This is a pretty good intro. It’s well-written, uses good, varied sentence structure,
and gives a clear sense of the poem. It also leads up to the thesis.
The Skylark Express
Humans have always been fascinated by the idea of flight. Soaring above the
earth implies freedom from earthly worries and connects to the soul. Percey Bysshe
Shelley’s poem, “To a Skylark”, focuses on the image of a skylark as a vehicle to achieve
this spiritual connection. For Shelley, the natural world creates the purest form of
existence, and to appreciate it one must observe and listen to it intently. “To a Skylark”
describes in intricate and visual detail his wonder at the exquisite beauty of the skylark’s
song. Attracted to the bird in part because of his romantic connection to nature, Shelley
attempts to define it in order to understand how its song can be so purely joyous. As the
skylark soars higher and higher, he describes the sun around it, and then sets out to
compare it to other objects. Unable to entirely capture its essence, he wonders how the
skylark can sing so happily, and reaches the conclusion that it is because it cannot feel
pain. Shelley understands that he can never be completely free of his humanity, but he
wishes to learn to sing even half as well as the bird, because then the world will listen to
what he has to say. “To a Skylark” expresses Shelley’s desire to learn pure poetic
expression from the bird’s joyous song; His intense love of the natural world typifies one
romantic concept of oneness with nature.
Good title, but the intro itself doesn’t create much of a sense of intrigue. The
sentences are choppy and unvaried and there is some careless wording. It mentions
some important ideas but the intro doesn’t have a clear focus or goal; it doesn’t
seem to lead up to its thesis with every single word.
Ode to a Nightingale: Numbness and Nature
A famous poet named Jonathon Keats came across the soft melody of a
Nightingale one day out in nature. He decided to write a poem describing how he felt
about this initially soft sounding bird. In “Ode to a Nightingale,” John Keats praises the
Nightingale yet reveals the flaws of both the actual bird and its melodies. The poem
discusses, through images, and poetic techniques, the Nightingale as a part of nature and
a symbolic figure. Not only does the nightingale’s melody make Keats ponder about the
idea of life, but he hopes to use the wings of poetry to essentially reach this bird. After
debating with himself over his opinion of the nightingale, his final answer still remains
unclear. Essentially, his experience with the nightingale makes him long for the
nightingale’s everlasting happiness. With creative techniques such as the use of concrete
language and the slow changing of opinions and perspectives, Keats’s themes in “Ode to
a Nightingale”, both correspond with and contrast to the ideas of the Romantic era.
This is not very developed and pretty much states the obvious
How the Nightingale Leads Keats to Nature
An “Ode to a Nightingale” is a poem written by John Keats as he was inspired by
a singing nightingale. Keats writes this song to praise the nightingale, which represents
Nature. Throughout the entire poem, Keats compares the world of Nature with the world
of man, which his own world. He longs to be a part of Nature and he contemplates how
he can get closer to Nature. Eventually his mind takes flight as he imagines himself to be
flying with the nightingale, the entire time continuing to praise Nature. As the poem
progresses, Keats uses detailed imagery with the heavily emphasized Romantic themes of
nature and human emotion to better contrast the world of humans to the world of Nature.
I like this one. It creates a sense of intrigue & draws the reader on. It has a clear
focus and goal toward which every word is aimed. It could use some improvement
here and there.
“Ode to a Nightingale”: Keats’ Treatise on Romanticism
Upon first examination, it seems a very strange thing for a man to be so consumed
by a need to communicate with a bird as John Keats’ speaker is in his poem “Ode to a
Nightingale.” On the surface, the motivations behind the speaker’s feelings are nearly
imperceptible. However, when more closely examined most of the speaker’s yearnings
are grounded in fairly basic Romantic principals,ples particularly an admiration for
nature. Dissertations of sorts on such Romantic ideas were not uncommon, other poets
such as Samuel Taylor! Coleridge and William Wordsworth did much the same thing.
This last sentence could be improved perhaps; it’s just wordy for what it is. What
makes “Ode to a Nightingale” somewhat unique is that in it Keats expresses a more
personal theme: a fear of death and a powerful desire to find a way to escape it. With this
knowledge, it becomes easier to understand that the nightingale is much more to the
speaker than a bird he happened upon in the woods, but a symbol of a kind of ‘perfection’
because it is a basic natural being and is even, according to the speaker “immortal” (61).
“Ode to a Nightingale” is a meditation on Romantic ideas that unites the commonplace
views such as nature’s superiority and the value of the imagination, as well as Keats’ own
longing for immortality.
I love the opening, and I love the detail and richness in this intro. There are also
confusing moments and some errors in modification. In the first line, it sounds like
the poem is miserable, when it’s the speaker. Further down, it sounds like the song
is speaking.
Transient Tranquility
Miserable due to severe happiness, “Ode to a Nightingale” begins with a man
describing his seemingly drunken and forgetful state, but then moving on to address a
happy, carefree bird. He yearns to find the bird in its sylvan home and allow its soothing
melody to alleviate his sorrow, for the bird knows not of the heartaches and plights of his
human world. Speaking to the bird and admiring its calming lullaby, the song makes the
narrator slip into a dream-filled sleep. His mind scatters about and fills his head with
images of beautiful flowers, starry skies, and contemplations of life and death, which lead
him to declare that the wondrous bird is immortal, for it is too remarkable to leave this
world. “Forlorn!” pierces (clarify this) through his magnificent dreams, and he ascertains
that the farther the nightingale flies away from himself, the more difficult it is to
determine whether it was all a dream. Because the song ceases, he cannot apprehend if he
is asleep or awake. The narrator of “Ode to a Nightingale” shares the Romantic affinity
for nature and its therapeutic, inspiring powers, thus allows himself to give in to the
tempting song of the nightingale that lulls him into a peaceful, dream-filled sleep and
eases his sorrow.