Depression And Death In John Keats's Ode To A Nightingale

John Keats

Like many poets, John Keats had a very troubling and traumatic life which is seen in his poetry. Death and many other troubles caused him to have a life that would make anyone would feel horrible in. John Keats’ poetry has many dark recurring themes. One speculation was that his poetry was an escape from his melancholy life. There were many aspects to Keats’ life that seemed to motivate him to write his poetry. Therefore there were clear connection between his works of poetry and the events of his life.

John Keats was on born October 31 1795 in Moorgate, London. His parents were Thomas and Francis Keats. He was the oldest of four children. Keats’ was described as a volatile character, "always in extremes",(Delaney 17), and

There are many themes, such as depression and death that are found in this poem. In the line 1 it reads, “My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pain” (Keats). This quote shows Keats’ depression and how he is numb to the pain now. This shows that since he has endured so much pain in his past he is numb to the hurt and heartbreak, he considers this pain an everyday thing. Critic, Bill Delaney feels that he is very depressed as well. In his analysis he writes, “In Ode to a Nightingale, Keats is really only talking about the beauty of nature and how painful it is to think of dying and having to leave it. An aspiring writer can learn from Keats that the secret of creating important work is to deal with basic human emotions.” (Delaney). Delaney has the right idea about natures’ beauty and Keats’ feeling about having to leave it one day. Since so many of Keats’ close relatives have died and left nature to it made him think about how he is going to die soon and how sad that makes him feel. These thoughts could have been a factor to his early downfall and death at 25.

His brother Tom had just died of tuberculosis. He himself had premonitions of his own death from the same disease, which turned out to be true. He was in love with young Fanny Brawne but found it impossible to marry her because he had rejected the career in medicine for which he had been trained; he was finding it impossible to make a living as a writer...” (Delaney). This quote shows that Keats is experiencing many more obstacles than just the death of his family members. He rejects his profession in medicine because of his love of poetry and he is essentially shunned from his community. This rejection also makes it impossible for Keats to be with his love,Fanny Brawne which is heartbreaking in itself. In addition to that he was struggling to make money with the salary of a writer. If one experienced even half of these troubles he would become depressed or distraught or even suicidal. In Keats’ “Ode to a Nightingale” he writes, “I have been half in love with easeful Death” (Keats). This line of poetry shows how Keats’ state of mind is reflected poetry.This stanza alone shows hints of depression and desire for death. Keats was more than just depressed. One can say he feels that is done with his life on earth and that he wants to die because everyone else in his family has. Keats wants an “easeful death”. He wants to die quickly and easily; some may even say he