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John Keats (1795-1821) was an outstanding British romantic poet in the 19th century. Born in a poor family in London, he became interested in literature at an early age, but did not have the opportunity to pursue further studies. He served as a surgeon's apprentice and later as a trainee and physician's assistant in a London hospital. His creative career began in 1816. The first collection of poems was published the next year, with traces of imitation, including excellent works such as "Cricket and Grasshopper" and "Sleep and Poetry". 1818-1819 was the poet's most painful and creative period. He successively completed the long poem "Endymion", "Ode to Autumn", "Ode on a Greek Urn" and the folk song poem "The Merciless Pod Man". Sonnet "Brilliant Star, May I Be Like You Forever" etc. In addition, he also wrote the play "Otto Terra", the long poem "Isabel", "The Eve of St. Anne's Day", "Lamia" and the unfinished "Hyperian".
"Ode to a Nightingale" is Keats's most famous masterpiece of poetry.
"Ode to a Nightingale" has eight stanzas, each stanza has ten lines, so there are 80 lines in total. The poet expressed the poet's pursuit of ideals through the description of the nightingale's song. He firmly believed that beautiful things are eternal and nothing can destroy them.
At the beginning, the poet wrote: "My heart is hurting, and the dull numbness tortures my senses, as if I have drunk alcohol or just swallowed opium." He Use ingenious metaphors to highlight the dreamlike and intoxicating scene when listening to the nightingale's song. Keats uses feelings and moods to express the beauty and elegance of the nightingale's song. Therefore, although the poet's "heart is in pain", the intoxication of the song makes the poet forget the melancholy and pain together, and is willing to sink into the boundless "River of Forgetfulness".
Then came the wine. Under the guidance of the song, the poet galloped in the imagination of wine and flowers, wandering in the artistic conception of drunken poetry. He said: "Oh, I wish I had a sip of grape wine." The wine is intoxicating, and the intoxicating wine brings endless talents and inspiration to the poet. Therefore, the poet praised the wine, "When I taste the wine, I think of the green earth, dance, love songs and joy in the sun! I wish I had a cup filled with the warmth of the south and full of bright red fountains of inspiration." The feeling after being drunk It is carefree and painless, so John Keats said, "I wish I could drink it all in one gulp, quietly pass away from this world, and hide with you in the dark woods."
But why? How to forget with wine? Why does the poet use intoxication and unwilling to wake up to "hide in the dark forest"? The poet describes the reason in the third stanza. This section summarizes the human tragedy. The poem says, "Far away, far away, forget everything you never knew in the forest, forget the fatigue, restlessness and troubles, forget the world that people lament: the paralyzed old man trembling with sad residual hair, Young people become pale, haggard, and die young." Therefore, the poet believes that the world is a place full of troubles and sorrow, and the world is a place "full of despair." Therefore, the poet must choose to escape and move towards the ideal A beautiful place, a carefree place.
So, in the fourth stanza of the poem, the poet said, "Fly away! Fly away! I want to fly to you." He just wants to use his imagination to fly to an otherworldly realm. However, the poet also realized that good wine can make people intoxicated, but it cannot make people reach high. Therefore, the poet wants to use poetry to achieve the ideal state. He said, "Don't ride in the chariot of the god of wine drawn by a leopard, but ride on the invisible god of poetry." wing".
In the fifth stanza, the poet continues to use his imagination and expresses all his poetic fantasies in moving verses. He said, "This white hawthorn, the rose of Makino, is easy to wither among the green leaves. the violets; and the early flowers of mid-May, the dewy budding musk-roses; and the summer nights buzzing with flying insects.” The beauty of these nature soothes the poet's painful soul.
Then came death. The poet thought of death in the beautiful natural scenery and the quiet and peaceful atmosphere. The poet believes that returning to nature in tranquility is such a joy in life. He said, "I listened in the dark and fell in love with the silent god of death many times." "How magnificent death has become now, may I pass away without pain at midnight." Therefore, at this point, the poet's mood has changed, and the unbearable death in the previous verses has become a pleasant thing .
However, in the seventh verse, the poet changed his view again. He thought, if the poet dies, then what is the meaning of the intoxicating nightingale song? So, he changed his pen, Point the edge of poetry at the immortality of mankind. He describes the vicissitudes of life, joys and sorrows of mankind in the passage of time from death and the nightingale's singing through the ages, bringing a kind of artistic conception into the grand time, making people feel a kind of solemnity.
Therefore, in the eighth section, the poet conveys to us the idea that beauty is eternal. Therefore, people will no longer care about the perishable life and pleasure, and detach themselves from illusions. He said "Oh, goodbye! Illusion, charming little demon, can no longer perform your famous tricks", "The sound has disappeared - I am asleep, or I am awake".
"Ode to a Nightingale" was written in 1819.
At that time, Keats was living in the home of his good friend Shiran. There was a nightingale building a nest in his house. The sweet song of the nightingale inspired the poet, so he wrote a cantabile poem, "Ode to a Nightingale".
"Ode to a Nightingale" is beautifully written, reflecting the poet's outstanding talent in the use of words. For example, "There is only a ray of skylight, following the breeze, passing through the dark shadows of the trees and the winding paths of moss." Sentences full of tranquility, peace and beauty can be found everywhere in the poem. In Keats's poem, beauty is as tangible as the small flowers blooming quietly outside the house.
However, the reason why "Ode to a Nightingale" is famous does not lie in the poet's wonderful writing, but in the artistic conception and realm of the poem. "Ode to a Nightingale" is the embodiment of the poet's full emotion. As Wang Guowei said, "With emotion" There is a realm. Therefore, "Ode to a Nightingale" has artistic conception and realm. The realm of poetry is that it uses the nightingale's song to explore the joys and sorrows of life, death and immortality. Therefore, "what is reported is small, but what is described is big." The passage of time and the eternity of beauty are all reflected in the moving singing, and It was a small nightingale. It was a beautiful scene.