Keats' Nightingale: An Essay on Actuality and Imagination

A critical deconstruction and analysis concerning the elements of actuality and imagination in Keats' Nightingale.

If any of the poetry of the 19th century?s Early Romantics may be said to have produced a complete articulation of the ever-present literary struggle of actuality and imagination, John Keats? Ode to a Nightingale must emerge as a top candidate. Though expressing a heartfelt consumption with the transience of beauty, the Ode, nonetheless, communicates a great deal on the subject of ?the fact of life vs. the fancy of imagination?. Indeed, the two ideas can be seen as conjoined. Is not the fleeting nature of the imagination?s fancy akin to its own beauty?s transience and its departure not unlike the return to reality from a heightened state (or the sight of baseness following beauty)? To be sure, the subtlety of Keats? wording makes this second reading difficult, at best. Therein lies the crux of such an analysis as follows. But the boundaries of analysis should, at this point, be mentioned in all truthfulness. Any deconstruction cannot summarize the poem as it imparts far more than mere philosophical problems; if it did not, it would be more the textbook than the creative accomplishment of a human mind. However limited literary criticism might be, it can do much to suggest an alternate or many alternate meanings. Meanings which can be foreshadowed in even the shallowest of analyses.
For instance, the Ode itself is written in modified sonnet form, with a rhyme scheme reading ababcdecde. Each stanza begins with the simple quatrain (abab), followed by an Italian sestet (cdecde). In such a form, the assumption is that the theme would be introduced in the opening quatrain and deepened in the following sestet with the succeeding quatrains giving examples or indirect support of the main theme as the closing sestets follow in concert. The Ode, however, does not follow such a pattern. Keats treats each stanza in the same manner as the story-stanzas of The Eve of St. Agnes, winding the imagery around a narrative thread while heightening the reader to the speaker(s) thought processes. During each of the stanzas of the Ode, the movement between action of actuality and action of imagination is precise, turning, at times, on a single phrase. This fluid and near-constant change of reality, while difficult to maintain, stylistically, is a tool not lesser in importance than the words chosen for the poem. To complete the example, the experimenting mind of Keats can be seen, not only in the unique rhyme scheme, but in the unique use of such a scheme, as well as the deftness of reality change between and within stanzas.
In the opening stanza, another interesting tool usage occurs. The first three lines are concerned with the effect of the nightingale?s song on Keats and a preliminary explanation using earthly imagery rather than the nightingale itself:

[q]My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains
My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk,
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains.[/q]

The mentioning of opium and hemlock begins a recurring theme of drinking, which will be alluded to as necessary. Also in this line is the opening of a symbolism on Keats? own attempt to understand the nightingale?s song and its effect on him. Indeed, the entire first verse can be seen as this attempt. Beginning first with the physical response (line 1) the attempts at explanations unfurl themselves in the logical fashions of actuality. The natural sedative which can come from hemlock is juxtaposed with the man-made narcotic, opium. The effect of each is likened to the effect of the nightingale?s song in the attempt to explain the feelings of line 1. First Keats uses a nature image, then a manufactured image. The imagery then becomes, in line 4, classical in nature for a brief moment. This sudden shift from pure sensory response to an echo of classicism in line 4 is an important part of the extended metaphor of Keats? attempt to comprehend the song. The shift of imagery could be seen as a shift of thinking modes, as well as a deft foreshadowing of the switch between actuality and imagination. Lines 2 and 3 are the physical response followed by the use of a symbol of education, a Classical usage, (Lethe ? the Classical river of forgetfulness from which a person must drink on his way to Paradise) to finalize the understanding of the song?s effect. Therefore, as the poem opens, Keats is faced with a mind-altering experience and attempts to understand it in the following ways:

My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk, (nature)
Or emptied some dull opiate to the drains (manufactured
substance)
One minute past, and Lethe-wards had sunk: (Classical imagery,
indicative of learning)

Line 5 begins the next important shift as it is the first to mention an entity other than the speaker, and in this case, only in a foreshadowing glance with the archaic possessive pronoun ?thy?. Here, also is the first major switch from action or effect of actuality and their counterparts in the realm of imagination. Beginning with how the poet feels in actuality, the voice of actuality is heard clear through line 4. In line 5 through the remaining lines of the stanza, however, the imagery and voice becomes if not more fanciful, then certainly more open to a fanciful interpretation. The tension created can make the reader nearly feel the disorientation of being thrust into the imagination so forcefully, as the poet himself, undoubtedly, was upon hearing the song. Thus, the poet has not simply written the lines to communicate an emotion, but imbedded in them, the intrinsic feelings the chosen words are meant to articulate. The switch occurs in line 5?s communication of a statement of self examination and a preliminary, although incomplete, understanding of the feelings of line 1.

[q] ?Tis not through envy of thy happy lot,
But being too happy in thine happiness ?[/q]

Line 5 expresses that it is not through envy of ?thy happy lot? that the feelings of line 1 burst from. The question then becomes ?What is ?thy happy lot??? Is it the ability of the nightingale to sing its entrancing song or the nightingale?s status of being beyond the realms of physical worry? The answer seems to be found in line 6 within the phrase ?thine happiness?. It is the nightingale?s contentment of being itself and singing its song.
Indeed, line 7 continues the idea with the phrasing of ?light-winged Dryad?. Light because the bird does not experience or worry about ?the weariness, the fever, and the fret? (line 23) of this world. A ?dryad? is a wood-nymph or tree-spirit who, unlike a hamadryad, is not tied (as nightingales) to a single tree and can marry freely. To capitalize the word and modify it with the phrase ?of the trees? is important. A Classical enthusiast such as Keats would have known that ?dryad? contained the implication being ?of the trees?. The capitalization personifies the general nature of the word and the modifying phrase is meant to tell the reader that it applies to the recipient of the statement of lines 5 and 6, the nightingale itself. The use of the word ?dryad? and not ?hamadryad? also implies that the nightingale is free to sing its song and lead its life without the encumbrance of worldly matters, in concert with the previous meaning of ?thine happiness?.
Line 8, while not pivotal, is effective in altering slightly the meaning of the nightingale.

