Ode to a Nightingale

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Ode to a Nightingale is a poem by John Keats. Written in May, 1819, it was first published in 'Annals of the Fine Arts' in July of the same year. Referred to by critics of the time as 'the longest and most personal of the odes,' the poem describes Keats' journey into the state of negative capability. The poem explores the themes of nature, transience and mortality, as he makes a direct reference to his late brother, Tom, who died in 1818. Keats' opinion of the bird clearly changes as the text progresses. In the first stanza, Keats refers to it with awe, using phrases like 'Light-winged Dryad of the trees,' but by the seventh stanza refers to it simply as bird. Indeed the in the final stanza Keats addresses the animal as 'deceiving elf.' Similarly his views about the Nightingale's song change as the poem progresses, descriptions of it being a 'high requiem' giving way to 'plaintive anthem' in the final stanza.' Keats' confusion upon leaving the state of negative capability is clearly demonstrated in the closing lines of the poem: "Was it a vision, or a waking dream? Fled is that music:- Do I wake or sleep?"

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