International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

Stylistic Analysis of the poem “Ode to

Nightingale” by John Keats
Abdul Bari Khan1 , Iram Zehra2 & Ghulam Hafsa3
M.phil Linguistics, The University of Lahore, Sargodha Campus, Pakistan

M.Phil English Semester II, The University of Lahore, Sargodha campus, Pakistan

a.barikhan43@yahoo.com iramzehra76@hotmail.com hafsashah@ymail.com

Abstract:
The study is based upon an in-depth stylistic imaginations seize as beauty must be truth,
analysis of the poem “Ode to a whether it existed before or not.”Thus the
Nightingale” by John Keats. Keats is present study is not only based upon the
considered to be the romantic of all dissection of the rich stylistic devices
romantics. The notion of negative capability incorporated for the pictorial and emotive
and the pure concept of beauty are the function, but also focuses on the combined
distinctive features of Keats poetry, which impact of the stylistic and sound devices
differentiate him from even his peers. For embedded in the overall structure of the
him beauty is valuable in itself. Coleridge poem, that how the different parts assembled
tries to search truth for the solution of the together give the poem a coherent and
mysteries of life, Shelly also intellectualizes balanced look. Thus the poem appears to be
beauty, and Wordsworth spiritualizes it. But the perfect piece of art which also
Keats is against the subjectivity of the art for symbolizes the pure concept of beauty. Here
the propagation of personal ideas. For him Gadmer lines seem apt to be mentioned
beauty is valuable in itself and it can be “The experience of the beautiful and
perceived by the power of imaginations as particularly beautiful in art is the invocation
intellect is handicapped to reach truth. He of potentiality whole and holy order of
loved poetry and beauty purely for the sake things wherever it may be found.”
of beauty. For Keats an ideal poet is like an
Introduction:
empty vessel to be filled with some other
potential being or object. He is submissive According to Lodge, Stylistics uses a
to the things as they are, without trying to “more precise inclusive and objective
change or even explain them. He himself method of describing style than the
says “I am certain of nothing but the impressionistic generalizations of
holiness of the heart’s affection and the traditional criticism”. (Lodge 1967, P.52)
truth of imaginations. What the Therefore stylistics is a specific and

P a g e | 1101
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

deviant se of language to understand the revealed to him for a moment by listening

real and hidden intentions of the writer. to the bird’s song.
This specialized use of language makes a
literary text emotive, connotative and Objectives:
figurative. 1: To analyze the pictorial impact of the
A specific poetic characteristic of Keats figurative language.
poetry is his ideal of Negative Capability 2: To analyze the emotive effect of sound
which he defines as a state of mind in devices.
which “man is capable of being in
uncertainties, mysteries, doubts without 3: To analyze the combined impact of the
any irritable reaching after fact and devices and the structure of the poem, for its
reason”. (Keatsin Gittings 1970, P.430) artistic perfection and as a symbol of
This capability enables a poet to accept beauty.
the world as it is in its light and shade,
Questions:
pain and joy.
1: What type of the impression is
Keats believed that a poet must have the
constructed through the rich stylistic
capability to differentiate moral sense
devices?
from the dramatic sense. According to
him fascination of mystery in other things 2: What emotive function is performed
and a sympathetic identification with through the sound devices?
them was greatly needed by a poet. A poet
shouldn’t impose his dogmas and 3: How all the devices embedded in the
doctrines on his art. He should have a structure imply the artistic beauty?
wavering temperament than a resolute
Methodology:
one.
Within the parameters and procedures of
“Ode to a nightingale” was written in the
stylistic analysis, the opaque style of the
spring of 1819 .It was inspired by the
poem is deeply analyzed to foreground the
song of a nightingale that had built its
hidden intentions of the poet. The figurative
nest close to the house of a friend in language, highly rich and sensuous imagery,
Hampstead. The bird’s song had romantic allusions, various sound patterns
enchanting and captivating impact on and even the overall structure of the poem
Keats and threw him into a sort of trance make it a perfect piece of art. Thus the
of tranquil pleasure. The theme of the methodology is to dissect all the devices
poem is not so much the bird itself as the implied for emotive and pictorial purpose.
poet’s intense desire to run away from the Even the choices of devices embedded in the
oppressing world to the immortal life of structure as a perfect and balanced piece of
beauty, peace and perfection, which is art; symbolize the pure concept of beauty.

