Oscar Wilde's "Nightingale and the Rose" short story highlights human

selfishness. Discuss.
(This model essay will give you an idea about how to write a good essay with
proper introduction, organised body and conclusion).
The Nightingale and the Rose is a short story written by Oscar Wilde. Oscar Wilde was a
famous author and poet. The Nightingale and the Rose was not a book nor a poem, but a short
story that he wrote during his lifetime. Like in each short stories, there is a theme, in this one,
the theme of the story is love and sacrifice. However, the author also highlights human
selfishness in this story.
This seemingly simple story, when examined closely, develops several meaningful themes in
regard to human nature, one of them being that of blind selfishness. The student is selfish in
that he is totally focused upon himself--his own feelings, his own needs, and his arrogant
security in his own education and intellect. As the result of his selfishness, he is both blind
and ignorant. When the story begins, he weeps and pities himself, for he lacks a red rose that
would bring the girl he loves into his arms. He lingers upon all that is being denied him,
suffering with every detail summoned up in his tortured imagination. He wallows in his pain
and rails at the injustice of it all. He, after all, deserves better.
Not even the beautiful song of the nightingale can break his obsession with himself. Hearing
the lovely music as she sings for him, he takes out his notebook and arrogantly critiques her
heartfelt performance. He is, after all, a well educated student who knows music. In focusing
on his own intellect and reveling in it, he is blind to the beauty of the gift she gives him with
her song, and he is ignorant of her devotion. The student is selfish and ignorant.
The same obsession with self is found in the girl the student loves. Carrying the red rose
created by the blood of the nightingale, he goes to her and is turned away. She refuses him,
scoffs at the gift of the rose, and scorns him in a haughty manner. The rose is the wrong color
for her dress, she tells him, and it is only a rose. She has been offered jewels. Noting her
selfishness, he calls her ungrateful--surely an ironic moment in the story. In response, she
rejects him as being "only a student," and one who lacks silver buckles for his shoes. In her
selfish concern for appearances and wealth, she turns away someone who loved her.
Many other themes are developed in the story, but through these two characters, the nature of
love is examined. Both of them are too selfish to love. As soon as he is rejected, the student
throws the rose in the gutter and closes his heart. Only the nightingale understood the
meaning of love and loved truly.
A Model Answer on the poem “The Eagle” by Tennyson:
Question: “How does Alfred Lord Tennyson present the power in society in his
poem,"The Eagle". (In this model answer, I also tried to give you an idea about
the correct format of an essay type answer (with clear Introduction,
development and conclusion).
Eagle is used as a symbol of freedom and power by many poets. Eagle is an unusual bird with
strange habits. It is a large bird who prefers high places to build its nest. Eagle can sore high
and emits a piercing sound. It also boasts of a very sharp vision that can spot its pray from a
long distance.
In the poem Eagle by Tennyson, the Eagle is used as an unequivocal symbol of power.
Although it plays a passive role throughout the poem, its very stillness creates a sense of awe
and majesty. The poet’s focus appears to be mainly the eyes of the eagle and how they survey
the surrounding so that we get the perspective of the “eagle’s eyes”.
Eagles’ very position in the poem seems to suggest its power. It is perched on the top of a
steep mountain, so steep it’s called “mountain walls”. From this great height, everything
below spears to be diminished in size and reduced to a mere sketch. Even the sea beneath
appears to “crawl” and the sky appears to be “lonely”. Height traditionally symbolize
dominance and power. Hence, eagle’s location on the top of crag has connotations of power.
Imagery is also used to buttress this notion of power. For example, eagle is “close to the sun”
which suggests an implied comparison with the sun, the most powerful of all the planets. The
sun, directly or indirectly, controls everything on the earth, and, by comparison, the eagle too
possesses some controlling power over its pray on earth. In the same way, its empire is the
sky and the line “ringed by the azure world” suggests its majestic quality which is highlighted
by the panoramic angle of its location.
The most effective device used by the poet to highlight eagle comes in the final line where
“..like a thunderbolt he falls”. The image of the “thunderbolt” is so powerful that it takes us
by surprise especially in the context of almost tableau-like background we have witnessed so
far. The verb “falls”, although it generally means a free fall, suggests a perpendicular
downward motion which leaves no chance for its pray as it would land precisely on its target.
Thus this action of the eagle suggests its power and precision.
In summary, we can say that Tennyson’s poem Eagle represents power which is highlighted
in many ways. The eagle might symbolize the power of nature as well as the earthly power of
the human world. For example it might symbolize the overweening and ominiscent power
enjoyed by monarchs or some political leaders who prays on their enemies in a merciless
manner.
Model Essays: A Model essay on the play “Bear” by Anton Chekov:
Question: Justify the title “Bear” with the character Smirnov.
"The Bear," which is a classic one-act play written 1900, is one of the great works of Anton
Chekhov, which is very much about a widowed woman. The Bear can be regarded as a comedy
since it is to give the audience entertainment and amusement. This comedy reveals the fine line
between anger and passion. It’s title, Bear, is very interesting and it refers mainly to the character
Smirnov in the play.
The word 'bear' suggests something spontaneous, in its expression of feelings, anger, love and
hatred. A bear is powerful, fiercely aggressive and dominant animal. In fact it is passionate
quality having no self control: it becomes a symbol of vulgarity as well as of basic natural
feelings. The bear represents different qualities of the characters of the play.
Though it refers to Smirnov primarily, yet it can well be fitted to all the characters of the play
literally and ironically.
Primarily, Smirnov is the bear. He is introduced to us as a powerful middle aged man. He is
rough and tough: vulgar in all respects. Smirnov comes to Popover's house to seek money he
lent to her late husband. He drags himself in pushing the servant when he is told that the lady of
the house does not see anybody as she is mourning her husband's death. He rebukes her and
threatens Popova when she refuses to pay him on account of her accountant not being there.
She promises to pay him the day after tomorrow but he refuses. Smirnov wants the money and
he is ready even to die for it. He becomes vulgar as his remarks show to us:
"That's why I never did like to talk to women. I would rather sit on a barrel of gunpowder than to
talk a woman".
He makes fun of her, insults her and even calls her mourning a deception. He is very passionate
when he falls in love with Popova. In fact he behaves like a bear. The playwright describes it as:
"He snatches at the back of a chair the chair creaks and breaks". And Smirnov utters: "Devil take
it how I'm smashing up your furniture! I like you." The Smimov who wanted to get the money at
every cost is replaced by a passionate lover who says: "I'm in love like a boy, a fool... I'm about
to let my debt go".
On the other hand, Popova is polite and quite decent. She is faithful to her husband even after
his death. She mourns him for about six months. She vows:
"I shall never go out... he's in his grave and I have buried myself between four walls."
Human beings are never dead if blood runs through their veins. Man has feelings and relations;
without them man becomes an animal. She becomes a bear by crushing her basic natural
feelings. Apparently, she is not vulgar, yet we do find pieces of vulgarity in her character when
she encounters Smirnov. She abuses him as well as gets ready to fight a duel with him. All this is
passionate, spontaneous, out of love or anger, and representative either of beauty or physical
power because no sane man would let his debt go and no lady would be ready to fight a duel in
normal circumstances. Further, the ending of the play where they are kissing and touching each
other tenderly, also shows how they become ensnared by passion and emotion.
QUESTION: According to the novel vendor of sweets how does the conflict between father
and son developed as a conflict between two culture's of East and West?
R.K Narayan’s The Vendor of Sweets deals with the tragic-comic clash between the two
generations. The novel portrays the conflict between the Indian or Eastern father and his
Western bred son. R.K. Narayan’s fictional world Malguadi is the microcosm of Indian society
revealing all its diversities. The East-West theme figures prominently in Indian novels in English,
particularly those written after independence. The English ruled over India and there were
conflicts and tensions, for Indian patriotism and her pride in her own spiritual culture could not
tolerate British domination. India must assimilate the best that is in the Western way of life, in
Western science and technology. It is in this way that India will be transformed and modernized
and the two will come together.
The father-son conflict in the novel begins with the death of Jegan’s wife for which Mali, his son,
holds Jegan responsible. Between Jagan and Mali, there are further complications. One is a
devout and staunch nationalist, the other is thoroughly westernized. He eats beef and demands
over two lakh rupees from his father to set up a factory for the manufacture of a novel-writing
machine. Jagan is a Hindu father and a Gandhian follower and so he adopts the way not of
confrontation but of passive- resistance in dealing with him.
The novel presents through the character of Mali shows that the social values have been fast
changing. And Jagan, that Gandhian disciple has been made totally, incapable to compromise
with the world, the end being Jagan’s retreat from the realities, which is nothing but a kind of
death to him. Jagan’s renunciation of the world is in keeping with the Indian tradition. But he is
also pushed into it by his personal circumstances. When Jagan finds that it is his wealth which is
the root of all evil and has led Mali into his wicked ways he decided at once to go to the root and
give it up with ruthlessness worthy of his master Gandhi.
The discovery that his son and his American- Korean companion, Grace are not really married
came to Jagan as a shock. His house had become contaminated, a moral plague spot; and since
it is not in his nature to burn it down, he must do the next best thing- run away from it. Chinna
Dorai, the sculptor turned hair- dryer helps him to do this. There is peace waiting for him, on the
other side of the river among brambles, snakes and monkeys. All he has to do is to shake the
city dust off his feet, take his charkha and go there.
