Short Questions & Answers :Ode to a Nightingale: Important Short Questions with Answer on Ode to a Nightingale By John Keats

 Ode to a Nightingale: John Keats (Short Questions & Answers)

Important Short Questions with Answer on  Ode to a Nightingale By John Keats 

1. In which respect is Ode to a Nightingale a poem of escapism?

Ans. Keats was always in quest for beauty and eternity. Keats' romanticism consists of an escape from the real and the mundane into the eternal and the supra-mundane, a perfect and sensuous state of existence. Dissatisfied with the here and the now, Keats tries to escape into the happy and problem-free world of the nightingale though his attempt ultimately ends in dissatisfaction, rejection of an artificial mode of escape. 

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2. What is the central conflict in Ode to a Nightingale?

Ans. The central conflict in the ode is between the real world and the ideal world, the mundane and the supra-mundane. Dissatisfied with the here and the now, Keats tries to escape into the happy and problem-free world of the nightingale though his attempt ultimately ends in dissatisfaction, rejection of an artificial mode of escape. 

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3. What is sensuousness? Comment on Keats' sensuousness in Ode to a Nightingale.

Ans. Sensuousness is nothing but the appeal to the senses. Keats' poetry always caters to and gratifies the five human senses. In the "Nightingale Ode" Keats' description of the bird's song, of the many wines, the many flowers appeals to our senses of hearing, taste and smell respectively. Besides, the epithets he uses—'melodious plot', 'sunburnt mirth', 'embalmed darkness' etc.—are rich in sensuous quality. 

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4. What do you mean by Keats' Hellenism? Comment on Keats' Hellenism in Ode to a Nightingale.

Ans. Hellenism is nothing but the Greek influence on Keats' poetry. First, the inborn temperamental Greekness of Keats' mind is to be seen in his love of beauty. Secondly, Keats is a Greek in his manner of personifying the forces of Nature like autumn, nightingale etc. Thirdly, Greek myth provides numerous allusions in the Nightingale Ode. Some examples are the references to Lethe, Hippocrene, dryad etc. 

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5. What traits of romanticism do you notice in Keats' Ode to a Nightingale?

Ans. First, the Nightingale Ode is a subjective poem where the poet speaks of himself and his relation with the nightingale. Secondly, the poem is noted for its sensuous richness. Thirdly, in spite of its occasional notes of joy, it is marked by a melancholic note. Fourthly, the poet has endowed Nature with beauty, peace and repose. Fifthly, the poem has a reference to the medieval past when the poet describes a captive princess in an enchanted castle. 

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6. What is medievalism? Do you find any reference to medievalism in Ode to a Nightingale?

Ans. Medievalism in literature denotes a recapturing of the spirit and atmosphere of the Middle Ages. In the Nightingale Ode, Keats' medievalism is clearly evident in the last two lines of stanza vii. Keats here says that probably the song of the nightingale consoled in medieval times the sad heart of a princess, imprisoned in a magic castle, situated in some fairy land. 

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7. Comment on the note of melancholy and pessimism in Ode to a Nightingale.

Ans. A passionate melancholy broods over the whole poem. The passage describing the sorrows and misfortune of life is deeply pessimistic. The world is full of weariness, fever and fret and the groans of suffering humanity. Palsy afflicts the old and premature death overtakes the young. To think here is to be full of sorrow; both beauty and love are short-lived. 

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8. Why does Keats say that his heart aches? / What is the effect of the nightingale's song on Keats?

Ans. Keats experiences a pain in his heart and seems to be sleepy and powerless to feel or move as if he has taken hemlock or opium only a moment ago and sunk deep into the river of forgetfulness. This feeling arises not because of his envy at the happy condition of the nightingale but because of his excessive joy in sharing its happiness. The intensity of the poet's joy on hearing the bird's song runs into a sort of pain. 

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9. What is Lethe? Why does Keats refer to it in Ode to a Nightingale?

Ans. In classical mythology, Lethe is the river of forgetfulness in Hades, the underground world. Those who sink into this river and drink its water forget all about their past life. Keats says that hearing the ecstatic song of the nightingale a complete sense of insensibility pervades his entire self. It seems to him that he has sunk deep into the river of forgetfulness only a moment ago. 

