Ode to a nightingale line by line summary

 

The poem 'Ode to a nightingale' is written by John Keats begins with a melancholic note in which the speaker feels inactive and pain in his heart as he wants to free from this internal conflict by consuming some kind of intoxicating drinks such as hemlock (poisonous) and opium. One minute past the speaker had drunken from Lethe river (the river from ancient Greek mythology, runs through the underworld, if somebody drinks water from it they will forget everything) better known as the river of oblivion. Speaker directly addresses the nightingale and says that he is not at all jealous about the happiness of the bird rather he is too happy having witnessed the happiness of the bird. He directly compares the bird as the light winged Dryad (spirit or goddess in Greek mythology lives in the woods) and it sings mellifluous songs in the shadows of the green wood trees. The bird uses its full power and whole heart in order to spread its melody.

 

He would like to drink a few drops of wine which have been kept long for years deep in the earth and taste flowers in the countryside of dancing, singing folk songs and enjoying in the happy rays of the sun. he wishes to drink a bottle of wine that can surely keep him warm and energetic in the southern lands. In facts he needs the drink made up of Hippocrene (Sacred plant in the Greek mythology to get poetic inspiration), the bubbles play on the surface of the glass and the drink makes his mouth purple color. The speaker is longing to get such a drink and forget the world. He would like to escape from the dull material world with the nightingale to the dense forest.

 

Sense of escapism is quite clear in this line “fade far away, dissolve and quite forget”. Poet wants to fade and dissolve in to the world of nightingale which characterised by limitless freedom and ecstasy. The bird has never experienced the sufferings and sickness of human beings. People are subject to suffer and listen to each other moan in pain and distress. Sickness and old age are inevitable for humans. Thus, youth fades and eventually dies and everywhere sorrows and despairs remain. Every beautiful thing shall eventually lose its beauty even the love shall not remain forever. “Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow” these line gives some hints to the personal life of Keats himself. His lady love Frances better known as Fanny Brawne refuses the love to Keats, which intensified his sadness.

 

The speaker is ready to leave the human world behind. He wishes to fly like the bird and rejects the idea of having wine or alcohol instead, he can fly on the wings of poetic imagination even though some dull human mind confuses and slow down him. Finally the poet reached in the world of nightingale by using his poetic faculty. The night is gentle and tender and the full moon, the queen of the night sky sits on her throne surrounded by the stars. But it’s dark where the poet was standing as the soft wind blows a small amount of light reaches below the ground. So, the speaker can apparently see the hidden lush on the ground and the turning mossy ways.

 

The speaker can’t see the flowers with soft fragrance around him. In the intense darkness he guesses each sweet fragrance. It’s obviously springtime because everywhere the greenery permeates. The forest is full of grass, thickets (dense group of bushes or trees) and strong fruit trees. Poet illustrates different kinds of flowers like hawthorn (a thorny rose like flower), eglantine (wild rose) and fast fading violet flowers covered up in leaves.  The first May flower and the fragrance of musk roses are crowded by the humming mass of flies.

 

The speaker listens to the melodious song of the bird in the dusky darkness and expresses his thanathotic impulse as he is in love with death. He addresses death by using different soft names in his verses in order to take his air of breath. He seems it’s the right time to die to end his pains and sufferings while listening to the blissful song of the bird. Your song of ecstasy shall continue even after my death but I can no longer listen to that requiem.

 

Speaker addresses the nightingale as immortal bird! Because unlike the speaker the bird is not born to die. The song has heard by generation after generation of men and women irrespective of their position whether it is an emperor or clown. Nobody shall scorn the song. Perhaps the same song that found a path through the sad heart of Ruth. The Book of Ruth is one of the lesser-known books in the Hebrew Bible. It narrates the story of Ruth married a guy and moved to a new country. Then her husband died, and Ruth's mother-in-law told her to return home and get married again. But Ruth says that she was totally loyal to her mother in law and can't her. She supports her mother-in-law by working in the corn fields . This magical song can reach everywhere even at the deep dangerous seas or fairy forlorn lands.

 

Having thought about the word ‘forlorn’ brings the feeling that he is too alone. He says good bye to the world of Nightingale. He admits that his attempts to use his imagination ("fancy") to forget his material world into the nightingale's world have not been effective. The bird can really fly away with him that’s why speaker calls the bird ‘deceiving elf’.

 

Now it becomes clear that the nightingale is flying away. The speaker bids goodbye again and again to the nightingale using the French word, "adieu," which means, "good-bye for a long time. The bird's sad song eventually fades from the attention of the speaker as the bird flies to the nearby meadows, across a stream, up the hill, and into the next valley. Now he can't hear it at all. Poet thins that was this whole experience is real or mere illusion. The song has gone and he wonders if he is awaking or sleeping.