Skip to main content

“He hath awakened from the dream of life— 'Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep With phantoms an unprofitable strife, And in mad trance, strike with our spirit's knife Invulnerable nothings.”- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822) An elegy on the death of John Keats, “Adonais”-----How do you find aptness of the above qoute in reference to understanding John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale"?(10 marks)

 “He hath awakened from the dream of life— 


'Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep 

With phantoms an unprofitable strife, 

And in mad trance, strike with our spirit's knife 

Invulnerable nothings.”- Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792 - 1822) An elegy on the death of John Keats, “Adonais”-----How do you find aptness of the above qoute in reference to understanding John Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale"?(10 marks)

The quote from Percy Bysshe Shelley's elegy on John Keats, Adonais, is particularly apt when considering the themes and sentiments expressed in Keats' "Ode to a Nightingale". Shelley's lines—"He hath awakened from the dream of life— / 'Tis we, who lost in stormy visions, keep / With phantoms an unprofitable strife, / And in mad trance, strike with our spirit's knife / Invulnerable nothings"—speak to the idea of transcending the painful illusions and struggles of life, a concept central to Keats' ode.

In "Ode to a Nightingale", Keats contrasts the fleeting nature of human life, full of suffering and sorrow, with the seemingly eternal, carefree existence of the nightingale. The bird, in its song, represents a world free from the burdens of mortality, a state of being that Keats yearns to join. The nightingale's song evokes in him a desire to escape the "weariness, the fever, and the fret" of human existence, a theme that resonates with Shelley's portrayal of life as a "stormy vision" filled with "phantoms" and "unprofitable strife."

Keats' meditation on life and death in the ode parallels Shelley's notion of awakening from the "dream of life." The nightingale becomes a symbol of this desired transcendence, an embodiment of the immortal and the eternal, in contrast to the "invulnerable nothings" that characterize human life. Keats longs to escape the painful realities of the world, much like Shelley's portrayal of an escape from the futile struggles that define human existence.

Moreover, the sense of disillusionment with life that Keats expresses—his recognition of the "mad trance" that leads people to futilely battle with the ephemeral—is echoed in Shelley's lines. The "spirit's knife" striking "invulnerable nothings" captures the futility of human efforts to overcome the inevitable, a sentiment that Keats explores as he grapples with the impermanence of life and the allure of the nightingale's seemingly timeless song.


Thus, Shelley's quote is deeply resonant with the themes of "Ode to a Nightingale", capturing the same yearning for escape from the harsh realities of life and the recognition of the futility inherent in human struggles. Both poets explore the tension between the transient and the eternal, the mortal and the immortal, ultimately suggesting that true peace lies beyond the illusions of life.


Labels

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Drop any query, suggestion or comment here.

Other Fat Writing

Popular posts from this blog

Dr. West’s New Method of Teaching English :Its Merits and Demerits

                 D r. Michael Philip West (1888–1973) conducted an extensive research and experiments on the problems of teaching English as a foreign language in India at the time of British rule . Read More Teaching English The new method is the outcome of his research. It stood as a reaction against the Direct Method. Going into more details, when Dr. West came to visit rural Bengal students (1913- 19) en route teaching job at Teachers’ Training College  at Dhaka, West's conclusions about English learning issues in Bengal, India were as follows: 👉Students spent about 10 hours a week on English study with extremely poor results. 👉Only a minority reached the Matriculation class due to health or financial reasons. Read More  Teaching English 👉Even in the Matriculation class, students lacked real reading ability, speaking fluency, and writing proficiency in English. 👉A 1919 Calcutta University...
6 comments
Read more

Dr. Samuel Johnson's "Preface to Shakespeare": Points to Remember

E ighteenth-century writer Samuel Johnson ((1709-1784) is one of the most significant figures in English literature. His fame is due in part to a widely read biography of him, written by his friend James Boswell and published in 1791. Although probably best known for compiling his celebrated dictionary, Johnson was an extremely prolific writer who worked in a variety of fields and forms. Chief Critical Approaches of Dr. Johnson are: Johnson tried teaching and later organized a school in Lichfield. His educational ventures were not successful, however, although one of his students, David Garrick, later famous as an actor, became a lifelong friend.
40 comments
Read more

Kinds of Poetry: Narrative, Lyric, and Dramatic

Introduction: Poetry is a form of literary expression that has captivated readers and listeners for centuries. It allows poets to convey their thoughts, emotions, and experiences in a condensed and artistic manner. While there are countless poetic forms and styles, poetry can be broadly categorized into three main kinds: Narrative, Lyric, and Dramatic. Each of these kinds has distinct characteristics, purposes, and examples that showcase the rich diversity within the world of poetry. Kinds of poetry :  There are three great kinds of poetic writing: Narrative, Lyric, and Dramatic. Narrative poetry: Narrative poetry tells a story with a plot, characters, and a setting. It  is one of the oldest and most straightforward forms of poetry. It tells a story, often in a chronological sequence, using poetic devices to create a vivid and engaging narrative. Some key points about narrative poetry include: Storytelling: Narrative poetry focuses on storytelling, using poetic language to c...
1 comment
Read more