"Ode to a Nightingale"

Poetry | John Keats
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Describe the Effect of the Song of the Nightingale on the Poet.

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Describe the effect of the song of the Nightingale on the poet.

In John Keats’ (1795-1821) “Ode to a Nightingale” (1819), the speaker/poet stands in a dark forest and listens to the beautiful song of a nightingale bird. The song has a deep and strong effect on the poet. When he hears the bird singing, he feels both happy and sad at the same time. He is "too happy" because the nightingale’s song is so beautiful. He also feels pain because he knows that happiness does not last forever.

The Song Makes Him Happy: For the poet, the song acts like a drug or a dream. Hearing the beautiful song, he is so happy that he feels almost dizzy. For a moment, he forgets his troubles and feels like he is in a fairyland—surrounded by flowers, moonlight, and the bird’s endless song.

The poet wishes he could escape the real world and go with th

e nightingale. He feels tired of human suffering, where people grow old, get sick, and die. The nightingale, however, is free from all these troubles. Its song has remained the same for many years, even since ancient times. This makes the poet think that the nightingale is "immortal"— 

“Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!”

This means that the bird will never die, unlike human beings.

The Song Makes Him Sad: The poet then imagines different ways to escape. First, he wishes for wine so that he can get drunk and forget his pain. But soon, he changes his mind. He decides that poetry is a better way to escape. Through his imagination, he feels like he is flying to the nightingale. The poet says:

“Away! away! for I will fly to thee.”

However, the joy does not last long. The poet soon realizes that he cannot truly be with the bird. The nightingale flies away, leaving him alone again. He feels lost and wonders whether his experience is real or just a dream.

In short, the song of the nightingale gives the poet happiness for a short time. But in the end, he is left with the painful truth that nothing lasts forever.

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John Keats
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from "Ode to a Nightingale"