Page 66 - 100 Best Loved Poems - Teaching Unit

“Ode to a Nightingale”
by John Keats, pages 43-45

Vocabulary
opiate – a narcotic
draught – a mug-full
verdurous – green, forest-like
requiem – song of sorrow and remembrance
plaintive – mournful

1. To who or what is the speaker addressing in the poem?

The speaker is addressing his poem to a nightingale he hears singing in a forest.

2. In the third stanza, the speaker announces, “Where youth grows pale, and spectre-thin, and
dies.” What other poet presented in this anthology shares the speaker’s idea that youth and
innocence dies with age and experience?

The theme of innocence and experience is most evident in the poetry of William Blake.

3. How will the poet follow the nightingale, according to the fourth stanza?

The speaker will follow the nightingale through his poetry, not through alcohol.

4. In Stanza VII, find and record an example of an allusion.

The allusion in this stanza is to the book of Ruth in the Bible.

5. How does the speaker react to the bird’s flight at the end of the poem?

The speaker, upon losing hearing of the bird’s song, questions whether he is awake or
asleep.

6. How does the tone of this poem differ from the tone found in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “To
A Skylark?”

Shelley’s “To A Skylark” has a positive tone that praises the beauty and power of the bird.
It is filled with longing; the speaker wishes he could know what inspires the skylark to sing
so wonderfully so he could be inspired also. It ends with the speaker’s request to be taught
how to sing, so that he may share the song with the world.

This poem of Keats’ has a darker tone. The poem begins with the speaker describing his
heartache, and a frustrated, forlorn tone continues through most stanzas. This poem ends
with the speaker wishing the bird away, and then wondering whether seeing it was a
dream.

T-48