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10. What does the phrase 'light-winged Dryad' suggest?

Ans. According to Greek mythology, Dryad is a nymph, i.e., a lesser goddess, living in trees. The nightingale is called by Keats 'light-winged Dryad' because it sings in the woods and can fly smoothly from one tree to another. Again, Keats's Hellenic imagination may think of the bird as a Dryad with its wings not weighed down by the burden of life. 

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11. What does Keats mean by the phrases 'melodious plot' and 'beechen green'?

Ans. The phrase 'melodious plot' refers to a musical piece of ground, a plot resounding with the sound of the nightingale. It is an example of transferred epithet. Actually, it is the bird, not the plot, which is melodious. The expression 'beechen green' refers to the green beech trees. 

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12. What does Keats mean by the expression 'Singest of summer in full-throated ease'?

Ans. Keats wants to mean that the nightingale is singing in a loud and cheerful manner but without any strain. It seems to him that the nightingale is singing spontaneously and freely as if to celebrate the charms of summer, one of the pleasantest seasons of England. 

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13. What do you mean by 'a draught of vintage'?

Ans. The expression 'a draught of vintage' refers to a mouthful of wine, specially of good quality. 

14. Why does Keats long for 'a draught of vintage'?

Ans. In order to totally escape from the embittered earthly existence and in order to participate whole-heartedly in the happy, problem-free world of the nightingale, Keats expresses his deep desire for 'a draught of vintage', i.e., a mouthful of wine, specially of good quality. Such a kind of old, select wine, he hopes, would transport him to the land of the nightingale from the real one. 

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15. What kind of 'vintage' does Keats long for?

Ans. Keats longs for a special type of wine that has been made cool under the ground for a long time. He imagines the wine to be a silent witness of the festivities done in honour of Flora, the Roman goddess of flowers, of the village people dancing together, of the songs of love and chivalry sung by the troubadours in Provence and of the cheerfulness of the people exposed more to the sun on account of their participation in outdoor games. 

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16. Who is Flora?

Ans. Flora is the Roman goddess of flowers. However, the term is used by Keats to suggest the merry activities done in honour of Flora. Keats longs for a special type of wine that has been made cool under the ground for a long time. He imagines the wine to be a silent witness of the festivities done in honour of Flora. 

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17. What do you mean by the phrase 'country green'?

Ans. The phrase 'country green' is used by Keats to mean a grassy plot of land in the village kept reserved for the common purposes such as playing and dancing. 

18. What do you mean by the phrase 'Provencal song'?

Ans. Provence is a southern district of France along with the Mediterranean, noted for its grapes and wines. The phrase 'Provencal song' refers to the songs of love and chivalry, of the spring and the nightingale chanted by the wandering poet-singers of Provence during the middle ages. 

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19. What does the expression 'sunburnt mirth' refer to?

Ans. The expression 'sunburnt mirth' is a capital example of transferred epithet. It simply means the mirthful activities of the people exposed more to the sun on account of their participation in outdoor games. 

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20. "O for a beaker full of the warm South". What do you mean by 'a beaker full of the warm South'? Why does Keats long for 'a beaker full of the warm South'?

Ans. The phrase 'a beaker full of the warm South' refers to a cup of wine prepared from grapes grown in the sunny southern parts of Europe. In order to totally escape from the embittered earthly existence and in order to whole-heartedly participate in the happy, problem-free world of the nightingale, Keats expresses his deep desire for 'a beaker full of the warm South'. Such a beaker, he hopes, would transport him to the land of the nightingale from the real one. 

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21. What do you mean by 'blushful Hippocrene'?

Ans. The adjective 'blushful' literally means 'richly red'. Hippocrene, in classical mythology, is a fountain on Mount Helicon in Greece, sacred to the Muses. In order to forget the embittered earthly existence and participate in the happy world of the nightingale, Keats longs for a beaker full of 'blushful Hippocrene'. Keats here imagines that as if the fountain Hippocrene ran with wine instead of water. 

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22. What do you mean by the phrase 'beaded bubbles'?

Ans. The phrase 'beaded bubbles' refers to the bubbles looking like beads on the surface of the wine-cup. 

