Stylistic Study of Keats' “Ode to a Nightingale”

Abstract

This study presents a comprehensive stylistic analysis of "Ode to a Nightingale," composed by John Keats in 1819, widely regarded as one of the finest achievements of English Romantic poetry. Keats, often termed the "poet of beauty," developed an aesthetic philosophy in which beauty and truth become inseparable, famously declaring, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty." His enduring assertion that "A thing of beauty is a joy forever" encapsulates his belief in the redemptive and eternal power of aesthetic experience. Central to Keats's poetic vision is his concept of Negative Capability, the capacity to remain in uncertainty and doubt without the restless need for rational resolution. This intellectual disposition enables the poet to embrace life's complexities and ambiguities with imaginative openness rather than analytical closure. The present study employs stylistic methodology to examine the poem's intricate deployment of literary devices, including imagery, metaphor, simile, personification, classical allusion, and sound patterns such as assonance, alliteration, and metrical variation. Through systematic analysis, this research illuminates how Keats orchestrates these elements to create a unified meditation on mortality, beauty, and the transcendent power of imagination.

Keywords: Stylistic analysis; Ode to a Nightingale; Romantic poetry; Negative Capability.