starry spirits.
Light blows down from heaven through the gloomy shadows.

.......Entering the region of death, the speaker says he cannot see the flowers around him and cannot
smell the fragrance from the boughs. But he knows that nature has endowed his dark environment
with grass, thickets, wild fruit trees, white hawthorne, and eglantine. There are dying violets covered
with leaves, as well as musk roses and the murmurs of insects.
.......Long has the speaker been a friend of Death, whom he calls "soft names" (line 53) in his poetry.
Now, as the nightingale sings its song, it would seem a comfort to him for Death to take him. He
would "cease upon the midnight with no pain" (line 56).
.......Unlike the speaker, the nightingale is immortal. Down through the centuries, the speaker says,
emperors and clowns alike have heard its song, as did Ruth. (The Book of Ruth in the Old Testament
tells of this native of Moab--in the southwest of present-day Jordan--who left home to live, work,
and marry in a foreign land.) 
Alas, the song of the nightingale fades away, traveling past meadows, over a stream, up a hillside,
and into the next valley. The speaker is alone. Did he have a vision? Was he dreaming?

End Rhyme

.......The end rhyme in each stanza follows this pattern: abab cde cde. The first stanza demonstrates
the pattern.

My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains

My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains
         One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk:
'Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness,—
That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green, and shadows numberless,
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.

Internal Rhyme

.......The poem also contains internal rhyme, as in the following phrases and clauses. 

beechen green (line 9)

sunburnt mirth (line 14)
leave the world unseen (line 19)
sad, last gray hairs (line 25)
I will fly to thee (line 31)
in embalméd darkness, guess (line 43)
thy high requiem (line 60)
To toll me back from thee to my sole self! (line 72)
thy plaintive anthem fades (line 75)
Past the near meadows, over the still stream (line 76)

Theme: Death

.......As the song of the nightingale soothes the speaker like a drug, he begins to ponder death and
yearns to "fade away into the forest dim" (line 20) and forget "the weariness, the fever, and the fret"
(line 23) that are part of everyday life. At the time that Keats completed the poem (May 1819), death
and its meaning were his constant companions; for he was suffering from tuberculosis, the disease
that claimed the life of his brother on December 1, 1818. In line 26 of the poem, Keats appears to
refer to his brother when he writes that "youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies." John Keats
himself died on February 23, 1821.

Figures of Speech

.......Following are examples of figures of speech in the poem. (For definitions of figures of
speech, click here.)

Alliteration

of hemlock I had drunk (line 2)

dull opiate to the drains (line 3)
Singest of summer (line 10)
deep-delved earth (line 12)
Provençal song, and sunburnt mirth (line 14)
With beaded bubbles winking (line 17)
And with thee fade away into the forest dim (line 20)
Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget (line 21)
breezes blown (line 39)
winding mossy ways (line 40)
Fast fading violets cover'd up in leaves; (line 47)
And mid-May's eldest child (line 48)
many a muséd rhyme (line 53)
self-same song (line 65)
sole self (line 72)

Anaphora

Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last gray hairs,

Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;
Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs,
Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes (lines 25-29)

Apostrophe

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird! (line 61)

Assonance

My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk (line 2)

Of beechen green (line 9)
sunburntmirth (line 14)

Metaphor
O for a beaker full of the warm South (line 15)
Comparison of the South to a liquid

on the viewless wings of Poesy (line 33)

Comparison of poetry to a bird

Personification

Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes (line 29)

Comparison of Beauty to a person

the Queen-Moon is on her throne (line 36)

Comparison of the moon to a person

Simile

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell

To toll me back from thee to my sole self! (lines 71-72)
Comparison of the word forlorn to a bell

Themes
The Inevitability of Death

Even before his diagnosis of terminal tuberculosis, Keats focused on death and its inevitability in his
work. For Keats, small, slow acts of death occurred every day, and he chronicled these small mortal
occurrences. The end of a lover’s embrace, the images on an ancient urn, the reaping of grain in
autumn—all of these are not only symbols of death, but instances of it. Examples of great beauty
and art also caused Keats to ponder mortality, as in “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” (1817). As a
writer, Keats hoped he would live long enough to achieve his poetic dream of becoming as great as
Shakespeare or John Milton: in “Sleep and Poetry” (1817), Keats outlined a plan of poetic
achievement that required him to read poetry for a decade in order to understand—and surpass—
the work of his predecessors. Hovering near this dream, however, was a morbid sense that death
might intervene and terminate his projects; he expresses these concerns in the
mournful 1818sonnet “When I have fears that I may cease to be.”

The Contemplation of Beauty

In his poetry, Keats proposed the contemplation of beauty as a way of delaying the inevitability of
death. Although we must die eventually, we can choose to spend our time alive in aesthetic revelry,
looking at beautiful objects and landscapes. Keats’s Speakers contemplate urns (“Ode on a Grecian
Urn”), books (“On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer” [1816], “On Sitting Down to Read King
Lear Once Again” [1818]), birds (“Ode to a Nightingale”), and stars (“Bright star, would I were
stedfast as thou art” [1819]). Unlike mortal beings, beautiful things will never die but will keep
demonstrating their beauty for all time. Keats explores this idea in the first book of Endymion (1818).
The speaker in “Ode on a Grecian Urn” envies the immortality of the lute players and trees inscribed
on the ancient vessel because they shall never cease playing their songs, nor will they ever shed their
leaves. He reassures young lovers by telling them that even though they shall never catch their
mistresses, these women shall always stay beautiful. The people on the urn, unlike the speaker, shall
never stop having experiences. They shall remain permanently depicted while the speaker changes,
grows old, and eventually dies.

Symbols
Music and Musicians

Music and musicians appear throughout Keats’s work as Symbols of poetry and poets. In “Ode on a
Grecian Urn,” for instance, the speaker describes musicians playing their pipes. Although we cannot
literally hear their music, by using our imaginations, we can imagine and thus hear music. The
speaker of “To Autumn” reassures us that the season of fall, like spring, has songs to sing. Fall, the
season of changing leaves and decay, is as worthy of poetry as spring, the season of flowers and
rejuvenation. “Ode to a Nightingale” uses the bird’s music to contrast the mortality of humans with
the immortality of art. Caught up in beautiful birdsong, the speaker imagines himself capable of
using poetry to join the bird in the forest. The beauty of the bird’s music represents the ecstatic,
imaginative possibilities of poetry. As mortal beings who will eventually die, we can delay death
through the timelessness of music, poetry, and other types of art.

Nature

Like his fellow romantic poets, Keats found in nature endless sources of poetic inspiration, and he
described the natural world with precision and care. Observing elements of nature allowed Keats,
Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Shelley, among others, to create extended meditations and thoughtful
odes about aspects of the human condition. For example, in “Ode to a Nightingale,” hearing the
bird’s song causes the speaker to ruminate on the immortality of art and the mortality of humans.
The speaker of “Ode on Melancholy” compares a bout of depression to a “weeping cloud” (12), then
goes on to list specific flowers that are linked to sadness. He finds in nature apt images for his
psychological state. In “Ode to Psyche,” the speaker mines the night sky to find ways to worship the
Roman goddess Psyche as a muse: a star becomes an “amorous glow-worm” (27), and the moon
rests amid a background of dark blue. Keats not only uses nature as a springboard from which to
ponder, but he also discovers in nature Similes, symbols, and Metaphors for the spiritual and
emotional states he seeks to describe.

The Ancient World

Keats had an enduring interest in antiquity and the ancient world. His longer poems, such as The Fall
of Hyperion  or Lamia, often take place in a mythical world not unlike that of classical antiquity. He
borrowed figures from ancient mythology to populate poems, such as “Ode to Psyche” and “To
Homer” (1818). For Keats, ancient myth and antique objects, such as the Grecian urn, have a
permanence and solidity that contrasts with the fleeting, temporary nature of life. In ancient
cultures, Keats saw the possibility of permanent artistic achievement: if an urn still spoke to
someone several centuries after its creation, there was hope that a poem or artistic object from
Keats’s time might continue to speak to readers or observers after the death of Keats or another
writer or creator. This achievement was one of Keats’s great hopes. In an 1818 letter to his brother
George, Keats quietly prophesied: “I think I shall be among the English poets after my death.”

Motifs
Departures and Reveries

In many of Keats’s poems, the speaker leaves the real world to explore a transcendent, mythical, or
aesthetic realm. At the end of the poem, the speaker returns to his ordinary life transformed in
some way and armed with a new understanding. Often the appearance or contemplation of a
beautiful object makes the departure possible. The ability to get lost in a reverie, to depart conscious
life for imaginative life without wondering about plausibility or rationality, is part of Keats’s concept
of negative capability. In “Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art,” the speaker imagines a
state of “sweet unrest” (12) in which he will remain half-conscious on his lover’s breast forever. As
speakers depart this world for an imaginative world, they have experiences and insights that they
can then impart into poetry once they’ve returned to conscious life. Keats explored the relationship
between visions and poetry in “Ode to Psyche” and “Ode to a Nightingale.”

The Five Senses and Art

Keats imagined that the five senses loosely corresponded to and connected with various types of art.
The speaker in “Ode on a Grecian Urn” describes the pictures depicted on the urn, including lovers
chasing one another, musicians playing instruments, and a virginal maiden holding still. All the
figures remain motionless, held fast and permanent by their depiction on the sides of the urn, and
they cannot touch one another, even though we can touch them by holding the vessel. Although the
poem associates sight and sound, because we see the musicians playing, we cannot hear the music.
Similarly, the speaker in “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer” compares hearing Homer’s words
to “pure serene” (7) air so that reading, or seeing, becomes associating with breathing, or smelling.
In “Ode to a Nightingale,” the speaker longs for a drink of crystal-clear water or wine so that he
might adequately describe the sounds of the bird singing nearby. Each of the five senses must be
involved in worthwhile experiences, which, in turn, lead to the production of worthwhile art.

The Disappearance of the Poet and the Speaker

In Keats’s theory of negative capability, the poet disappears from the work—that is, the work itself
chronicles an experience in such a way that the reader recognizes and responds to the experience
without requiring the intervention or explanation of the poet. Keats’s speakers become so
enraptured with an object that they erase themselves and their thoughts from their depiction of that
object. In essence, the speaker/poet becomes melded to and indistinguishable from the object being
described. For instance, the speaker of “Ode on a Grecian Urn” describes the scenes on the urn for
several stanzas until the famous conclusion about beauty and truth, which is enclosed in quotation
marks. Since the poem’s publication in 1820, critics have theorized about who speaks these lines,
whether the poet, the speaker, the urn, or one or all the figures on the urn. The erasure of the
speaker and the poet is so complete in this particular poem that the quoted lines are jarring and
troubling.