Saturday, January 11, 2014

Please explain some of the uncommonly used or unfamiliar words in the poem, "Ode to a Nightingale".

It would be easier to give you an answer if you would give us the specific words you don't understand. That said, let me explain some of Keats's vocabulary for you.

Throughout this poem, Keats alludes to Greek and Roman mythology.

  • Lethe-wards, in line 4, refers to one of the rivers of Hades. Anyone who drank its water would forget everything he or she knows.
  • a Dryad, line 7, is a wood nymph, or a goddess that watches over trees
  • Flora, line 13, refers to plants
  • Hippocrene, line 16, is a fountain that is sacred to the Muses, the goddesses responsible for inspiring all artists
  • spectre-thin, line 26, is a way of saying "very thin"; "spectre" is another word for "ghost"
  • Bacchus and his pards, line 32, refers to a painting by Titian, a Renaissance artist. In the painting, Bacchus and Ariadne, Bacchus is standing in a chariot being pulled by leopards. Bacchus is the god of wine and revelry. I've pasted a link to a picture of that painting below.
  • Poesy, line 33, is a personification of poetry. Keats rejects Bacchus for the "wings of Poesy"
  • Fays, line 37, refers to fairies

Ruth, in lines 66 and 67, is not from mythology but is an allusion to the biblical book of Ruth.

I hope this helps you.

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