NCERT Solutions for Class 11 English (Woven Words) Poetry 11 Ode to Nightingale

Class : 11th

Subject : English

Chapter : 11

Chapter Name : Ode to Nightingale

Q1 How does the nightingale’s song plunge the poet into a state of ecstasy?

Answer. While sitting under a plum tree in the garden of his house, in Hampstead, Keats
stroked with an idea to compose a poem called “Ode to a Nightingale.” He has inspired the song
that nightingale was singing. The poet composed the poem keeping in mind the melodious voice
of a nightingale, and the mood of the poem was melancholic. Song of Nightingale is compared
with Lethe river water as he was feeling that he was happy and forgot about death, as he was
fully mesmerized by her song.

Q2 What are the unpleasant aspects of the human condition that the poet wants to escape
from?

Answer. Poet is celebrating happiness his happiness along with the song of the nightingale.
Keats dreams of escaping sorrow and sadness that life presents him. The poet wants to escape
all the unpleasant and sad things. He wishes that he could be free like a bird high and fly high
without any limits, and human life presents all the gloomy things and sad. While thinking about
the poem he writes various things that human experiences and bird doesn’t. The bird never sits
like an old man.

Q3 What quality of ‘beauty’ and ‘love’ does the poem highlight?

Answer. In this poem, Keats tells about the problems in the life of human being when he
compared things with a life of that nightingale. Sitting under a tree he was admiring the
environment around him and listens that makes him happy with a bird’s song, he was enjoying
the beauty of nature. He was sad though, thinking one day we all will die. He tells us that the
world is in constant motion of flux and change. The beauty makes him sad as it will end one
day.

Q4 How does the poet bring out the immortality of the bird?

Answer. While the poet laments the loss of human life he enjoys the song of the nightingale. He
is mesmerized by the song and finds peace in it. He was taken aback by the beauty of her song.
He predicts that while the world gets old and decay her song would remain youthful as ever. He
wants to fly like a bird and keep listening to the melodious voice. He realizes that whatever he
has been dreaming is not possible. He praises the melodious voice which will remain forever
while mankind may come and go.

Q5 How is the poet tossed back from ecstasy into despair?

Answer. When Keats was listening to the bird’s song, the nightingale moves away from him.
The song of the bird was distant now, and suddenly poet tossed back from ecstasy into despair.
He realizes what he is thinking are mere dreams; it’s the ultimate truth that human life is mortal.
He again came into the real world with the same sorrow feeling that we all will die one day and
the bird will move on forever

.

Q6 How does the poem bring out the elusive nature of happiness in human existence?

Answer. The poem is all about happiness that exists in abstract form and real form which is from
inside, the poet talks about the happiness that he was getting from listening to bird’s song and
pain when he was thinking about obstacles in human life. The mortality of bird’s song had been
directly linked with the immortality of human life which ends up with the elusive nature of
happiness as thinking about this poet could hardly find he was happy. Poet was praising the real
happiness but elusive in nature which he was getting while listening to the song of the
nightingale.