P a g e | 1102
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

Thus the methods of deep stylistic analysis letters bear eloquent witness to the quality of
will help to dissect the choices for their his thought.
functional purpose.
According to Soria Sikka (1998), Keats
Literature review: poetry is based upon the interpretation of the
divine and immortal beauty behind the
According to Sanjai Kumar and Dr. Suman curtain of separation, loss, conflict, tragedy
Singh (2012) the recurring images, emotions and death. Behind this dark and depressing
and ideas in the first six odes composed in reality stands the truth in which these forms
1810, echo and enforce one another .Keats of imperfection are healed and resolved.
had seen the death of most of his family This sense if taken taken seriously is a
members when he was quite young; religious one. It provides a type of an
therefore, for him any death or tragedy was optimism that is religious rather than secular
just a bad dream that was to end eventually. in nature, because it’s based on vision on the
The repeated deaths made him very condition of factual existence. The present
aggressive fighter who was least afraid of article is based upon such type of the
death. He would welcome death if it came. romantic concept of beauty which points
Keats did not feel like there was no greater towards the reality and truth. Keats
pain than to die, he thought life continued recognizes the sadness and imperfection of
and got better. Keats wonderful and very the transient life on one hand, and the
unique technique is that he listened to the consoling and healing impact of the art on
sounds a different way than anyone else, other hand. The power of the poetry and
Keats never sought meanings in the things imaginations is called into question in the
around, since the beginning he was last lines when Keats sadly realizes that with
sensitive. As all other romantics Keats seeks the disappearance of the bird his
escape in the past. He travels back into the imaginations also come to an end, and he
ancient Greek as well as middle ages. He realizes that aesthetic imaginations evolved
was the renowned admirer of wonderful by the song is merely deception. The final
sights and scenes of nature. He loved nature lines express not disillusion but uncertainty.
purely for its own sake and painted her not The doubt is not resolved in the end. But is
with the reason but with imaginations; he articulated in the form of question? Which
neither intellectualize nor spiritualize nature. leaves open the question between truth and
Keats is content to express her through beauty? Being a poet his task, is not to reach
senses. Keats was certainly nobody’s slave a conclusion but is just registering
but his own; subjecting himself to the Impression. It expresses Keats belief that
influence of the senses and of the past, he any philosophical and scientific
saw vividly and memorably but with his investigation can never yield the truth. And
own eyes. He is visual poet, a writer of the these theories have no room for the mood of
senses and feelings, but his poems and quasi religious exaltation. Such uncertainty
is not the symptom of sentimentality, but is

P a g e | 1103
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

an honest and reasonable stance, at least for fundamental tensions and contradictions. He
someone who no longer believes that makes the meanings of word less important
metaphysics is capable of answering the than their feel. Keats deal with the
question. sensations created by the words rather than
the meanings. Keats understood Coleridge
According to Mukesh Kumar (2014) Keats as searching for a single, higher order truth
was a pure poet; his vision of the beauty was which can be solution to the mysteries of the
never distorted by the theories. His concept natural world. For Keats it is the ability to be
of negative capability implies the ability to content, with half knowledge. He reveals
perceive, think without any presuppositions. that in our life of uncertainties where no
According to Keats, Coleridge Sought mystery can be resolved he is satisfied with
knowledge over beauty. For Keats beauty is half truth and reacts against Coleridge.
valuable in itself. It implies impersonality
and objectivity and rather maintains According to Yi Hsuan Tso (2011). Keats
aesthetic distance. His concept of beauty is poetry creates a dreamlike deceptive world
totally against those poets or writers who through which the reader not only
subjectively get involved in their work and temporarily escape from the frets of reality,
use their literary work to present his but also experiences a moment that lifts the
personal belief. He considers Shakespeare, reader’s mind to a higher level of tranquil
the man of ability and the master of negative mediation. Keats concept of the healing
capability. Even there is a lack of objectivity power of poetry can be well perceived in his
and in Words Worth poetry. Throughout his odes. According to Keats great poet should
poetry he finds melancholy in delight, write poetry that soothes soul. The healing
pleasure in pain and excitement in both power of these poems is derived from the
emotional sensations and intellectual beauty filled with the dreamlike illusion,
thoughts. He praises beauty but also realizes which cushions the impact of the final
that everything is fleeting. It is the ability to awakening from the dream world. In these
hold out beautiful truth despite the fact that poems Keats, through figurative language,
it does not fit in any intellectual system, it is sensuous imagery and romantic illusions
the kind of the negation of the self which throws a veil of dream over his description
was the capability of Shakespeare; it is the and sets his dreams in Arcadian pastoral
ability to identify oneself with his art, landscape. The final awakening and parting
because Shakespeare entered and got form the dream create a sense of deep
merged into his characters which made his sorrow. Keats claims that the therapeutic
dramas great. He creates dark and villainy or power of poetry is magnified in proportion
purse and innocent with equal perfection. to a poet’s capability to commiserate; 0nly
Keats poetry is the conflict between every when the poet has the power to delve into
day world and destiny; the everyday world the miseries of life, the high minded poetry
of sufferings, death and, decay is contrasted can be created.
with the world of beauty. His odes explore