[q] In some melodious plot[/q]

Where ?melodious? seems to be ornament, referring only to the nightingale?s song, the word ?plot? is drawn in unseeming importance. It is unlikely that the latter is to be taken with its more sinister connotations in tow. If we take the voice of ?to plot? as in a map, a deeper, perhaps, more relevant meaning emerges. The nightingale, by its song, not only affects the poet, but also maps out its own encircled world of contentment. This line, it should be noted, must be taken in conjunction with the meaning established for ?thine happiness?, as it is a continuation of that thought. This being so, greater detail of that world is found with the prepositional phrase that is line 9.

[q] Of beechen green, and shadows numberless[/q]

When taken separately, each of the operative phrases in this line tell about the contentment of the nightingale. For the sake of understanding, ?beechen? is the name of a family of trees which includes the oak and chestnut. The line may now stand in two distinct meanings at once. The first, and most obvious, is to take the line at literal value, assuming the ?beechen green? to mean the forest which the nightingale inhabits and the ?shadows numberless? to mean the shadows and dark corners present in any forest. While the line may bear this out, the resolution of actuality and imagination in the contentment of the nightingale plays a greater part in the line?s ultimate impact. If we stretch the meanings only slightly, we can take ?beechen green? as a synecdoche for the physical world at large. This would allow us to lay the meaning of ?shadows numberless? as the dark or melancholic things of this world. With this interpretation in hand, the line speaks to the idea that the nightingale has, in the poet?s observation, resolved the contradictable seeming of virtues and curses in actuality and imagination within the confines of its contentment, and ultimately, of its song. Therefore, the ?plotted? world of line 8 finds itself complete in line 9.
This idea flows nearly effortlessly into the closing line. To fully interpret the meaning of the last line, the beginning must be made at the opening of its idea.

[q] That thou, light-winged Dryad of the trees,
In some melodious plot
Of beechen green and shadows numberless
Singest of summer in full-throated ease.[/q]

We see here that the aforementioned contentment idea blended into the phrase ?full-throated ease?. The question arises, ?Why is the nightingale singing ?full-throated??? To be sure, its contentment bears much on the answer, but the meaning is modified when coupled with the word ?ease?. The nightingale is not only singing with the whole of its throat, indicative of a lack of reservation, but it is also at ease with its lack of reservation. This carefree lack of self-consciousness, this innocence, becomes the nightingale entirely as the poem progress. It also serves as a stroke of juxtaposition to the poet?s own self-conscious opening in lines 1 ? 6.
As the second stanza opens, we meet with the second of several references to the act of drinking.

[q] O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cooled a long age in the deep-delved earth,[/q]

The first occurred in Stanza 1, Line 2:

[q] My sense, as though of hemlock I had drunk[/q]

The act of drinking appears to become a metaphor for the intimate sharing of ideas. It runs through nearly every line of the second stanza. The poet first feels it upon bearing the effect of the nightingale?s song. Here, however, the occurrence marks the beginning of the poet?s interaction with the nightingale. He begins with an obvious longing. As in the first stanza, the first idea which he applies in his logic is Natural. ?A draught of vintage? is clearly an allusion to wine. Line 12, then, may come to mean the physical process used in the manufacturing and storing of wine. The description of the wine?s taste is quite telling, as well. From lines 13 ? 15, the idea of the first two lines is modified bit by bit until the eventual switch from actuality to imagination. In fact, line 13 contains a foreshadowing to this switch.

[q] Tasting of Flora and the country green,[/q]

?Flora? is the Greek goddess of flowers and can be seen as a metaphor for the feelings that flowers themselves embody. The second half of the line is, once again, a nature image, completing the idea set forth in the first half. Therefore, the wine that the poet longs for bears, in its flavor, the ideas of the serenity and beauty of flowers as well as the rolling and expansive ?country green?. Line 14 adds yet more to the continuity of the idea. Containing in it three separate images of equal importance, this line is pivotal if one is to completely understand the three lines preceding it.

[q] Dance, and Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth[/q]

The three images of line 14 are separate, though not entirely. ?Dance? brings to mind, a raucous, festive time or a quiet, romantic moment. At first glance, each connotation bears equal virtue, but the combination of the remaining two images seal the decision. Provence (from which ?Provencal? is derived) is a city in the southeast of France, bordering the Mediterranean Sea. Being wine growing country, it is a well-used place name. The grapes would also be in harvest at the time of year the poem depicts. The final image of the line, ?sunburnt mirth?, is to be taken in near literal form as happiness exceeding even the worry of being sunburned. The phrase itself, however, may have yet another meaning. ?Sunburnt mirth? can be seen as meaning ?a happiness that has been out too long in the sun. The idea of ?carefree? and ?careless? can be seen in the contrast of interpretations. Taking the images collectively, the line now speaks to the dancing and other festivities of the grape harvest. Of course, lines 11 ? 13 must be remembered; therefore, the speaker is modifying his yearning for the wine with borders on its taste. Thus, the ?vintage? of line 11 is the combined emotive power and effect of nature?s beauty and a wine of excellence. We see here the underlayment of the spirit of actuality in lines 11 and 12 beginning to blend with that of imagination in lines 13 and 14. The ?imagination? part of the latter lines is in the interpretation. While Keats uses images of a physical nature, one cannot help placing them in a more fanciful way when they are applied to the taste of a wine.
While lines 13 and 14 may be seen as blending imagination with actuality, line 15 begins the full switch to the logic of fancy. Indeed, line 15 can be seen to mimic the beginning of the second stanza. In line 11, the poet longs for a drink of wine, then proceeds to describe this wine that he wants. Line 15 begins with the same longing and begins a description of the wine that lies in stark contrast to the description of lines 12 ?14.

