Nightingale: Ecology and History
To truly understand the significance of the function of the nightingale in Romantic poetry, it’s necessary to look at its history with not only the English, but the contemporary world at the time of the eighteenth century, and the ecological explanations on why this particular, yet incredibly common, bird was chosen as the poetic token for the Romantic era.
In the eighteenth century, Not much was understood about this common migratory Old World bird; in fact at the time no one understood where this 6 ½ inch long bird traveled to during the winter months; what was known was that the birds always returned, without fail, to England in mid-April (McKusick 37). According to James McKusick in The Return of the Nightingale, there were two prime theories on where these birds went: one was that the birds migrated somewhere to the south; the second theory was, that instead of migrating, the birds hibernate- but where it was not clear (37). Some believed the birds found homes in hollowed trees, and brushes near lakes; only recently nightingales have been tracked migrating 3,000 miles to West Africa.
In ancient Greek, the word “nightingale” translates into “poet” or “night singer”- which plays particular significance to the bird itself, not only in actual life but in poetic representation as well. The nightingale is known as being a nocturnal creature, but they are known to sing both at night and during the day; each nightingale’s song is distinct, no two nightingale’s song is ever alike; the melody is completely individualized and differs day-to -day, moment to moment, based on a particular spontaneous mood or feeling (McKusick 34). What is important to note, however, is that only the male nightingale...
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...ne of a host of contradictions that outline Keats’s poem.
Like “On the Departure of the Nightingale”, the flight of the bird also symbolizes the removal of the song, and the loss of the creative force for the poet; the nightingale is free to escape from a world of decay and death, while the poet is forced to suffer in it.
Works Cited
Doggett, Frank. "Romanticism's Singing Bird." Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900 14 (Autumn, 1974): 547-61.
Feldman, Paula R. British women poets of the Romantic era: an anthology. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins UP, 2000. 68, 683.
McKusick, James C. "The Return of the Nightingale." The Wordsworth Circle 38 (Winter/ Spring 2007): 34-38.
Whiting, George W. "Charlotte Smith, Keats, and the Nightingale." Keats-Shelley Association of America 12 (Winter, 1963): 4-8.
Jane presents one aspect of woman in The Waking collection (1953): Ross-Bryant views Jane as a young girl who is dead. The poem expresses concern with the coming of death. This poignant elegy is presen...
The tile of the poem “Bird” is simple and leads the reader smoothly into the body of the poem, which is contained in a single stanza of twenty lines. Laux immediately begins to describe a red-breasted bird trying to break into her home. She writes, “She tests a low branch, violet blossoms/swaying beside her” and it is interesting to note that Laux refers to the bird as being female (Laux 212). This is the first clue that the bird is a symbol for someone, or a group of people (women). The use of a bird in poetry often signifies freedom, and Laux’s use of the female bird implies female freedom and independence. She follows with an interesting image of the bird’s “beak and breast/held back, claws raking at the pan” and this conjures a mental picture of a bird who is flying not head first into a window, but almost holding herself back even as she flies forward (Laux 212). This makes the bird seem stubborn, and follows with the theme of the independent female.
The Old English story “Yonec”, written by Marie De France portrays how love and symbolism can be displayed through a woman and a bird. “Yonec” is astonishing love story, because the woman was sent a knight to love and cherish her, yet devastating because knight died for their love. The woman in “Yonec” desired to be loved and was distraught that she had been constrained to a tower, and was saddened about her life and spoke of how “knights would find maidens to their liking, noble and beautiful, and ladies found lovers who were handsome and courtly and valiant” (de France 96- 99). Right after that moment of expressing her melancholic feelings, a hawk flew through the window and transformed into a handsome knight whose name was Muldumarec. The
The nightingale symbolizes this connection present between passionate love and the sorrow of death. Love makes people act in ways that puts them at risk of committing extreme acts. Juliet loved Romeo so much that she was willing to fake her own death to be with him. Romeo couldn’t bear to be without his love, and thus kills himself.
