At the end of the third stanza he almost seems to be coming back to reality but, in the forth stanza he urges himself onwards in his flight until he reaches the nightingale. He realises the he can leave his mark on the world through poetry ‘ but on the viewless wings of poesy’.
Stanza five seems to anticipate death with a reference to ‘embalmed darkness’. Keats is suggesting that because summer has arrived it seems a good time to die being the best time of the year. Keats heightened description of nature throughout this poem could be due to the fact that he is sick and therefore living life to the full.
In stanza six as Keats listens to the song of the nightingale he relates “ I have been half in love with easeful Death’ suggesting that this would be a perfect moment to achieve his wish to die. He feels that to die at this intense moment of experience would be magnificent and he imagines the birds song to be a hymn for his own soul. ‘Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain – To thy high requiem become a sod’ .
Stanza seven is ambiguous as he suddenly claims that the nightingale is immortal and its song has been heard throughout history, the birds song brings solace and comfort to people as it never dies and is able to feed people with a sense of happiness. As the poet is bought back to a sense of reality and self consciousness the nightingales song fades at the same time as Keats imagination fails and so he is left wondering if this experience is reality or a dream ‘Was it a vision, or a waking dream? Fled is that music: - Do I wake or sleep? ‘
Ode to a Nightingale can be seen as an escape from reality and it does this in a number of ways , through drugs, poison, wine, imagination and death. It attempts to leave the misery and sickness of the real world to the beautiful world of nature , it celebrates the vitality of natural life and death is only a passing temptation.
To Autumn demonstrates the passing of time, it is a poem of partings – of the day, the season and of life itself. The poem reflects the progression through life and from birth through maturity to ageing and death. Keats uses the concept to illustrate that although Autumn leads to death and extinction, the cycle is necessary for the progression of life and nature as it all is part of a cycle that eventually leads to new life in the spring.
Keats uses progression of the day throughout the ode to illustrate the life cycle. The theme of time permeates the ode and starts with the word ‘Season’ and continues with a moving picture of time. The first stanza begins in the morning ‘mists’ moving on to the late afternoon in the second stanza whilst the third stanza occurs at sunset with ‘barred clouds’ piercing the sky with its ‘rosy hue’. Similary the season of Autumn is described through its progression starting in early autumn where ‘summer has o’er brimmed’ the second stanza hints at mid-autumn with the harvest and finally as the birds are headed south for winter late autumn is suggested. Each stanza deals with different phases of the season and although Keats finds great beauty in the autumn day it is more than a description of nature and beauty as he looks at both the positive and negative aspects of the passing of the season.
The appreciation of life is reflected in the bright use of color in his poetry. Keats uses extraordinary , sensuous description of all that surrounds him and his appreciation of the beauty of nature is increased by his approaching death as Keats is trying to express that when life is as beautiful as this, life is worth living but he wants to die in these beautiful surroundings appreciating life instead of suffering and dying somewhere with no natural beauty. At the same time, there is a tension between the progression of time and the desire to stop it and savour the moment.
Stanza one is full of positive imagery, the ‘mellow fruitfulness’ the fruit with ‘ripeness to the core’ the ‘plump’ hazel shells all suggest fulfillment. It is a description of a continuous cycle of life and growth that has already begun. Stanza two gives the feeling of a time of reflection and harvesting of the summers produce and Stanza three speaks of the transformation of products before the new beginnings.
The ode ‘To autumn’ is not gloomy, it is a positive poem about the rich experience of life. Keats suggests that death has its place in the process of time but it doesn’t diminish the beauty of nature. Instead, death gives a sense of order. Ripening is a natural process. Life should be lived to the fullest and be enjoyed. ‘fill all fruit with ripeness to the core’. Through exploitation and harvesting, a heady ‘fume’ of consciousness can be reached where our own mortality can be forgotten. Without Autumn, there would be no spring. Human life is linked to change which ultimately brings renewal. The point of death is also the point of life.
Keats successfully combines the sense of both joy and sadness in ‘To Autumn’. Nature continually renews life, plants animals, birds, insects and although Keats ends the poem on a more sorrowful tone, he does convince the reader that life will return.
Through his poetry, it is clear that Keats is well aware of the cycle of life and accepts death as a part of it. At the same time, he savours nature and beauty and uses his imagination to transport himself into a euphoric state where he doesn’t know the difference between reality and a dream like state, body and spirit, life and death. He doesn’t see death as the end and believes in immortality as he wrote in a letter to his brother in America, ‘The last days of poor Tom were of the most distressing nature; but his last moment were not so painful, and his very last was without a pang’ and this is reflected in his Ode to a Nightingale when he says ‘Now more than ever seems it rich to die, To cease upon the midnight with no pain’.