P a g e | 1104
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

A Brief Summary: reigns as queen rounded by the stars as

fairies. The poet describes a world of
When the poem begins, the poet is potential, and empathizes with the creatures
experiencing the feelings of joyous pain of that world. He can soon hear that the
caused by the song of nightingale; he has sound of nightingale is replaced by the
either been poisoned or influenced by a sound of insects’ .At this moment he is
drug. Soon it is revealed that this state of completely overtaken by his imaginations
numbness and unforgettable drowsiness is and the world of reality completely
not because of the envy of the imagined disappears and he is transported to the pure
happiness of the nightingale; but because of and perfect world of the bird.
sharing its happiness. The song captivates
the poet and induces in him the desire to Death serves as a savior in the poem. There
forget his self and embrace the feelings that is no conventional fear of the death, but
are evoked by the song of the bird. The poet rather it provides release from the
wants to experience more of the feeling and oppression of everyday life. It is soft and
escape from reality. He wants to forget comes upon him as he composes the poem.
about the feelings of weariness, fever and He wishes for death, and wants to be with
fret of the stern world of reality. The world the nightingale because he has achieved the
of reality is full of pain where young die and height of life and after it nothing else would
the old suffer and just to think about life be worth experiencing. And living after that
brings sorrow and despair. He wants to drink point would be a living death for him. He
wine in order to escape from the dark world, desires to be like the nightingale, able to
but the very next moment he discards the constantly give himself up in song and
idea of forgetting his sorrows by drinking transcend life and death. However, he soon
wine and decides to go to the abode of the realizes that he is different from the bird as
nightingale by the invisible wings of poetry. the bird enjoys immortality. In the last the
It is at this moment that the poem moves word ‘forlorn’ reminds him of his sole self
into a deep, imaginative state, and the poet is and brings him back to the reality, his
impelled to express his deep desire to fly imagination break, and with the fading
away into the world of imaginations. The sound of nightingale the imaginary world is
state that the poet wants to enjoy is also destroyed. He has been not only
seemingly just as the state of death, but still separated from the bird, but also from poetry
is full of life. Soon he feels himself with the and imagination in general. The poet ends
bird and loses his sense of sight, but his all with the feelings of mourning as he realizes
other senses become so sharp that he can that he has been abandoned by his art.
perceive the new world, even though there is
dense darkness and he can’t see the flowers Theme:
at his feet. He has entered a new realm of
perfection. It is dark in the world below but Nature is the strong theme of romantic
the poet can imagine the shining moon poetry, in this poem through the nightingale;