23. What does Keats mean by 'purple-stained mouth'?

Ans. Keats uses the phrase 'purple-stained mouth' to suggest the border of the wine-cup looking red because of the redness of the wine. It may also suggest the drinker's red mouth. C.T. Thomas says, "The poet in anticipation imagines that he has already drunk of the wine and that his mouth is already purple with it". 

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24. "That I might drink, and leave the world unseen". What does the word 'That' refer to? What does Keats mean by the expression 'leave the world unseen'?

Ans. The word 'That' refers to either a beaker full of wine prepared in the sunny southern parts of Europe or a beaker full of the red wine of the fountain Hippocrene on Mount Helicon in Greece. Keats here imagines as if the fountain Hippocrene ran with wine instead of water. Keats uses the expression 'leave the world unseen' to suggest his imaginative flight, his mental escape into the happy, problem-free world of the nightingale without being seen by anybody. 

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25. "And with thee fade far away....." where does Keats want to escape and why?

Ans. Being dissatisfied with the embittered earthly existence, the life of despair and disillusionment, Keats wants to escape into the happy, problem-free and melodious world of the nightingale. 

26. "Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget"—What are the things which Keats wants to forget?

Ans. Keats says that he wants to escape into the happy and problem-free world of the nightingale and forget the things which are unknown to the bird. He wants to be oblivious of 'the weariness, the fever and the fret', i.e., the feeling of disappointment, the mood of despair, the burden of responsibilities, the weight of worries which a human being has to experience in earthly life. 

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27. "....where men sit and hear each other groan". What does Keats want to mean here?

Ans. Keats has drawn a very realistic picture of the embittered earthly existence. According to him, the world is not a bed of roses and human life is full of thorns. He says that the worldly people extremely suffer from life-struggle and hear each other groan with misery. 

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28. What does Keats mean when he says 'palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey hairs'?

Ans. Keats wants to mean that paralysis or extreme weakness afflicts mankind in old age. He conjures up a vivid picture of a bald-headed old man hobbling along trembling and tottering. 

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29. "Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and dies". -- What does the poet want to mean here? Do you find here any allusion to Keats' personal life?

Ans. Keats wants to mean that even a young man sometimes becomes pale and devitalized like a spectre and dies prematurely because of the excessive life-struggle and also because of the various fatal diseases. In this line there is an allusion to the death of Keats's younger brother Tom in 1818. 

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30. What do you mean by the phrase 'leaden-eyed despairs'?

Ans. The phrase 'leaden-eyed despairs' may mean the mood of despair which robs the eyes of their normal brightness and makes them look dull like lead. However, it may also suggest that despair makes one cast one's eyes downwards. 

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31. What do you mean by the lines: "Where Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, / Or new Love pine at them beyond tomorrow".

Ans. Keats has depicted a very realistic and pathetic picture of the earthly existence. He regrettably says that in this world the lustre of a beautiful woman's eyes soon fades away. Similarly, love is as short-lived as beauty. A man, who has newly fallen in love with a beautiful woman, feels uncontrollable and consuming passion for her. But the sorry thing is that this will not last long. 

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32. "Away! away! for I will fly to thee, / Not charioted by Bacchus and his pards," What does Keats bid good bye here? Where does Keats want to go and how?

Ans. Keats here bids goodbye to the god of wine or rather his earlier plan of going to the happy land of the nightingale with the help of wine. Being disgusted with his bitter and oppressive earthly existence, Keats strongly desires to join the nightingale's happy world. He, however, rejects the idea of going there under the influence of an intoxicating drink. He wishes to go there with the help of his poetic imagination whose influence seems to him far stronger than that of the wine. 

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33. Who is Bacchus? Why does Keats refer to him?

Ans. In Roman mythology, Bacchus is the god of wine, represented as riding in a chariot drawn by leopards. Keats refers to Bacchus to suggest the rejection of his earlier plan to go to the happy world of the nightingale with the help of intoxicating drink. He wishes to go there with the help of his poetic imagination whose influence seems to him far stronger than that of the wine. Keats' description of Bacchus was greatly inspired by Titian's famous picture, Bacchus and Ariadne, preserved in the British National Gallery. 

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34. What does Keats mean by 'viewless wings of Poesy'? Why does Keats refer to it?