[q] O for a beaker full of the warm South,
Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene,
With beaded bubbles winking at the brim[/q]

Compare to:

[q] O, for a draught of vintage! that hath been
Cooled a long age in the deep-delved earth,
Tasting of Flora and the country green,
Dance, and Provencal song, and sunburnt mirth [/q]

The similarities are somewhat in plain sight. The opening of each passage with the word ?O?, then extending the idea with the phrase ?for a? and the images in the succeeding lines to describe the noun that follows the connecting phrase ?for a?. Line 11 opens with the longing for a ?draught?. In line 15, the longing is for a beaker ?full of the warm South?. South is generally understood to be the Mediterranean because of the mention of the city of Provence. The adjective ?warm? is in contrast with the sentiment of line 12 in which the poet longs for a vintage ?Cooled a long age?. Line 12 speaks of a physical wine while line 15 speaks to a more imagined vintage. As I mentioned earlier, the switch between actuality and imagination is so precise that, at times, it can turn on a single phrase. Line 15 contains such a phrase. The words ?full of the warm South? begin the switch. Line 16 continues it by repeating the operative words ?full of? and effects the switch with the words ?the true?. Therefore, ?full of? is the pivot phrase on which the idea revolves. Within line 16, the beaker longed for is ?full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene?. The word ?Hippocrene? is the name of the fountain on Mt. Helicon in Greek mythology. It is considered ?the fountain of inspiration? because of its sacredness to the Muses. An easy, but incorrect, reading might collect the words as one idea ??full of the true and blushful Hippocrene?. The use of the article ?the? would demand they be separate, however??the true? and ?the blushful Hippocrene?. Let us take each in turn. ?The true? may be the veiled implication that the poet knows only the falseness of the world. If taken as such, these two words would definitely color this second imagined wine?s meaning. ?The blushful Hippocrene? means on one level simply ?violet? (blushful, the water of the fountain is represented by the Greeks as violet). The word is such, however, that two more meanings may be accounted for. ?Blushful? can also mean shy as in someone who blushes much. It may also carry the connotation of youth as in cheeks still full of blood and vigor. One of these may suffice the description of Hippocrene, but I propose that each has its meaning of importance. Hippocrene itself is filled with each of these qualities. Being the fountain of inspiration bears with it eternal youth, a necessary shyness from the world of men, and also the color violet. Therefore, the line becomes the meaning when read as ?full of the true things of this world as well as the eternally young, violet-colored, and shy waters of inspiration?. It must be remembered that this idea is the modifying phrase for the beaker of line 15. This line taken with the one immediately preceding it is the description of the wine the poet longs for.
Line 17, on the other hand, describes some of the nature, not of the wine, but of the waters of Hippocrene. This extension deepens the metaphor set forth in line 16. It does not speak to the wine of line 11 or line 15. We know this because of the relation of line 17 to line 18. Grammatically, it is placed to describe the waters, and, thusly, not the wine. Taken with line 18, we see the imagination of the poet at work. He sees himself holding a cup of the waters and sets lines 17 and 18 to describe that moment. But in describing that moment of pleasure, he makes clearer the longing he has for the wine. The imagined appeasement of his yearning clarifies and deepens the longing he has in actuality. Even in the second half of Stanza 2, which is wrought with imagination, a peek of actuality slips through to set in context the fancy of the imagery.
The return to actuality in line 19 is based upon this context. The line opens with the completion of the thought in the first half of line 11. To see it clearly, lines 12-18 must be eliminated from thought for a moment.

[q] O, for a draught of vintage! . . .

That I might drink . . .[/q]

These lines in themselves can be taken as the grammatical thought of the lines 11 ?19. Between these lines is the bulk of metaphors. However, line 19 ends with a phrase we must consider in detail. To discuss it, however, the final two lines must be read in conjunction.

[q] That I might drink, and leave the world unseen
And with thee fade away into the forest dim ?[/q]

This phrase can be taken in four distinct ways. Firstly, it may taken as ?depart the world without being seen?. Secondly, as ?depart the world without seeing it?. Thirdly, as ?depart the world that is not seen?. And lastly, as ?depart the world without seeing it any longer?. To be fair, the last is most likely not the intended meaning, but it bore mentioning as a possible reading for the line. The context and voice of the poem would seem to favor the third as the primary interpretation. The first may lay claim to a small alternative position because line 20 offers some of the same sentiment. To ?fade away? into the dim forest would seem to suggest the idea of remaining unseen. This being said, the third would be favored by the poem?s own logic. The phrase ?depart the world that is not seen? taken with the end of line 20 offers a contrast of ideas. The poet wishes to leave the world that is not or will not be seen for the dim forest. The use of ?dim? implies a place in which it is hard to see. The poet is saying he would rather be in a place where it may be difficult to make out the path than stay in the world, the greater of which he has not seen. This, most certainly, goes to the poet?s frustration at the limits of this world, limits which he feels the nightingale?s song can overcome.
As the third stanza opens, the ideas of the second stanza are not abandoned. We see the connection, not in a word or thought, but in the dash that ends line 20. The dash indicates that the following, while being it own separate thought, is not far from that which precedes the dash. Proof of this in Line 21 as it repeats the idea of ?fading away?, as well as expanding it.

[q] Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget[/q]

At first glance, it would be easy to assume that the recipient of this line is the nightingale, but taken with line 20, it would stand to reason that it is, in fact, the poet speaking to himself. The rest of the verse bears this out, in truth, the entire third verse seems as an argument for the sentiment of this first line. He begins the stanza with the idea of wishing himself to ?quite forget?, then proceeds to speak of the gloom and sickness of the world he wishes to fade from in the remaining lines of the stanza. The ease of assuming the nightingale as the spoken to comes from line 22, where the poet mentions the nightingale.

[q]What thou among the leaves hast never known[/q]

Obviously, this line is in reference to the nightingale and its experience. It speaks to the idea that the nightingale does not experience what following lines describe. Therefore, it would not be logical to say that the first line is to the nightingale, as the nightingale has nothing to ?fade from?. Once the problem of whom the words are spoken to is resolved, the rest of the stanza falls neatly into place. Lines 23 and 24 begin the description of the troubles the nightingale does not experience. Experiences which, more importantly, the poet has known. The effect of the image of the world as a place ?where men sit and hear each other groan? is useful in understanding the next two lines.

