Ode to a Nightingale and skylark comparison
Shelley's 'To a Skylark' is very structured, and rhythmical, having the end of a line rhyming with the second line after it, for example "heart" (4) and "art" (5). This happens on every stanza, with the majority of the time there is two sets of these rhyming pairs. This is not the stereotypical romantic poem, full of chaos, and disorder as there is a lot of order and structure in this poem, enabling rhyme and "melody" (35) to shine though. Keats' 'Ode to a Nightingale' has a first impression of more length, and more chaos, but it also has an underlying sense of order, with most lines numbering ten syllables.Shelley responds to bird song very positively to begin with, starting with a "Hail" (1), almost a salute, the "blithe spirit" (1), the joyous spirit. It is as if it is something angelic, which is confirmed when Shelley remarks that a "bird thou never wert" (2). The angelic idea is corroborated when he says that the bird is "from heaven" (3), this also showing a sense of awe towards the bird and its song. In comparison Keats' seems very gothic and negative in feeling, full of his own self pity. He begins with the negative statement of how his "heart aches" (1), which could be generally his life not just towards the p
oem and the bird as he was surrounded by death, being a medical student and with his mother dead, and his brother recently dead, despite Keats' attempts. He talks of suicide, by "hemlock" (2), poison, and of the after-life, "lethwards had sunk" (4). He perhaps wants to follow his bother to death, and is feeling quite depressed. He has perhaps taken the stance of jealousy towards the bird and its song, as Keats suggests that it is possible to be "too happy in thine own happiness" (6), proposing that the bird is smug. Another brilliant description by Keats is again about drink. "With beaded bubbles winking at the brim" (17), a brilliant description, but as he moves on we see that the references to alcohol have a meaning. The result for him, if he does drink is an escape from reality, so that the world is "unseen" (19), and his awareness will "fade away" (20). Keats obviously wants to "Fade, far away" (21), perhaps a hint at suicide, which is one avenue of escape, or just the gradual ageing of the mortal. He goes on to talk of mortality, "what thou amongst the leaves has never known", all earthly worries that only men know about, from which birds, all fauna, are free from. Keats is particualrly depressing when
Some common words found in the essay are:
, Holy Ghost, bird song, towards bird song, shelley's 'to skylark', 'to skylark', shelley's 'to, towards bird, brilliant description,
Approximate Word count = 824
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)
|