P a g e | 1105
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

Keats presents great contrast between the emotive and pictorial quality to his poetry.
immortal world of beauty, peace and love The nightingale has traditionally been
and his own worldly state and nature of associated with live. The influential myth of
mortal life. The contrast between the claims Philomela, turned into a nightingale after
of imaginations and the claims of real life is being raped and tortured, stresses
also one of the major themes of romantic melancholy and sufferings associated with
poetry. This conflict is clearly seen in Keats love.
poetry. The bird among the leaves have
never experienced the miseries of human life STANZA 1:
and enjoys immortality. Keats moves from
the contemplation of bird’s life to the It begins with the poet describing his
contemplation of his own life, the melancholy, inspired by a nightingale’s
underlying theme behind this contrastive singing - “My heart aches…”This heavy
description is his deep and intense urge to sounding word expresses that the song of
leave the physical world .Keats fundamental the nightingale brings him excessive joy
problem with the physical world is that which turns into joyous pain and sadness
nothing lasts forever particularly love, numbs his senses. So it is an intense
beauty and fame etc. Nightingale’s mythical imaginative experience in which sorrow is
associations with the melancholic feelings of fused into joy. He compares this feeling to
love highlight another romantic’s major the condition as of having drunk hemlock, a
theme of love. He also emphasizes the poisonous European herb, or consumed an
power of poetry and imaginations as poetry opiate. This is opium like a drug which
is more powerful than wine and only causes dullness but is not poisonous as
imagination have access to truth. The bird is hemlock. The poet wants to take the drugs to
presented as a symbol of freedom, pure joy, the lees. The images of hemlock and opium
imaginations, love and ideal beauty of are accompanied by the allusion of “Lethe
nature. wards sunk.” Lethe is an allusion to one of
the five rivers of the Ancient Greek
Stylistic Devices: underworld, Hades. The Ancient Greeks
believed that a soul drank from Lethe before
“I couldn’t name”, says Bridges, “an English reincarnation to eradicate the memory of
poem of the same length which contains so their previous life. This allusion expresses
much beauty as this ode.” The poetic style the deep desire of the poet for complete
of Keats reaches its peak in this ode. John forgetfulness and when set beside the
Keats is known for the vibrant use of images of hemlock and opiate
imagery in his poetry, At least twenty communicates the sense of joyous pain felt
paintings have been rendered as a result of by the persona. The repetition of ‘s’ in ‘a
his expressive imagery. His poem “Ode to a drowsy numbness pains my sense,’
Nightingale” is full of emotive figure of combined with the long ‘o’ and ‘a’ sounds,
speeches, and sensuous imagery which give

P a g e | 1106
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

sonically reflects the speaker’s soporific STANZA 2:

state.
In the second stanza, the poet wishes for the
The speaker addresses the nightingale,
special wine, associated with pastoral
stating that his sorrow is not the result of
images of singing, dancing and cheer. The
envy but of feeling the bird’s joy too deeply.
image of wine is the ever present images in
He uses a metaphor, comparing it to a ‘light-
Keats poetry as it stimulate five senses for
winged Dryad’ - a spirit inhabiting forests,
its rich colour, taste and effect. The
suggesting that the nightingale seems
Romantic poets idealized the country as a
mystical, existing on a plane beyond the
place of pure happiness and considered
earthly one. The visual and auditory imagery
cities and industrialization as forces which
as (melodious plots, beechen green,
corrupt the innocence and destroy the real
shadows numberless, flora, sunburnt
happiness.The image, “Tasting of Flora,”
mirth, Provencal song and dance etc.)
is an allusion to the Roman goddess of
perfectly provide the pictorial description of
flowers and spring; “Provencal song”
the world of nightingale, and contrasts with
reflects the music of province located in
his sadness, emphasized by repetition of
South-Eastern France, and “mirth” implies
‘happy’. There is also a transferred epithet in
happiness. The poet longs for a drink from
the first stanza. It is not the plot which is
the “Blushful Hippocrene”.Which is an
melodious but the nightingale, the epithet
allusion to the Greek mythological fountain
melodious is transferred from the bird to the
on Mount Helicon, where the Muses lived
plot. The epithets are decorative and
and is believed to inspire poetry. Keats
extremely fill out a half verse. It is the
wishes the very spring to run with wines
characteristic style of epic poetry and gives
instead of water and intensely desires a cup
classical romantic touch to the poem. There
full of genuine wine, flowing out of the
is a Shakespearean felicity of expression in
fountains of the Muses on Mount Helicon.
the telling epithets and picturesque
This image also brings before us the rich red
compounds throughout the poem. “Full
colour of the wine. The alliteration of ‘b’ in
throated ease” expresses the spontaneity
"beaded bubbles winking at the brim"
and freedom of the bird which again is a
reflects the image of the bubbles. The poet
contrast with the man chained in the
hopes that drinking might take him away
problems of life. Shelley also talks of
from the real world he might and “fade
Skylark as “pouring its full heart”
away into the forest”with the nightingale.
“In some melodious plots Here he also uses compound form like
“deep delved” and “light winged “Keats is
Of beechen green, and shadows
very fond of compound form and uses it
numberless,
throughout this poem.
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.”
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,