Ans. By 'viewless wings of Poesy' Keats means the invisible poetic fancy or romantic imagination. The poet is thoroughly disgusted with his bitter earthly existence and strongly desires to escape into the happy and problem-free world of the nightingale. He wishes to go there with the help of his poetic imagination whose influence seems to him far stronger than that of the wine. 

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35. How does Keats describe the surrounding in which he visualizes him to be seated?

Ans. The poet visualizes him to be seated in a bower where the moonlight does not reach. On account of the darkness the poet cannot see what flowers have bloomed below or what sweet-smelling blossoms have grown on the branches. However, he can guess from sweet smell the presence of white hawthorn, eglantine, violet, musk-rose (the first flower to bloom in the middle of May), etc. all around him. 

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36. Why does Keats mean when he says 'Queen-Moon is on her throne'?

Ans. In his fancy Keats visualizes him to be seated in a bower, where the moonlight does not reach. However, the poet imagines that the moon is shining in the sky. The moon is fancied as reigning over the sky and the surrounding stars are imagined as fairies. 

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37. Explain the metaphor in the phrase 'Queen-Moon'.

Ans. The highly imaginative poet has drawn a metaphorical comparison between the moon and a queen. Again, the surrounding stars are imagined to be the fairies attending upon the moon-goddess. The comparison is justified because the moon in the sky outshines the stars. 

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38. What do you mean by the phrase 'verdurous glooms'?

Ans. The phrase 'verdurous glooms' simply means the darkness of the grove caused by the numberless trees and their leaves. 

39. What is 'mid-May's eldest child'?

Ans. By 'mid-May's eldest child' Keats means musk-rose, a fragrant species of rose, the first flower that blooms in the middle of May. As because musk-roses are full of honey as clear as dew, the bees crowd in large numbers over them on summer evenings. 

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40. Why does Keats say that many a time he has been 'half in love with easeful Death'?

Ans. The poet's intense dissatisfaction with the world, where youth dies, beauty fades and love vanishes, has often led him to look upon death as a welcome escape from the death-in-life existence. He has invited death in endearing terms to come upon him in many rhymed verses, contemplated but not actually written out. However, half of his spirit has sought escape from pain, but the other half has yearned for life. 

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41. What do you mean by 'mused rhyme'?

Ans. The phrase 'mused rhyme' refers to rhymed poetic creation, contemplated but not actually written out. 

42. "Now more than ever seems it rich to die" Why does Keats consider the present moment to be the most suitable moment for death?

Ans. Keats has long been in love with death because it alone can deliver him from his bitter and tormented earthly existence. But, now while dwelling in the happy world of the nightingale in fancy, he forgets completely the painful realities of life. He is indeed at the apex of happiness, such happiness that now he could wish to die before pain comes back. The desire for death is a desire to make a transient happiness last for ever. 

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43. "Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain-- / To thy high requiem become a sod". What do you mean by 'requiem' and 'sod'? What does Keats want to mean here? Do you find any contradiction in the word 'requiem'?

Ans. The word 'requiem' literally means a song of mourning for the rest of the soul of the dead. 'Sod' means a plot of land covered with grass. Keats fancies that even after his death the nightingale would continue its song and then that song will be a replica of a dirge to which his ears will be as insensitive as a sod. Though previously Keats has called the bird's song happy and joyous, he now regards it as a mournful song because he is thinking of the possibility of his own death at this hour. Poetry is not to be judged by the laws of logic. The development of thought in a poem is often determined by the changing moods of the writer. 

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44. Why does Keats say that the nightingale is not born for death?

Ans. Those, who are acquainted with the sorrows and sufferings of human life, undergo decay and death. But, the nightingale has not tasted the ills of human life. Secondly, the individual bird dies, but the species continues. The song of one nightingale is taken up by the successive generations of nightingales for all time to come. Finally, the appeal of the bird's song remains unchanging and undiminished from the remote past to the present time. 

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45. What does Keats mean by the phrase 'hungry generations'? Why does he say "No hungry generations tread thee down"?

Ans. By the phrase 'hungry generations' Keats means the generations of mortal men, hungry for material gains. Keats has drawn a fine contrast between the human world and the world of the nightingale. In the human world, the succeeding generations of men, hungry for material gains, tread upon the memory of the preceding ones. But when one nightingale dies, its song is taken up by the coming generations of nightingales for an indefinite time. 