Sarah Orne Jewett’s “The White Heron” is a timely piece that depicts the struggle between nature and civilization, between the wild and the modern. The bright, beautiful forests and waters of Northern New England clash with the modern scientific advancements of man. Within her story, she describes a young girl named Sylvie whom is very closely connected with nature itself, grow up in the New England countryside far away from other people, even being described as, “afraid of folks” (670). One of her only friends is a cow named Mistress Moolly, and she often submerges herself within the delicate yet intriguing wildlife around her home. She loves being one with nature and she has even become seriously familiar with the lay of the land as well as most if not
To briefly summarize this poem, I believe that the poem could be separated into three parts: The first part is composed in the first and second letters, which stress on the negative emotions towards the miserable pains, illnesses that the parents are baring, and also their hatred of the birds. The second part, I believe will be the third and fourth letters, which talks about the birds’ fights and the visiting lady from the church. And the last part, starts from the fifth letters to the rest of them, which mainly describe the harmonious life between the parents and those birds.
Keats’ poetry explores many issues and themes, accompanied by language and technique that clearly demonstrates the romantic era. His poems ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ and ‘Bright Star’ examine themes such as mortality and idealism of love. Mortality were common themes that were presented in these poems as Keats’ has used his imagination in order to touch each of the five senses. He also explores the idea that the nightingale’s song allows Keats to travel in a world of beauty. Keats draws from mythology and christianity to further develop these ideas. Keats’ wrote ‘Ode To A Nightingale’ as an immortal bird’s song that enabled him to escape reality and live only to admire the beauty of nature around him. ‘Bright Star’ also discusses the immortal as Keats shows a sense of yearning to be like a star in it’s steadfast abilities. The visual representation reveal these ideas as each image reflects Keats’ obsession with nature and how through this mindset he was able
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Even after hearing the beautiful song of the bird, he still felt no hope. He wondered why the bird “had chosen thus to fling his soul” (23). According to Hardy there was “so little cause for carolings” (25). Although the bird was “some blessed hope, where of he knew”, Hardy still could not find meaning or optimism because he was still surrounded by “bleak twigs” (18) and “Winter’s dregs”. Everything around him has died and even the one glimpse of hope, the thrush, was weak and lean. This along with the conditions of the century caused the speaker to die inside.
...t speak to her lover only through the window of her room. At night, she would go to her window while she thought her husband was sleeping, claiming that the song of the nightingale kept her awake. After the nightingale is killed by the husband, the lord keeps the body with him always as a sign of devotion to the lady.
Keats, John. "Ode to a Nightingale." Romanticism: An Anthology. Ed. Duncan Wu. Oxford: Blackwell, 1998. 1058-1060.
The least realistic story explaining the development of Valentine’s Day involves birds. However, one of the most recognized symbols of Valentine’s Day is a lovebird. “Geoffrey Chaucer, an English poet of the 1300’s, wrote in The Parliament of Fowls, “For this was on St. Valen...
The moral of the nightingale’s death and Jesus’ crucifixion is one of love, pain and sacrifice. Wilde’s use of biblical symbols and themes make his story comparable to the death of Jesus Christ who dies for his love for Jerusalem. The parallels of these stories are found from beginning to end and one who is familiar with the story of Jesus will undoubtedly recognize it, at least in part, in “The Nightingale and the Rose.” The emphasis on the painful sacrifice is very prominent in both stories and the final lessons learned from each one, coincide greatly with one
bird as the metaphor of the poem to get the message of the poem across
“A Bird came down the Walk,” was written in c. 1862 by Emily Dickinson, who was born in 1830 and died in 1886. This easy to understand and timeless poem provides readers with an understanding of the author’s appreciation for nature. Although the poem continues to be read over one hundred years after it was written, there is little sense of the time period within which it was composed. The title and first line, “A Bird came down the Walk,” describes a common familiar observation, but even more so, it demonstrates how its author’s creative ability and artistic use of words are able to transform this everyday event into a picture that results in an awareness of how the beauty in nature can be found in simple observations. In a step like narrative, the poet illustrates the direct relationship between nature and humans. The verse consists of five stanzas that can be broken up into two sections. In the first section, the bird is eating a worm, takes notice of a human in close proximity and essentially becomes frightened. These three stanzas can easily be swapped around because they, for all intents and purposes, describe three events that are able to occur in any order. Dickinson uses these first three stanzas to establish the tone; the tone is established from the poet’s literal description and her interpretive expression of the bird’s actions. The second section describes the narrator feeding the bird some crumbs, the bird’s response and its departure, which Dickinson uses to elaborately illustrate the bird’s immediate escape. The last two stanzas demonstrate the effect of human interaction on nature and more specifically, this little bird, so these stanzas must remain in the specific order they are presented. Whereas most ...