Here, where men sit and hear each other groan
Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey hairs,
Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin and dies;

The words ?palsy? and ?youth?, while not capitalized, can be seen and understood as personifications. The context certainly supports such a reading. ?Palsy? is, by definition, a paralysis of any voluntary muscle as a result of some disorder in the nervous system, but here it can be taken a general symbol for illnesses of all kinds. In line 26, an interesting, barely noticeable, effect can be seen. Keats states that ?palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey hairs?, but if the final five words may be taken as the ?pre-palsy condition?, if you will, it would seem to indicate a person of age overcome by sickness. In conjunction with line 27, we see why the age of the person in the metaphor bears importance. Line 27 states the sad case of youth growing pale and dying. While the first may be written as a generalization for all natural death, as the fact of being aged and dying is biologically normal, the second can only be seen as a sickness of some severity striking a young, fit person. The reasoning seems obvious enough, but the lines which Keats originally intended to be line 27 give a look into his revision process and illuminate his final choice. The following is from the original parchments on which Keats recorded the early drafts of the Ode in mid-May of 1819.

Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey hairs,
Where youth grows pale and thin, and old and dies,

This draft is, as Keats would have seen, weak in its poetical logic for a number of reasons. Firstly, the use of the phrase ?and old? is a redundancy of the last line which mentions ?grey hairs?, an obvious clue to old age. Secondly the use of the conjunction ?and? three times does not do the meter of the line the proper connotation. Instead of carrying the thought up and down as the crest of a wave, it bears more of a monotony than the final version. The meter of both is iambic pentameter, but the consonant blend of ?th-? (as in thin) flows much too smoothly into the final ?n? sound, giving the line an immutable quality that retards the rhythm. With the elimination of the redundant ?and old?, Keats had the opportunity to move the word ?thin? down the line. He inserted the much crisper accented syllable of ?spec-? (as in spectre-thin) to complete the iamb. The result is the effect of subsiding at the word ?thin? rather than cresting at its presence. The change can also be attributed to a personal tragedy close to Keats that would have been at the forefront of his mind at the time of the Ode?s composition. That tragedy was the death of his younger brother, Tom, on December 1, 1818. Having already a suitable image for death at old age, his brother?s death from tuberculosis was an image of illness striking against vigor. It would have also provided a contrast of sorts, the kind that the stanza needed to complete its effect.
The next two lines complete the imagery begun in line 23. Their meaning is not difficult to ascertain, but it does bear a subtle place in the stanza.

Where but to think is to be full of sorrow
And leaden-eyed despairs;

Line 23 reads ?The weariness, the fever, and the fret? and the next five lines depict each of these in order. Line 24 portrays the weariness of life, lines 25 and 26 show the fever (a general symbol for illness, much like ?palsy?) of life, and lines 27 and 28 expand on the fret of life. Therefore, lines 23-28 read as follows.

The weariness, the fever, and the fret (the summary of the
extended metaphor)

Here, where men sit and hear each other groan; (the
weariness)

Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey hairs, (the fever)
Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies;

Where but to think is full of sorrow (the fret)
And leaden-eyed despairs;

It may seem redundant to summarize the metaphor, then proceed to display it, but the final two lines of the stanza can give a hint as to why this was done. Thus far, the stanza has dealt almost exclusively with the ideas of actuality. The extended metaphor above has them as their foundation. Lines 29 and 30 are the belated switch to imagination.

Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes
Or new Love pine at them beyond to-morrow.

In truth, the switch from actuality and imagination can be seen as having its genesis in line 27 where the weariness and fever give way to the fret, which is less physical in nature. In the final two lines, the switch is complete and the stanza is refreshed with imagery of fancy. The word use is subtle in these lines, but important. In line 29, the word ?lustrous? does not mean ?having lust?. The word means ?bright or luminous?. Therefore, Beauty cannot keep its bright eyes in this world, perhaps because this world is filled with the darkness of the weariness, fever, and fret of the physicality. The final line bears sentiment similar to this. In this case, the word ?pine? means to long after to the point of torment. The phrase ?at them? may give some difficulty, therefore, it would be easier to think of ?pining? as something not done for someone. The reader should think of ?pine? as something done at someone, such as looking at someone. This usage implies that the longing is not reciprocated by ?them?. The idea of the line is that the young personage of Love cannot long at them after tomorrow. The question arises, ?Why can new Love not pine at them beyond tomorrow?? The answer may already have been presented in the extended metaphor of lines 23 ? 28. New Love cannot pine at them because they will be worn by the troubling things of this world before the metaphorical ?tomorrow? comes.
This idea has a logical successor in the opening of Stanza 4 where the poet bids the nightingale to leave because he will fly to it. From line 32 to 34, we find out how the poet will, in fact, reach the nightingale.

Away! away! for I will fly to thee,
Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards,
But on the viewless wings of Poesy,
Though the dull brain perplexes and retards.

