“ Ode to a Nightingale, unlike Keats’ other odes, has no single central theme.” Do you agree?
The observation that Ode to a Nightingale ,unlike Keats's Other odes, has no single central theme is neither true nor desirable. Ode to a Nightingale is one of the most perfectly constructed odes of Keats. Th architectural skill seen in the construction of the _poem is rare in English; poetry. Such a poem cannot be said to have no single central theme. The single central theme of Ode to a Nightingale is the charm of the song of the nightingale. Keats has suffered from the various evils of life-"the weariness, the fever, and the fret" and has had the experience of the evanescence of youth, love and beauty. But the nightingale is a denizen of the dreamland of beauty and joy and is a perfect stranger to the ills and evils that assail human life. Hence it ever sings of "summer in full-throated ease"._ Again, the nightingale representing as it does the voice of romance is deathless and free from the struggle for existence in which one generation is trampled down by the next. Its song has carried the message of hope and consolation t~ men and women in the midst of domestic troubles. Hence the poet finds in the nightingale's song a refuge from the oppressive evils of life. He wants to escape into the dim forest the nightingale sings from. To effect his escape he at first longs for a draught of strong wine, but later on drops the idea of taking the aid to wine, and decides to fly into the cloudland of the nightingale's song with the aid of poetry-on the viewless wings of poesy. After his escape he has his fill of the pleasures of the senses and feels supremely happy. But the pull of reality is too strong for imagination to resist it.
In the end his fancy fades and he awakes to the realities of life. Thus the poem deals with the song of the nightingale and its power to charm away the p . troubles of man. There are, however, frequent shifts in the poet's moods. To complete his journey to the world of the nightingale's song he wishes for a draught of wine. But the direction of his thought soon changes and he dispenses with the idea of taking wine to complete his journey and decides to rely on his imagination. At this stage there is a sudden change in his mood and the 0 • journey is completed. He has his fill of joy in the bower of the nightingale. The ecstasy of joy makes him long for painless death. The image of the cold grave changes again the direction of his thought. He ceases to seek identification with the bird. He even ceases to look upon it as an object of nature. It becomes to him the voice of romance and beauty, regaling the ears of man through the ages. Then the poet's mood has another round of change. The ivory tower built by his imagination crumbles, and he ·is thrown back on the hard shores of reality.
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