Dear readers,
I hope you find my blog psmoreadings.blogspot.in
helpful in your pursuit of a career. We have been preparing objective questions and
answers so far. As some of you mailed
me, it is high time that we got ready for descriptive questions. Since HSA examination
includes descriptive writing, this post will provide a few tips on how to get
ready and prepare paragraph/ essay questions.
All competitive exams are time bound. It is not what we
know, but what we can put forward within the stipulated time frame. The
challenge is to present all relevant points within the least number of words/
sentences you have in your arsenal. I suggest you draft model paragraphs and
get practiced before entering the exam hall. Writing is a skill that needed to
have regular drilling. The write up must be well structured, systematic, easy
to read and simple.
Write a paragraph a day
Wish you all the best.
Answer the following questions. Each question carries 5 marks. Maximum length of each essay should be two pages.
Attempt a critical analysis of Keats’ Ode
to a Nightingale.
[It is good to have a clear idea on how to
structure the write up and prioritize the things you want to include:
Paragraph
1: introduction to Keats – romantic poetry – literary forms – ode.
Para 2: theme of the poem – contrast between
nightingale and human beings –escapism – personal vision and the longing for
freedom
Para
3: romantic elements of the poem- imagery- treatment of nature- democratization
of literature]
John Keats (1795-1821) is considered as one
of the best romantic poets in English literature. He belongs to the second
generation of romantic poets of 18th century who mounted on the ‘viewless
wings of Poesy’ and introduced unknown lands of imagination into literature. He
was instrumental in expressing the ‘fever and fret’ of everyday life and longed
for the eternal bliss of immortality. Like other romantic poets, Keats too found
human life on earth as a punishment and the transience of life tormented him.
He realized the pain of human life as we are conscious of the past and the
present and presented the natural world unaffected by the passage of time. He
advocated the worship of beauty as a substitute for the pain of mundane existence.
Since the Romantic Revival of 18th century was a movement against
neoclassical literature which exposed the city life, Romantic writers
attempted to make literature feasible to all. Odes were commonly used by all romantic
writers including Keats. An ‘ode’ is a long lyric poem that is serious in
subject and treatment, elevated in style and elevated in stanzaic structure. It
is done in the form of an address.
The poem begins with the speaker’s
declaration that he feels a drowsy numbness. This mental state makes him
disenchanted with the world outside and he longs for something that can bring
him back to life. This longing for something
beyond the material world is a common feature of all romantic poetry. One can
observe similar kinds of lines in poems like ‘Ode to a Skylark’ by Shelley or ‘Ode
on a Grecian Urn’ by Keats himself. The
hopeless, disappointed and static condition suddenly gives way to the sweet
music of a nightingale which helps him to come out of his numbness and reminds
him of the immortal world. The speaker feels that the bird is immortal and it
is untainted by earthly existence. Its ecstasy, rapture and joy make the poet
aware of the condition of humanity which is tormented by the thoughts of the
past and future. He realizes that the bird is free because it is not haunted by
yesterday or tomorrow and it exist at the moment. Attracted by the ecstasy of
the nightingale, the poets try to fly with it carried by Bacchus, the God of
wine. Later he feels that the viewless wings of poesy can carry him to the
bird. This contrast between human and the bird/ nature can be traced in the
works of other romantic writers like Shelley (Ode to the West wind).
The poem can be considered as a typical romantic
poem as it pours out the emotional conflict of the speaker at the outset. It is a
spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings of the narrator and he is torn
between the mortal and immortal worlds. Escapism is a feature of romantic
poetry as the poem exposes the longing of the speaker to fade away in the
forest with the bird. It is also interesting to note that the poet finds faults
with humans as we are subject to the passage of time whereas the music of the
nightingale is eternal. The instinctive life and ecstasy of the bird is praised
by the poet. The use of natural imagery, rhythm and narration make the poem
effective. The role of art in scaffolding human efforts
to achieve immortality is also emphasized.