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46. Who, according to Keats, had heard the nightingale's song through the ages?

Ans. Keats imagines that in ancient times the song of the nightingale gladdened the heart of many emperors and clowns. He also fancies that the song had a curative effect on the sad heart of Ruth, a Moabite widow referred to in The Bible, when she stood in tears in the corn-field of Boaz. Finally, the song, supposedly, consoled the sad heart of a medieval princess, detained in an enchanted castle. 

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47. Who is Ruth? In which context does Keats refer to her? / Give an example of Biblical allusion from Ode to a Nightingale?

Ans. Ruth is a Moabite widow, referred to in The Bible. After the death of her husband she migrated to an alien land, Judah, to share her mother-in-law's troubles. But she often felt home-sick and stood weeping in the corn-field of Boaz. Keats imagines that the song of the nightingale consoled the sad heart of Ruth when feeling depressed and suffering from nostalgia. 

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48. "The same that oft-times hath / Charmed magic casements, opening on the foam / Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn". What do you mean by the phrase 'magic casements, opening on the foam'? What picture of the medieval princess does Keats draw here?

Ans. By the expression 'magic casements, opening on the foam' Keats means a castle on the shore of a stormy, dangerous ocean, the windows of which are opened to the sea. Keats imagines that the song of the nightingale in medieval times often smoothed the ears of some captive lady imprisoned in some enchanted castle on the shore of a stormy, dangerous ocean. According to some critics, Keats' description of the castle has been inspired by Claude's picture which he draws in The Enchanted Castle. 

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49. Give one example of Keats' medievalism from Ode to a Nightingale.

Ans. Keats' medievalism is clearly evident in the last two lines of stanza VII in Ode to a Nightingale. Keats here imagines that probably the song of the nightingale often smoothed the ears of some captive lady imprisoned in some enchanted castle on the shore of a stormy, dangerous ocean. The poet fancies that while sitting behind some window opening to the foamy waves of a dangerous sea, the lady heard the song and became happy for the time being. 

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50. "Forlorn! the very word is like a bell" - Why does Keats call the word 'Forlorn' a bell?

Ans. In stanza VII of Ode to a Nightingale Keats uses the word 'forlorn' which means 'remote'. In stanza VIII the poet says that the sound of the word 'forlorn' appears to him like the sound of a bell. In fact, the sound of a bell can easily shatter the trance of a person, his imaginative absorption. Similarly, the poet's utterance of the word 'forlorn' has brought him back from the world of imagination to that of reality. 

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51. What is called 'deceiving elf' and why?

Ans. The phrase 'deceiving elf' refers to a fairy that casts a romantic spell over a person and makes him forget the reality of life. Keats calls fancy or imagination a 'deceiving elf' because it is his fancy which a little before transported him from the world of reality to the imaginary realm of the nightingale and made him dwell there for some time. He has been deceived in the sense that he dwelt in a false world leaving the real one. 

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52. What does Keats mean by 'plaintive anthem' in the last stanza of Ode to a Nightingale? Do you find any contradiction here?

Ans. By 'plaintive anthem' Keats means the mournful or sad song of the nightingale. Though a little before the poet has called the song joyous, he now regards it as a 'plaintive anthem'. But this contradiction need not disturb us. Poetry is not to be judged by the laws of logic. The development of thought in a poem is often determined by the changing moods of the writer. When the poet calls the bird's song sad, he has been returned to reality and thus has received something of a shock. 

53. How does Keats describe the fading away of the nightingale's song?

Ans. When Keats at last returns to reality, the nightingale's song gradually begins to fade away. First, it seems to travel beyond near meadows and then it seems to move across the quiet stream. Afterwards, the song seems to go up the hill-side. Finally, it appears to sink in the deep valley becoming inaudible altogether. 

54. "Was it a vision, or a waking dream? / Fled is that music:---Do I wake or sleep?" - Explain.

Ans. When Keats returns to reality, the nightingale's song is no longer audible. But the immense joy and repose, which he found in the world of the nightingale, is still fresh in his mind. Naturally, he finds himself in an intricate situation in which he feels the pull of the two worlds—the ideal and the real. He hovers between a state of sleep and that of wakefulness, forgetting neither the land of the nightingale nor that of reality.