The first object of discussion is the poet?s telling the nightingale not come to him because he will go to it. This may imply that the poet feels the nightingale should not dirty itself with the worries of this world which it has not experienced. Instead he claims he will fly to the nightingale, but not with the help of ?Bacchus and his pards?. Bacchus is the Greek god of the vine; being such, he is often associated with merriment and festivities. ?Pards? is another name for panthers or leopards. The chariot of Bacchus was drawn by a group of leopards. Here, their mention is symbolic of the drinking of wine. Therefore, in this line, the poet tell us that he will reach the height and contentment of the nightingale not by surrendering to the fruits of the vine as he longed to do in the opening of Stanza 2. Line 33 tells us how the poet intends to reach the nightingale, by the ?viewless wings of Poesy?. ?Poesy? is simply an Old English version of the word ?poetry?. The debatable word in this phrase is ?viewless?. Many see the phrase as meaning ?invisible?. However, an alternate meaning may take it to mean ?without view? as in ?without view of the worry of the world?. Both may be effective. If taken as such, the poet is saying that the ?wings of poetry? is invisible to the eye and has the virtue of not seeing the weariness of men as it is seen to be the liaison between our world and the world of the nightingale. To continue to line 34, the idea reads that the poet will reach the nightingale, not by drink, but by poetry, despite the fact that the mortal mind is easily confused and delays. Therefore, the passage can be seen as an endorsement for the reaching of the nightingale?s contentment, even though we know the limits of the human brain, as far as concepts of imagination are concerned.
Another interesting note must be made concerning the poet?s ideas about how to reach the nightingale. The first (and rejected) idea is by being ?charioted by Bacchus and his pards?. The accepted method the poet chooses is ?the viewless wings of Poesy?. It should be noted that chariots ride the ground and that wings imply flight in the sky. This difference may seem semantic at first glance, but if one would see it as a metaphor a different reading will appear. The chariots can be considered a metaphor for ?earthly travel?. The wings can be seen as ?metaphysical travel?. The fact that the wings are those of Poetry certainly ties this metaphor into itself. If these things are held true, the line would now state that the poet will not reach the realm of the nightingale by earthly or physical means, but must reach it by metaphysical or mental means. The already present tension between actuality and imagination finds new ground in this metaphor. The poet states that the paths of actuality do not lead to nor are aware of the realm of imagination, yet the realm of imagination is entirely aware of the realm of actuality.
Line 34 uses a seemingly redundant set of words to describe the limits of the human brain. The adjective ?dull? and verbs ?perplexes and retards? paint the mind of mortal man as weak and frail. The entire poem seems to support this as the poet?s viewpoint. On the grander scale, the voice of the poet has just changed from imagination to actuality. The fact of such a switching implies, at least from the poet, the dullness of the mind to see the realm of the nightingale. When the poet finally does see the nightingale?s realm, he is left disoriented and perplexed, as Stanza 1 describes. In fact, the poet may be using a subtle humor in that he states the dullness of the mind immediately following and preceding his urging the nightingale to leave him. Just as in Stanza 1, the poet not only states his point, but illuminates it by the placement of the point?s statement. The poet surrounds line 34 with lines of imagination. From line 33 ? 35, the poet switches from imagination to actuality and back again. Line 35 reiterates the statement of line 31 (Away! away! . . .). The difference between them is that in this line, the reason for the urging is modified by the phrase which ends line 35.

Already with thee! tender is the night,

?Tender is the night? is the reason for the poet?s bidding the nightingale not to come. The possible reading for ?tender? implies a fragility or sensitivity of the night. It would be quite easy to relate this to the idea of the worries of the world, but the context seems to suggest the phrase, primarily, as a backdrop descriptor. However, it also begins the flow of reasoning concerning the phrase which begins line 35. The following two lines expand the reasoning further.

And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne,
Clustered around by all her starry Fays;
But here there is no light,

The word ?haply? is an archaism for ?by chance?. Therefore, Keats is saying that the moon is ?on her throne? by chance. If the moon rises every night, what is Keats referring to? He may be referring to the idea that it is fortuitous that the moon is above him in the sky. He does not imply that the fact the moon is in the sky at all is pure chance. Line 36 has the phrase ?Queen-Moon? in it. This phrase can be compared to Samuel Taylor Coleridge?s To the Nightingale (lines 7 and 8).

How many wretched Bards address thy name
And hers, the full orb?d Queen that shines above.

Undoubtedly, Keats was influenced by Coleridge?s ode, most notably at this point. The word ?clustered? was, in the original manuscript, supposed to be in line 17 in place of the word ?beaded? which survived into the final draft. When Keats cut it from line 17, he found a use for it here, in line 37. The word ?fays? means ?fairies?. In line 38, the contrast between the world of the nightingale and the poet?s world is seen. The most obvious is that the nightingale can fly into the sky with the moon and stars while the poet is on the ground in the dark. The alternate meaning is that the nightingale?s world is filled with the light of the moon and stars, but in the poet?s world, there is only darkness. The usual contrast of actuality and imagination is not present here in Stanza 4. The entire stanza contains a near perfect blend of each to the point that the switches between the two are simultaneous within every line. This combination is present in the closing lines of Stanza 4 as well.

Save what from heaven is with breezes blown
Through verdurous glooms and winding mossy ways.

Taken with the lines preceding it, the meaning is that there is no light except what the wind blows towards the poet. ?Verdurous? means ?vigorous growth?, and usually it is applied to plants, but here it is paired with the word ?glooms?. We are left with the paraphrase ?vigorously growing bleakness?. In turn, this phrase is paired with ?winding mossy ways?, another nature image. Where nature images are used in this poem, they generally stand for the physical world as a whole. Therefore, we see the only element of contrast, or at the very least, separation of actuality and imagination present in the stanza. ?Verdurous glooms? can be seen, without a great deal of stretching, as of the world of imagination, while ?winding mossy ways? is taken to mean the natural world.
The fourth stanza?s flawless blend of actuality and imagination is also quite important in the sense of where it falls in the poem. As the poet longs more for the world of the nightingale, his use of imagery and logic begin to mimic that of the nightingale, becoming more fanciful. This stanza is the pivot stanza and represents the grander shift between actuality and imagination.
The fifth stanza opens with the reiteration of the darkness from line 38, as well as extending it slightly.

I cannot see what flowers are at my feet,
Nor what soft incense hangs upon the boughs

The use of flowers in the sentiment of line 41 foreshadows the symbolism later in the stanza. It is interesting to note that lines 41 and 42 speak of the inability of two senses, sight and smell, but hearing is left intact. In lines 43 and 44, however, inability becomes ability.

But, in embalmed darkness, guess each sweet
Wherewith the seasonable month endows

Before returning to the poet?s ability and inability, the use of the word ?embalmed? should be noted. Embalming is the ritual of mummifying a body and cleansing it for its journey to the after-world. To use it to describe the darkness around him, the poet implies that the darkness is already dead. The adjective form of the word ?embalmed? means ?leaden with fragrance?. The poet cannot smell the flowers at his feet, but still can sense the fragrance upon the air. The verb ?embalm? also bears the meaning of ?to preserve in memory?. Therefore, the darkness is already in the memory of the poet?s mind in addition to being metaphorically dead. The phrase, then, may be read as ?in the dead, remembered darkness?. The word is also a foreshadowing of the switch between actuality and imagination in line 50.
The ending of line 43 is an important part of the fifth stanza. The poet has stated in lines 41 and 42 that both his sight and smell are ineffective, yet the following line proclaims the ability to still guess the sweets of the seasonable month. As proof of this the poet uses lines 45 ? 49 to describe these sweets. At this point, it should be noted that ?the seasonable month? is considered the month of May, because Keats himself often referred to it as such. It is also, as the original parchments say, the month of the Ode?s composition.
With the seasonable month in place, we can move to Keats? description of it sweets. Lines 45 ? 49 give a great deal of information as to the exact date of the poem?s composition. As I mentioned, the original parchments place the poem in May 1819, but the following lines allow us to narrow the dates a bit.