P a g e | 1107
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

With beaded bubbles winking at the brim, Where beauty cannot keep her lustrous
eyes
In the above line bubbles are personified as
winking is human characteristic. , Or new Love pine at them beyond to-
morrow.
STANZA 3:
STANZA 4:
The third stanza of “Ode to a Nightingale”
expresses the cause for the previous deep Stanza four opens with the intense desire to
and intense desire for escapism.Indact he run away, as the poet implores the
wants to forget the sufferings of earthly life, nightingale to depart. The use of repetition,
which are not experienced by the in “Away! Away!” Expresses the deep
nightingale. The exhaustion, sickness and desire of the poet to dissolve and fly away
anxiety of the dark worldly life give him from the real world. The poet wishes to
constant pain. The world is the place where follow the bird, traveling, not by Bacchus,
the young die and the old suffer from the Roman god of wine, and his leopards but
paralysis and involuntary shaking. The 3rd on the “viewless wings of Poesy.” Bacchus
stanza presents a sheer contrast of images to is a romantic allusion to the Greek
the previous two stanzas. The images as Mythology. Keats rejects the idea of
(groans, palsy, pale youth, grey hair, and forgetting sorrows by drinking the wine and
spectre thin, leaden eyed, etc.) reflect the decides to go to the abode of nightingale on
gloomy and dark life of earth. the invisible wings of poetry. Poetic
inspiration can take him to the realm of
This contrastive scheme of images reflects
enchantment and total forgetfulness .It must
the diametrical difference in the stern
be noted that for Keats poetry was
worldly life and the imaginative world of
something very like wine and even far
nightingale. In the stanza’s final lines, the
sweeter and more intoxicating. He was as
poet asserts that youth, love and beauty are
much addicted to it as others are to wine.
fleeting. Thinking causes sadness. In this
The image of wine plays the double role in
stanza, he again uses personification for
the poem: on the one hand expresses the
several times .In the beginning of the stanza
feelings of numbness on hearing the song of
the nightingale is addressed and
nightingale and on the other hand reflects
Personified again in the last lines beauty and the power of poetry far greater than the
love are personified as beauty does not have wine. It also reflects Keats objection to the
eyes, and love cannot “pine “or ache for other poets who intellectualize poetry, as for
something. Keats the intellectual powers have no access
to the world of nightingale, and it’s only the
poetic imaginations through which one can
soar to the blissfulness and enchantment
where the nightingale has abode.

P a g e | 1108
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

The exclamation “Already with thee!” alerts nature of beauty. Here in the following lines
the reader, as the poet suddenly announces personification is again used, but imagery is
that he is with the nightingale. He really wonderful specially the image of the
metaphorically, compares the moon to a
Queen and the stars to her “Fays” or fairies. “murmurus haunt of flies.”
This also refers to the fairies in the European And mid-May eldest child,
legends. In contrast, the poet is in a dark The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,
forested area, where the only light is being The mumurous haunt of flies on summer
filtered from the sky through the gloom and eves.
the trees. STANZA 6:

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet This stanza deals with the thematic meal of
STANZA 5: the poem. In this stanza, the poet again
addresses the nightingale – “Darkling I
Stanza five is the feast for the senses as it is listen” - telling that he has often felt the
a rich description of the poets’ surroundings. desire to die. He personifies death where he
Just as the second stanza, this stanza greatly states that he has “Call’d him soft
stimulates all the five senses of the reader. names.”Death appears as a caring friend
The flowers with the sweet incense bombard who offers comfort. And especially in such
the nose of the reader. It is so dark that he an enchanting moment when he is away
already feels himself with the nightingale; from the fever and fret of life, death appeals
the darkness is the image that reflects the strongly, as the ecstatic song of nightingale
pessimism of the worldly life which doesn’t will help to forget the pain of death. In the
allow the poet to enjoy the beauty of the last two lines, however, the speaker realizes
flowers but he can enjoy the beauty of the that even after his death the bird would
flowers only through the wings of poetry continue to sing as it enjoys immortality but
and imaginations. He can identify the plants he will be no more there to enoy its song.
and flowers around him through their scents, Again the bird has been personified by the
The stanza is rich with the olfactory imagery poet as he directly addresses the bird.
as “Soft incense, embalmed darkness, The
grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree wild, While thou art pouring forth thy soul
pastoral eglantine violets, musk rose, dewy abroad
wine, and murmurous haunt of flies.,…” In such an ecstasy...
These are very sweet and fragrant lines STANZA 7:
because of the description of various The seventh stanza develops this idea of
flowers. The appeal of the stanza is to the immortality introduced in the previous
senses of the sight, smell and touch and stanza. “Thou wast not born for death,
hearing. “Embalmed darkness” indirectly immortal Bird!” The nightingale’s song has
implies death. The images of “Fast fading been providing consolation, to the
violet” symbolically expose the fleeting generations. It has been heard by emperors

P a g e | 1109
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

and clowns, and even by Ruth and fairytales. and alone self. The plaintive anthem of the
All these images imply the immortality of bird gradually fades into the meadows,
the bird. Ruth is a biblical allusion. Ruth glades and valleys .Thus the imaginations of
came from Moab. As Keats hears the the poet also break with the fading music of
nightingale the idea occurred to him that the the bird. This brings him back to the world
nightingale, singing today, has lived for of reality and he bids the nightingale
thousands of years and had brought farewell – “Adieu?????? Adieu” The poem
consolation to the sad heart of Ruth when ends with the poet wondering and asking
she lived in Judah, away from her native rhetorical questions – was he really enjoying
Moab, after the death of her husband. the song or was it just a dream and illusion?
“Charmed magic casements” is the image Did his poetry and imagination really take
for the beautiful maidens who are imagined him to a perfect place or not?
as sitting in the open windows of enchanted
Fled is that music: - Do I wake or sleep?
palaces. Here again Keats uses transferred
epithet, the enchantment of the maidens is This suspended condition of the poet and the
transferred to the windows. And the magic open ended expression gives his poetry a
casements are situated in forlorn fairy lands religious touch. Which implies the mood of
at the brinks of dangerous sea. The quasi religious exaltation not
consoling impact of the song reminds us disillusionment, as Keats makes the
“The Solitary Reaper” by Wordsworth, meanings of word less important than their
where the song of cuckoo bird is more feel that’s why he doesn’t reach any
enchanting than the song of nightingale to conclusion.
the weary bands in shady haunts of Arabian
sands or it’s more thrilling than the song of Phonological Devices:
the cuckoo breaking the silence of the seas Form and Meter:
of farthest Hebrides. Thus the biblical Form:
illusion and the images used in this stanza Ode is an ancient Greek song performed at
express deeply the enchanting and consoling formal occasions, usually in praise of its
impact of the spontaneous song of subject. In “Ode to a Nightingale” the poet
nightingale. addresses the bird as a person. It is also
considered to be the most personal, as it
Forlorn! The very word is like a bell
touches the themes of death, and the harsh
To tell me back from thee to my sole self!
and oppressive realities of life. According to
STANZA 8:
Brown. “Ode to a Nightingale” having
In the concluding stanza, he again
consistent stanza and meter follows the
addressing the bird, personifies it and bids
Horatian tradition.
him farewell. Here he also uses simile when
he compares the word “Forlorn” with the
On the structural level this ode presents the
bell. This word like alarm bell interrupts his
combination of lyric and odal hymn which
imaginations and reminds him of his sole
increases the emotive effect of the poem. It

P a g e | 1110
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

is considered to be one of the greatest lyric variegated by the introduction of the short
in the English language. This combination line in each verse.
of structures is similar to that in "Ode on a
Grecian Urn”, which gives dramatic effect Vowel patterns:
to the poem. Even at the stanza level Keats
presents a unique combination of elements Keats also enhanced the musical impact of
from Petrarchan sonnet and Shakespearean the poem by playing with the short and long
sonnet. vowel sounds in this ode. For example line
18 ("And purple-stained mouth") presents
Meter and Rhyme Scheme: the historical alternating pattern of "short"
followed by "long" followed by "short" and
The poem has eight separate stanzas written followed by "long". Line 31 ("Away!
in iambic pentameter except the 8th line Away! For I will fly to thee") exhibits five
which is written in trimeter. pairs of alternations. Line 3 ("Or emptied
some dull opiate to the drains") contains
E.g.:- Line 2: the pattern of five "short" vowels followed
by "long" and "short" vowel pairings until
My sense/ as though/ of hem/ -lock I/ had they end with a "long" vowel. There are
drunk patterns of two "short" vowels followed by a
The regular pattern of meter throughout the "long" vowel in other lines, such as 12, 22,
poem and the regular rhyme scheme: and 59. Thus Keats has incorporated
Ababcdecde, reflect the spontaneity and the different patterns of vowel sounds which is
free expression of the song of nightingale, the characteristic feature of all his odes
and the spontaneous expression of the written in 1819.
feelings of the poet. It also gives balanced
Assonance and Consonance:
structural effect to the poem as perfect piece
of art.
The complex and conscious pattern of
At some places, he even adds syllables to assonance and consonance is the important
certain words in order to fit the rhyme feature of Keats’s odes which is found in
very few English poems. Within "Ode to a
e.g.:- Nightingale", line 35 ("Already with thee!
tender is the night"), exhibits the assonance
Line 44:
pattern as the "ea" of "Already" is followed
but, in/ em-balm/ -ed dark/ -ness guess/ by the "e" of "tender" and the "i" of "with"
each sweet connects with the "i" of "is”. Another
example can be found in line 41 ("I cannot
With its intricate rhyme-plan is a beautiful see what flowers are at my feet") where the
invention of the poet. It has a sustained "a" of "cannot" connects with the "a" of "at"
melody; the rolling music of the lines being and the "ee" of "see" connects with the "ee"

P a g e | 1111
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

of "feet". There are also many words ("The grass, the thicket, and the fruit-tree
beginning with consonants, especially with wild") the pauses after the commas are a
"b", "p" or "v". "masculine" pause. Masculine caesura is the
pause that follows a stressed syllable.
The use of these three consonants can be Furthermore, Keats has also reduced the
clearly perceived in the first stanza. Thus the amount of Latin-based words and syntax
heavy reliance on assonance pattern and that he relied on in his poetry, which has
consonance give musical tone to the poem. shortened the length of the words that
dominate the poem.
Caesura:
Spondee:
Keats also incorporates the double or triple
caesuras. Caesura is basically a very short Spondee is a metrical foot consisting of two
and a silent pause for the rhetorical purpose. long syllables used in poetry. Keats uses
It is the most important part of verse and spondee in only 8% of the lines within "Ode
goes back to the old English .Keats also uses to a Nightingale.
masculine caesura for example in the line 45
Line 11:

/ ˘ / / ˘ ˘ / / ˘ /

Cool'd a long age in the deep delv Ed earth

And line 25:

˘ / ˘ / ˘ / / / / /

Where pals y shakes a few, sad, last, gray hairs

The use of spondees in lines 31–34 creates expression of the feelings of the poet
a feeling of slow and gradual flight, and "in together with the song of the bird.
the final stanza . . . the visible use of
scattered spondees, together with initial Structural coherence as a symbol of
inversion, not only reflect the peculiar art and beauty:
spring and bounce of the bird in its flight but
Theme, idea and emotions implicitly hold all
also the rise and fall of the emotions of the
the stanzas together, which is explored
poet. Thus spondees render double effect to
through the sound and stylistic devices used
the poem. Besides giving it a musical impact
to adorn the theme. It shows a perfect
it symbolizes the free and spontaneous

