Analysis Of John Keats's 'Ode To A Nightingale'

Summer of 1819. July, to be precise. “Ode to a Nightingale” is published for the first time. The many ways to interpret this poem written by John Keats raise more questions about the theme than the actual poem itself. Imagination or reality? Life or death? Every interpretation varies. September of 2016. Controversy is still at heart of the poem, given its wide range of different perceptions. Hence, what is the main theme of the poem “Ode to a Nightingale”? Why? In my opinion, this poem’s main theme is reality, but more specifically, reality in contrast with imagination. Reality is the main idea of this ode and the important role it plays is amplified through the vision of imagination.

In the first place, the development of this poem is my first clue to identifying reality in contrast with imagination as the main idea. Keats starts his piece on the subject of reality while talking about how miserable he feels. Then, he wanders off into
The analogy I give this situation is the following: this poem is similar to an elastic that snaps. At the beginning, the elastic is at its regular size, which corresponds to his miserable reality, as it is explained in the first stanza when Keats writes, “My heart aches and a drowsy numbness pains/ My sense although of hemlock I had drunk”. Afterwards, the elastic stretches when the narrator goes into his own world, notably when he is up in the tree with the Nightingale, thinking of death and how perfect it would be. He stretches it again, going further down into his thoughts. For instance, when Keats writes: “Now more than ever seems it rich to die/ To cease upon the midnight with no pain” (VI). This excerpt