The grass, the thicket, the fruit-tree wild ?
White hawthorn, and pastoral eglantine;
Fast fading violets covered up the leaves;
And mid-May?s eldest child,
The coming musk-rose, full of dewy wine,

As a matter of definition, the phrase ?mid-May?s eldest child? is usually seen as referring to the musk-rose which follows it. ?Eldest? can be stretched to mean ?latest? in the sense that the musk-rose is the most delayed of the flowers alive in May, as it blooms in early June. The white hawthorn is a flower that blooms in early May. Violets bloom in early May but wither before its end, hence ?fast fading?. With this, we can surmise the composition date. If the violets are ?covered up in leaves?, the hawthorns in bloom, and the musk-rose still immature we can safely assume the poem?s composition as the latter part of the second week of May or the early part of the third week. This being said, these lines bear a contextual importance as well. Each of the flowers mentioned, with the exception of the musk-rose, is described, in reality, as having spurs or thorns upon it. The musk-rose is the only exception to this rule. This may be stretched to say that the present time the poet is speaking from is itself with thorns. Consequently, the coming of June and the musk-rose may seem to have better days for the poet. To end line 49, the phrase ?dewy wine? is used. As dew is seen on leaves at dawn, we can assume the ?wine? is a vintage of a new dawning. This mention of wine summons the use of a drinking metaphor to describe the sweetness of a time. As you may recall, the first usage was in stanza 2 where wine was used as the symbol of the poet?s longing. Here, it symbolizes the coming of a better time. Despite this hope in a better time, the poet is brought back to earth with line 50.

The murmurous haunt of flies on summer eves.

This line is a far cry from the previous five lines in every way imaginable. The imagery is much more base, the tone is darker, and the shock of its appearance gives it special prominence. To use the word ?haunt? gives Stanza 5 its second mention of death-related imagery (?embalmed? was the first). This line begins the poet?s fascination with death, a fascination that will lead clear through the next stanza. However, a secondary death-related image can be found in this line. The word ?flies? gives the connotation of flies beating around a corpse. This entire line also provides a contrast with the previous line in so much as line 49 mentions the musk-rose and the good of the future summer and this line mentions a swarm of flies on summer evenings. Apparently, the optimism of the preceding lines is tempered by actuality here. Line 50 also represents yet another very quick shift from imagination to actuality. If you will recall, the stanza began in the voice of actuality (the poet explaining the loss of his sight and smell in the physical sense) then quickly becomes the voice of imagination at line 43. Imagination carries the passage straight through in a soaring
vision of flowers and beauty before the abrupt shift to actuality brings the poet back to earth in line 50 with a ?haunt of flies? and connotations of death. Both of which, the nightingale?s world has never bothered with.
Stanza 6 opens on darker tone, literally as well as metaphorically, and continues the idea borne in line 50. The lines of Stanza 6 are spoken, now, to the nightingale. The concept of death is expanded beyond any previous point and we receive our first glimpse of the poet?s view on physical death, having already heard his view of the world in general.

Darkling I listen; and, for many a time
I have been half in love with easeful Death,
Called him soft names in many a mused rhyme,
To take into the air my quiet breath;

The word ?darkling? means ?in the darkness?. The word ?easeful? does not precisely mean ?full of ease?. The more accurate definition is ?promoting or being characterized by a wealth of ease?. The use of this word to describe death is interesting. He has been in love with to the point where he perceives death as being characterized as thing of ease. However, the main operative phrase in these lines is ?half in love?. If the poet is only half in love with Death, what of the other half? The answer is the poem itself. The poet wishes to leave the cares and limits of the world and finds only two ways out: Death and the nightingale. He is equally in love with each, but as the poem has progressed, he seems to choose the nightingale until this stanza. He now articulates his love for death. Line 53 states that the poet has ?called him soft names? at previous times. This, no doubt, is an allusion to Keats? own past work and its mentioning death. In line 54, the poet completes the thought of asking death to take him. The sentiment in this line is precisely paralleled in line 33 (But on the viewless wings of Poesy) where the poet wishes to reach the nightingale?s world without being seen. Here, he asks for Death to take his ?quiet breath?. At nearly a non-sound, such a passing would be invisible for all intents and purposes. In line 33, the vehicle is poetry
Line 55 switches the view from the fact of the poet?s death to its circumstance.

Now more than ever seems it rich to die;
To cease upon the midnight with no pain,

Line 55 contains a phrase so subtle in its context, it is nearly unnoticeable. The sentiment in it raises the question, ?Why would it seem rich to die now more than ever??. The answer to this question may be the subject and crux of the entire poem. The poet sees the wonderful nature of the nightingale?s world and then renders the physical world darker by comparison. This is the crucial tension between actuality and imagination in the poem. This stanza bears the bulk of the poet?s argument for remaining in the realm of actuality and escaping that realm. Line 56 also bears much discussion. The idea of line 56 can be read as ?to die at the height of darkness painlessly?. While this may have a literal reading (that the poet wishes to die at midnight), the more rewarding reading would have it metaphorically. This would mean that the poet would wish to die at the height of his troubles, his ?midnight?. To describe such a death as being ?with no pain? is worthy of note. The question now becomes, ?Why would that death be with no pain?? The answer is in the following line.

While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroad
In such an ecstasy!

The poet feels that the death he has described would be painless because of the nightingale singing (pouring forth thy soul) at the moment of his death. The use of the word ?abroad? gives a deceptive sense here. The nightingale itself is not abroad, but his song is such that it can reach abroad. Therefore, the reading seems to suggest that the poet believes the nightingale?s song to have such power as to not only reach across continents, but also take the pain from death. The idea here of the nightingale?s superiority to death foreshadows the thoughts of the next stanza.
Even though this stanza is spoken to the nightingale, lines 59 and 60 are the first that speak directly to the nightingale about itself. The lines tell of what will happen after the poet?s death.

Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain ?
To thy high requiem become a sod.

