![]() This entry was posted in Textual Puzzles by meg_wilder. He is experiencing ecstasy on his journey with the nightingale and it is impossible for him to live content on earth again. ![]() He has decided to take flight (which could be a metaphor for death, but I won’t go into that) and leave his earthly troubles behind while pursuing a life of bliss and freedom. He has seen the wonders that the nightingale has shown him and he can no longer return to the boring, troublesome earth. My conclusion is that the speaker remains in the fantasy-like state of mind. Is he in reality or in fantasy? In the last line, the speaker says “Do I wake or sleep?” so even the speaker is a bit confused as to where he stands. Is he still in the seemingly drug-induced state, or is he conscious and aware. He explains that “the weariness, the fever, and the fret” are what cause him to flee this world (line 23). He is yearning for a life where he can escape the worries and strives of life (isn’t that what we are all looking for?). I understand the overarching theme of this poem. The fantasy begins on line stanza four (“Away! Away! For I will fly to thee”) when the speaker yearns to escape the earthly world on the wings of the bird. The speaker is outside in the forest and then he sees a nightingale and is in some opium-like state. The tone of the poem rejects the optimistic pursuit of pleasure found within Keatss earlier poems and explores the themes of nature, transience and mortality, the latter being particularly personal to Keats. This peculiar Ode stumped me upon first reading. 'Ode to a Nightingale' is a personal poem that describes Keatss journey into the state of Negative Capability.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |