1. Do you think humans can learn anything from other living creatures? Discuss the lessons you think we can learn.
2. Discuss the power of music to make us feel happy or sad. Share the songs and pieces of music which have an impact on you.
3. Do you think our dreams and daydreams can reveal something to us that we did not know previously?
COMPREHENDING AND RESPONDING
1. Describe how the speaker is feeling in lines 1–4 of this poem. 2. What impact does the nightingale have on the speaker in lines 5–10 of the poem?
3. What kind of drink does the speaker long for in stanza II, and why does he long for it? Support your answer with reference to stanza II.
4. Why would the speaker like to fly into the forest with the nightingale and forget what it is like to be human? Refer to stanza III in support of your answer.
5. In lines 31–35 how does the speaker intend to ‘fly’ with the nightingale? Refer to these lines in support of your answer.
6. What image of the forest do you form from reading lines 38–40? Give as much detail as possible in your answer.
7. Do you agree that Keats uses very sensuous language in stanza V? Discuss how he appeals to the senses with close reference to stanza V.
8. Why does Keats think that this happy moment of listening to the nightingale’s song would actually be the perfect time to die? Support your answer with reference to stanza VI.
9. According to stanza VII, does Keats think it is the nightingale itself or simply its song that is immortal? Support your answer with reference to this stanza.
10. Why does the word ‘forlorn’ have such an impact on the speaker, in your opinion? Support your answer with reference to stanza VII.
11. Do you find the ending to this ode satisfying? Support your answer with reference to the poem.
12. Compare this ode with another of Keats’ odes under the headings subject, theme, style, language and imagery.
13. What theme or themes can you find in this poem? Refer to the poem in support of your answer.
CREATING 1. Write an article for your school magazine about what happiness means to you.
2. Write a blog post which uses the following quotation by Aldous Huxley as its first line: ‘After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music.’
3. Write a discursive essay about escapism and how it can be a positive distraction from the stresses and worries of everyday life.