The thought of line 59 is that the nightingale will still sing after the poet is dead. The phrase that completes the line is vicious in its imagery. When the poet is dead, he cannot hear the song of the nightingale, but he still, physically, has ears. But without life to analyze what sounds the ear may catch, his ears are in vain. The imagery does ebb in line 60. The phrasing can make a proper reading of this line difficult, therefore, a deconstruction may be of use. The phrase ?thy high requiem? refers to the song of the nightingale. ?Sod? has two meaning, each of importance. The first definition is that a ?sod? is a contemptible person; the second meaning is that ?sod? is the surface layer of earth containing dirt, grass, and roots. Therefore, the line may be read in two different, though not wholly separate, ways. It may read ?I will become a contemptible person in the face of your song?. The alternate reading would be ?I have become a mere piece of dirt in the face of your song?. The latter may have only the slight virtue of keeping the appearance of ?death metaphor? in play. Either way you prefer to read it the idea remains the same: ?I have become something base in the light of your song?s beauty because I have died and can hear it no longer?.
The idea of death is still prevalent as the seventh stanza opens, though not in the same way it was featured in the preceding verse. From the off, the change of attitude may be noticed.

Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!

Line 61 represents the next important shift between actuality and imagination. It also is an important shift in the voice of the poem. From the actuality of the world?s mortality in Stanza 6, we venture into the deathless world of imagination. Where Stanza 6 seemed to articulate a depressed attitude toward the troubles of the world, this stanza begins to rebel with the logic of the nightingale?s existence. The fact of the nightingale?s not being ?born for death? is in contrast to the poet?s sentiments in Stanza 3 concerning the mortality of man. The use of the word ?immortal? foreshadows the ideas of lines 62 ? 64. In the same line, we find an allusion and a foreshadowing. Despite this, some scholars have attacked the presence of this line as nonsense. Under their banner, this line contains mere redundancies and obvious lyrical lacking. The retort to such a manner of thought would be the theory that the presence of the line is meant to reinforce the ideas set forth within the previous stanzas. It stands to reason that, as the poem is entering its final stanzas, the poet would feel the need to reiterate and allude to the ideas that led the reader to this point before beginning his summing or conclusion. This idea bears weight because lines 62 - 64 introduce a new image of the nightingale.

No hungry generations tread thee down;
The voice I hear this passing night was heard
In ancient days by emperor and clown

Thus far, we have seen the effect and world of the nightingale?s song in the context of the poet?s own experience. Here, the poet stretches the ideas of the entire poem to encompass all of time. As said, the word ?immortal? in line 61 laid the foundation for this idea. Line 62 begins this idea with its stating that the bird is not tread down by ?hungry generations?. Line 62 bears a few interpretations. This can be taken as a general metaphor for the inability of man as a whole to eliminate the power of the realm of imagination. This idea can be seen as a statement in summary concerning man and the nightingale?s world. The line may also be seen as a sister line of line 61. In fact, line 62 is, conceivably, the proof of the nightingale?s immortality.
Line 63 brings the reader back into the present with its thought. The phrasing of ?passing night? is a minor and brief shift back into actuality. Even in the midst of the poet?s rebelling against the idea of death, the transience of the night he?s experiencing still peeks through. In line 63, the word ?clown? is used to contrast the word ?emperor?. The assumption is that ?clown? is akin to ?jester?. While that reading wouldn?t damage the line of the poem, it should be noted that the word was used to describe a peasant and the common countryman. The line reads, with a semantic difference, ?by the royalty and peasantry?. Armed with this reading, the voice can be seen to then immediately shift once more into imagination with line 64. It also represents a shift backward in time. Therefore, we can see the use of time in lines 62 ? 64. Line 62 is set in the backdrop of eternity, line 63 is in the present, and the thought of line 64 obviously refers to the past. It may seem that the idea of ?the nightingale in the future? is missing. Not so, in fact. Keats placed that sentiment in line 59, ironically, before those of ?present? and ?past?.

Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain ?

Thus, not only did the poet state the nightingale?s immortality (line 61), but he also provided examples of it. Keats then returns to philosophizing on the nightingale?s song with lines 65 ? 67.

Perhaps the self-same song that found a path
Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home,
She stood in tears amid the alien corn;

The phrase ?self-same? is defined as ?exactly the same?. With this, we can see these lines giving a better sharpness to the nightingale?s song. The allusion to the Biblical woman, Ruth, bears the bulk of this sharpening. The image of her here is primarily of homesickness and loneliness. However, upon closer inspection, we see a simultaneous use of the world of actuality and imagination. In the lines themselves, the actuality of the loneliness of Ruth is juxtaposed with the unsaid effect of the nightingale?s song on her. We see Ruth in the same place as the poet was, conceivably, before the opening lines of the poem. With story of Ruth known, we can reasonably assume the idea that the nightingale?s song is that of hope, at least, in part. Lines 68 ?70 combine to form an extended metaphor paralleling that of lines 65 ? 67.

The same that oft-times hath
Charmed magic casements, opening on the foam
Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn.

This metaphor begins much as the last did, with use of the nightingale?s song. A ?casement? is a window that opens horizontally, as a set of French doors would. The song has the effect of opening these magic windows. Windows, in the work of Keats, were often used as places where, by sight, one could escape into the world outside the window while still remaining, in actuality, before the window. Therefore, it is worthy of note that these windows open to ?the foam / Of perilous seas? This would imply that Keats? world, that of actuality, looks onto the ?faery lands forlorn?. Note that this is not the world of the nightingale, as the nightingale is credited only with opening these windows, not occupying the space opened onto. The use of the archaic spelling of ?faery? can definitely be seen as describing the world beyond the window. ?Faery? was used in the old of literature to denote a world barely beyond our everyday perception, yet full of wondrous and magical things. These ?faery lands? can be seen as a symbol of a great and imaginative past that is forbidden as residence to the poet, but can be seen with the assistance of the nightingale. These lands can also be seen as a metaphor for man?s own imagination. While the nightingale occupies and hails from a world of supernatural power and ability, the ?faery lands? are the invention of poets and artists past, the true spirit of which, as it is intertwined with the artists themselves, is inaccessible by the poet. The difference is subtle, but vital. The nightingale?s world is the world of imagination; the ?faery lands? are the effect of the nightingale?s world. The fact that the word ?forlorn? appears as an adjective leaves little, ironically, to the imagination.
The eighth and final stanza of the Ode is inseparable from the seventh stanza. The major joining point is the word ?forlorn?. It is the last word of the seventh stanza, as well as the first word of the eighth. Here, in the final stanza, the word ?forlorn? also serves as the final switch between actuality and imagination. Preceding it are the passages concerning the nightingale and its world, following it are the effect of the sudden return to the world of actuality and the confronting of the vast chasm between the two.

