"Ode to a Nightingale"

John Keats “Ode to a Nightingale”: Eternity
“Ode to a Nightingale” ventures
between the realms of life and death, ultimately showing glimpses of the
author’s perception of eternity inspired from the sight and song of the
nightingale. The author opens the poem by describing his current state: “My
heart aches and drowsy numbness pains,” (1). While he appears to be mentioning
dizziness or the results of a sublime experience upon seeing the nightingale, with
the mention of “hemlock” (the poison ingested by Socrates) within the next line
one can’t help but wonder if the author is not actually departing from the world
of the living to the world of the dead, or the seemingly eternal nightingale.
“The weariness, the fever, the
fret.” (23), Keats characterizes the world of the living, the world he is leaving
or wishes to leave, as something undesirable compared to the beauty of the
nightingale. He then uses phrases such as “flowers are at my feet”, and
“embalmed in darkness” (41-43) to further underline the notion of his death in
this moment. From this emphasis on passing from life to death, the author
paints the vision of the nightingale, an “immortal Bird”.
The author illustrates the song of
the nightingale as something heard throughout the ages, during “ancient days by
emperor and clown”. By connecting his subject to the era of antiquity, he further
glorifies its power and eternity. Yet the reference towards eternity in this
poem is carried on with an underlying tone of sadness. “Where youth grows pale,”
(25), Keats allows his personal observations as to the pains of life to lend
contrast with the beautifully powerful nightingale. In doing so, the eternity
he comprehends is only a dream, perhaps not even achievable in death, and certainly
not obtainable in life.
Essentially, the author ventures
between life and death, exalting the nightingale as something of eternity,
personifying nature as a whole. The eternal beauty of this bird cannot be seen
without a certain sadness however, as the author is wholly aware of the shortcomings
of the mortal world he lives in.

-james kriz