P a g e | 1112
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

blending of classical balance and romantic of the feelings of the poet and also the full
inspiration. Every word is in its place and throated spontaneous song of nightingale
there is a restraint of expression from the and the artistic concept of beauty. The song
beginning to the end; yet it glows with the of the nightingale represents beauty, ideal
emotions which are romantic to the extreme. beauty that never fades the voice of eternity
The in depth analysis exhibits that every that transcends the boundaries of space and
stanza is developed on the thought of time. “The Ode to a Nightingale” is a
previous stanza. The wish to fade away regular ode. All eight stanzas have ten
which is expressed in the second stanza ,is pentameter lines and a uniform rhyme
developed upon the feelings of intoxication scheme. The regular form of the poem
expressed in the first stanza, and the third expresses that Keats is allowing his thoughts
stanza starts with the very words of ‘fade and emotions free expression. This regular
away’ which is the theme of second stanza. pattern of rhyme scheme combined with the
Even the very first words of 4th stanza ‘away thematic link between stanzas give the
away’ are the continuation of the theme of impression that the poet is not only recalling
third stanza. One thought suggest another but sharing his experience with the reader. If
and, in this way, the poem proceeds to a one analyses the mood of the poem, a
somewhat arbitrary conclusion. This fluctuating effect is perceived the first stanza
thematic connection shows the gradual the mood is passive, as the writer has taken
development of the thought and gives hemlock or opiate, in the 2nd stanza the
thematic coherence to the poem. Even the intensity increases with the desire to move
contrastive schemes of images deployed in away while in the 3rd stanza again the
the poem for the pictorial description of the intensity decreases with the description of
gloomy, desperate and fleeting material the dark and gloomy picture of the world.
world, in contrast to the spiritual, dreamlike, The shifting of the mood which is the
everlasting and immortal world of distinctive feature of Keats poetry also
nightingale exhibit the theme, the diametric reflects the rise and fall of the song of the
contrast is the fundamental problem which bird and the feelings of the poet. Thus the
leads Keats to fade and run away into the development of the thought, the stylistic
intoxicating world of nightingale. In the devices, regular pattern of meter, rhyme
remaining stanzas he asserts that youth, love scheme and the mood of the poem etc. are
beauty is fleeting and the song of assimilated a complete whole structural or
nightingale is everlasting. Thinking causes global coherence structure appears which
sadness and the wish for the death is not only increases the artistic beauty but
expressed. Implying that death has seemed implicitly express the pure concept of beauty
like a friend, offering comfort. found in Keats poetr.Thus it strengthens the
conclusion that Keats loved beauty and art
As it is an ode the regular and fluent pattern for its own sake and objected the idea of
of rhyme scheme and the use of all sound subjectivity in the art.
devices reflect the emotional state and flow

P a g e | 1113
 International Journal of Research (IJR) Vol-1, Issue-9, October 2014 ISSN 2348-6848

Conclusion: [2]. Grant F. Scott (2002). Selected

Letters of John Keats. Harvard
Ode to a Nightingale is a great poem both in University Press.
its highly imaginative conception, its keen
susceptibility to the beauty, and its mood of [3]. H. Buxton Forman (1907). The
despondence contemplation of life, its Complete Poetical Works of John
passionate expression and over all its noble Keats. Oxford University Press.
and perfect execution. Thus as a whole it [4]. Kumar S, Singh Suman (2012). A
really affirms the value of the ideal. It is Few Lines on the Odes of John
considered to be the great work of not only Keats. International Journal of
Keats but also as the high watermark in Scientific Research and Publication.
romantic poetry and affirms Keats idea of Vv2.
beauty which is to be worshiped in it and not
for any philosophical purpose. In the whole [5]. Kumar M (2014). Negative
ode Keats focuses on immediate sensations Capability and Poetic Vision.
and emotions. All the emotive and figurative International Journal of the
devices, the structure of the poem, and even Research. Vv-1, pp 2348-6848.
the bird with its song symbolize pure and
[6]. Sikka Soria (1998). On the Truth of
artistic beauty which is the basic conception
Beauty Nietzsche, Heidegger, Keats.
of Keats’s poetry.
University of OHawa. Pp

[7]. 243-263.

References: [8]. Tso Hsuan (2011). Keats Skepticism

About Poetry’s Therapeutic Power.
[1]. Dr. S. C. Mundra (1996). John
Keats, Selected Poems. 7th edition.

P a g e | 1114