Forlorn! the very word is like a bell
To toll me back from thee to my sole self!

In the first instance of ?forlorn?, the word is used with its archaic definition of ?utterly lost?. As it opens the final stanza, the word switches to its modern meaning of ?bereft and depressed?. It is the hinge that swings the ?magic casements? shut again. At the end of line 71, the word ?bell? is used with one significant connotation. The ?bell? can also take the meaning of ?death bell? with only a bit of a stretch. This meaning would then become another allusion to death. Noticeably, it appears just after the switch to actuality. Line 72 articulates the effect the bell on the poet. It shocks the poet from the world of imagination back to the world of actuality. It is interesting to note that both the nightingale?s song and the implications of the word ?forlorn? have the power to cross between the two worlds. Another interesting turn occurs in line 73.

Adieu! The fancy cannot cheat so well
As she is famed to do, deceiving elf.

There are a number of things to notice in these two lines, the first of which is the opening word: Adieu. It is French for ?goodbye?. The context of the line would suggest that this, too, is spoken to the nightingale. The phrase that follows bears several connotations. To say that ?fancy cannot cheat so well / As she is famed to do? can be difficult to interpret. The idea is that the imagination cannot cheat the mind into believing it is in the world of the nightingale in the same way that it usually cheats the mind into believing it is somewhere else. The implication is that the true world of imagination cannot be imagined at all, but must be reached with applied effort. The final phrase, ?deceiving elf?, paints the image of fancy as a mischievous elf accustomed to trickery.
Line 75 repeats the urge of the poet for the nightingale to leave. At this point, it would be appropriate to recall the sentiment in line 31 (Away! away!. . .) as it parallels this passage. In both instances, the poet reiterates the urge soon after the first time. Here, the reason is of a different sort.

Adieu! adieu! thy plaintive anthem fades

?Plaintive? means ?sorrowful or expressing melancholy?. Therefore, the song of the nightingale is described as full of sorrow. The question then is, ?Why is the song sorrowful?? The answer is, simultaneously, in the sentiment behind the poet?s urging for the nightingale to leave and in the final word of the line. The song is sorrowful because the poet realizes he can never reach the nightingale, and because the song is fading in the present. The song fades, but not into nothingness as would be expected, but it fades somewhere, as lines 76 ?78 portray.

Past the meadows, over the still stream,
Up the hill-side; and now ?tis buried deep
In the next valley-glades:

It is also interesting to note that the song fades and the imagery returns to an earthly nature. The passage also gives the sense of traveling with the poet back to the place where he originally encounters the nightingale. Line 77 provides a contrast with the uses of ?up?(an image that can be applied to ?higher places?, like the nightingale?s) and ?buried?( another image recalling the idea of death and actuality), implying that the journey to the nightingale was through actuality and imagination. The song is, in line 78, now buried in the ?valley-glades?. A ?glade? is an opening in forest, a clearing. Thus, ?valley-glades? means clearings in a forest in a valley. We could, with a bit of stretching, consider the ?valley-glades? as the place where the poet is in actuality.
The closing lines of the poem offer more commentary on the poem itself. As these are the final lines, they are quite important in determining the poet?s state of mind.

Was it a vision, or a waking dream?
Fled is that music ? Do I wake or sleep?

Line 80 completes the fading of the nightingale?s song begun in line 75.The questions of lines 79 and 80 are, in fact, the question the reader is left with upon completion of reading. The final question seems to be straight forward, but it bears another meaning. In poetical imagery, sleep is often used as a substitute for death. The question takes on a different shade if one thinks of it this way. The poet is so disoriented at the leaving of the nightingale?s song (much as he was at the opening of the poem) that he is not aware if he is awake, asleep, alive, or dead. In the end, he is left with the prospect he has fought against the entire poem through. He wishes to leaves to join the nightingale, but cannot find permanence in the nightingale?s world. He finds that the impermanence it not with the nightingale?s world, but in himself. Therefore, we see that the poet has understood and realized the unsolvable nature of the tensions between actuality and imagination.
The entire text of the Ode can be taken as a pondering at the precise moment of death. It can also be seen as the viewing of such a person by the poet. The second seems to have the virtue of biography on its side. Keats did lose his brother shortly before the Ode?s composition to the disease which would eventually claim him, tuberculosis. He also still had the memory of his own mother?s death, who, coincidentally, also died of tuberculosis. Such tragedy would have given Keats ample material on which to ponder the ever-present phenomenon of death.
The power and success of this poem is not only due to its lyrical potency and deft imagery, but also to the uses of said tools to effect the articulation of actuality and imagination. As a secondary element, the movement and flow between the two worlds gives significance to the time spent in each. To be sure, the poet may not have intended the whole of what has been presented here consciously, but we, as literary critics, have the job of deconstructing what the poem says, not what the poet intended. Therefore, we do not concern ourselves with the poet?s intentions. If we did, the breadth and depth of genius would be horribly and unjustly misjudged. Armed with the whole of the preceding analysis, the final question can now be answered: ?What does the nightingale represent?? I offer that the nightingale represents the perfect and, ultimately, unreachable resolution of the tensions between actuality and imagination. The poet?s master strokes impress upon the reader the importance of the nightingale?s meaning. The deft movement, the imagery subtly morphing at precise moments, and the exact use of words with great connotations all collaborate to describe different facets of the nightingale. Facets which gives us, if not a full understanding of the struggle of actuality and imagination, then, at least, a mosaic worth the time of its contemplation.

Authors | Quotes | Digests | Submit | Interact | Store

Copyright © Classics Network. Contact Us