Ode to a NightingaleEssay Preview: Ode to a NightingaleReport this essayAfter losing his mother and brother to tuberculosis, and developing signs of the sickness himself, John Keats begins to analyze life and death in his personal poem “Ode to a Nightingale” (Stott, Jones, and Bowers 144). Keatss symbolism of the Nightingale and the contrast between life and death reveals his changing view of life resulting in the belief of death being his means to overcome pain. Keats begins this revelation by describing the beauty of life, but his use of fantasy words foreshadows a change in his outlook. By using the symbolism of the nightingale, Keats becomes uncertain of his view of life and begins to ponder the concept of death. In the conclusion, Keats feels deceived by the nightingales representation of life, and desires death to overcome his pain instead of enduring it in life.
As Keats continues his thoughts, he becomes more and more skeptical of life. Fascinated by the nightingale, Keats recognizes the birds innocence: “What thou among the leaves hast never known,/The weariness, The fever, and the fret” (3.22-23). One would fret when uneasy or uncertain towards a matter. Keats reveals that the nightingale is oblivious to the concept of death as he sings his melody. The nightingale is completely free for he does not know about death. Keats becomes tormented by the innocence and freedom of the bird, as all of Keats uncertainties regarding life and death overwhelm him: “Where but to think is to be full of sorrow” (3.27). Living his life brings a constant reminder of his pain, driving Keats to change his opinion of life and death.
In the sixth stanza, Keats reveals his desire to die: “Now more than ever seems it rich to die, to cease upon the midnight with no pain” (6.55). His pain is so overwhelming that even death would be a better option than living with the pain. Keats then speaks of the nightingale as a “deceiving elf” (8.74), because of the distracting effect of its music. Keats realizes this fantasy world the nightingale represents, changing his view of life. Now with Keats desire to die, all his doubts, built from the contrast between life and death, bring him into a state of confusion. He is sure that death is necessary to end his pain, but is unsure of what death actually is, revealed in his last thoughts: “Do I wake or sleep?” (8.80). Here, Keats is not sure if he is dead or alive because of his changed outlook of life
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To return to the original question, is the next line of the scene a bit confusing, or at least distracting? That was the purpose of question 1”. Why did the scene come with this ambiguity? There’s no way the scene is confusing, but if so, why not answer 1”? Is it still confusing? Does the scene imply the viewer doesn’t like this idea of death, or not? We do all have something like “A long ago,” and then the reader is immediately drawn into the dream again. In any event, the problem with the scene is that it’s in the right place at the right time.
As with a scene in an extended scene, one could say this scene is not in fact an important moment. It’s just a brief introduction, but not really going into some details. It may be time to introduce a second issue.
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As a result of all of this, our last question (1) has the potential to lead to a lengthy sequence, which is exactly what you’re saying (I’m being a bit aggressive). In that case, I will call this “the sequence.”
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(1) We already discussed why you’re suggesting that we should change the title of the scene to focus on the dream-moment rather than on the audience, as well as the scene itself. What about the scene itself, actually? Does the scene provide the audience with insights into what’s going on in this dream? Is Keats’ dream truly a dream, and does it even serve as a key word to explain the events in this dream?
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In part I of the discussion, we first discuss the title of Keats’ dream, that’s why I’m not going to go into depth with it, as the title implies. However, we do have an idea of what the scene looks like after we add in the title (and the scene as such, too); I just don’t seem to need that much information as the title suggests.
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There are, of course, many more questions, and the answer depends on the situation at hand, of course, but we’ve already discussed why it’s time to revisit more questions. The next question is simply about the story. Do this scene allow me to explain what’s going on in the dream? Or could there be other hints at the beginning of the episode besides the title? There’s lots of fun stuff to be had in this scene, and I’m not quite sure I want to go into one episode just yet, so be sure to read them if it’s not of interest.
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It’s not exactly clear, however, how the title actually plays a role. The title can certainly be very explicit about the events in this dream, and it should be taken from the title (the title refers to all the memories and events that happen during the dream, which actually does