"Ode to a Nightingale" by John Keats

Why?

Keats chose to write about an experience with a Nightingale as a means of releasing his sorrows, and also to re-examine his role in nature. Keats’ heightened consciousness has become his art form. By using the poem as a release, he has thus been able to relax and in effect look more intently into the many beauties of nature. Moreover, Woodsworth wrote that “only total absorption in nature could heal thoughts;” it seems to be that Keats has heeded Woodsworth’s advice by writing this piece. Additionally, by using an ode, Keats was able to elevate the entrancement of his verse. Odes traditionally have a meditative quality, and this attribute clearly had a magnificent effect on the verse, as “Ode to a Nightingale” does seem to draw the reader into a trance.

How?

The Romantic period was focused on representing the “picturesque sublime” in a “total surrender to a visual’s impression,” this was clearly done in “Ode to a Nightingale.” The verse is representative of Romanticism in the sense that it is in itself a study in nature. Just like in Romantic art, where the artist used colour, and not shape, to represent reality, Keats has used diction, metaphor and many other artful devices to construct his reality. By relying on these devices, and not so much on the actual subject, Keats has managed to create something elegant, and divine out of something mundane.

What?

The rhetorical devices used by Keats appear to be the vehicle in allowing Keats to achieve his goals. Through the use of rhetorical questions, “do I wake or sleep,” Keats has allowed both the reader and himself the opportunity to analyze the subject of the canto. Diction also has been able to have this effect. By using phrases such as “charm’d magic casements,” Keats has presented a poem that is stimulating. Thus, when recited the stanzas force the reader to study the words, and their subjects, closely with a keen mind. These two devices have thus been able create an intense scrutiny that forces the reader to both think about the beauties of nature, but also their effects. Secondly, by using metaphors Keats has greatly reflected nature’s elegance in the splendour of his images. Phrases like “the fancy cannot cheat so well as she is fam’d to do, deceiving elf” demonstrate the magnificence of nature and also the brilliance of Keats’ mind. Finally, alliteration has allowed the poem to flow like a spring stream. Keats almost regularly uses phrases like “self-same song” and “amid the alien” to create a poem that flows more than a “still stream” would. This fluidity reflects nature's organic look, where nothing ever looks out of place. To conclude, the use of such devices as alliteration and metaphor, Keats ahs been able to create an ode that is able to parallel the beauties of nature.