Grace, of course, is a foreigner but she tries to learn the ways of a Hindu family and perform his
duties expected from a Hindu daughter-in-law. So daily, she sweeps, dusts and cleans the part of
the house in which Jagan lives. She does live in sin with Mali. It also appears that she had come
to India with the purpose of setting up a factory for making short writing and the two were in
league. They proposed to rob the old man of his hard-earned money. This was the lure which
had brought Mali to India. So it is difficult to agree with Jagan that Grace was a good girl. When
Jagan refuses to cough out the money, she is left with no other option but to return to America, or
take up petty jobs in India and continue to live in sin eith with Mali or with someone else. The
conflict comes to the climax when Jegan leaves his home for the Temple.
The charkha, the swadeshi, and Jagan’s retreat are symbolic of India and the East. The
telephone, the novel writing machine, type writer, beef eating Mali, symbolise the West. In
between both stands Grace. Grace has her faults but we also feel that with a little love and
affection and with considerate behaviour she would have become a good girl. This is the only
way in which the East and the West can come together. The Vendor of Sweets is a good
example of contrast of East-West conflict as far as situation, characterisation and culture is
concerned. Through this novel the novelist imparts the superiority of Indian culture. Narayan’s
Indian sensibility stands in his immense knowledge of Indian mythology, which forms the rich
source of his narrative fiction. This the father-son conflict is developed as a conflict between East
and West by Narayan in this Novel.
A Model answer on the extract from “Wave” by Sonali Deraniyagala.
Question: Human reactions to sudden panic and disaster are clearly brouglht out in the
extract from Sonali Deraniyagala. Discuss.
Answer:
In her memoir Wave, Sonali Deraniyagala shares the true story of the tsunami in Sri Lanka that
killed her husband, two sons, and parents. As the only one in her family who survived the wave,
Deraniyagala fought through her grief and depression to find a new identity for herself. Her story
covers a period of seven years as she tries to make sense of what happened and learn to deal
with her grief. It also vividly brings out how humans react to sudden panic and disaster.
The opening lines of the extract itself show the natural reactions of human beings when they
experience
a strange sight.
“Oh my God, the sea’s coning in.” At times when humans have not had such experiences
different
people may look at the same situation and see it differently. Sonali who looked at thewaves
thought
it w

as not that remarkable or alarming. For her it was “only the white curl of a big wave.” In other
words, her initial reaction to this unprecedented phenomenon is one of indifference.
The story also shows that even in the midst of something strange, humans are slow to react as in
the
case of Steve, Sonali's husband who says he'll come out 'in a minute' to see what Sonali wants
to
show him. In fact, he is not in a hurry to see what was happening.
Human rcaction in cases of sudden panic is sometimes not to speak, but to act quickly as seen
when
Sonali says 'we didn't speak" but just “grabbed Vik and Malli” and ran out. It is a kind of knee-jerk
reaction to a sudden disaster and it is naturally governed by the instinct of survival.
She ealizes there is danger, but is yet unsure of the extent of it, but one thing is clear. That is as
a mother she has to get her children to safety.
"I didn't stop for my parents! Couldn’t stop. It will stall us”
She regrets that she didn't call her parents, but we see how she reacted to sudden panic with the
natural instincts of a mother. Her children must be saved first. This is the instinct of any mother,
be it humans or animals.
The story also shows that some people act humanely and sympathetically in the face of sudden
disaster when we see thejeep that stops and waits for them.
How people react when they see their loved ones in trouble is also visible when we see how
Anton
jumps down after his wife falls off the jeep. He probably knew they would both lose their lives, but
preferred to die together than live without each other.
We are shown the panic when Sonali realises she was leaving her parents behind. The guilt that
she feels at the moment is seen in her thoughts:
“If I lad screamed at their door...they could have run with us”
The need to be reassured that everyching will be alright is also a natural reaction in the midst of
trouble.
"I was thankful for Steve's words, I was reassured."
humans, especially parents,think of their children first and react with thoughts of their safety. This
is seen when the jeep is in water both Semali and Steve lift the boys high so that their faces are
above
water.
From the above examples it is clear that human reactions to sudden panic and disaster are
clearly brought out in an extract from 'waves’. These reactions are naturally governed by instincts
of love and survival.
How to write an essay type answer on Literature?
(Lesson 1):
This is a question asked by so many students as well as teachers as nobody has given any clear guideline
about this "universal" issue. I'm going to illustrate the essay type answering technique with reference to
short story, poetry, drama and prose.
Ideally essay type answer should have at least 5 paragraphs including the introduction and the conclusion.
The introduction should contain a brief overview of the story and a thesis statement which defines the
question and your approach towards it. Each body paragraph should support the thesis statement with
examples from the text. Ideally, the first sentence of a body paragraph should contain the main point while
the rest of the paragraph elaborates on it. The conclusion should be strong and it should summarize your
points and substantiate the thesis statement.
Now, l'm going to illustrate this five paragraph essay format with an example essay. The question is from
the short story "Lumber Room".
Question:
"Lumber Room" is a short story about a child who challenges the accepted norms and opinions of the
elders". Discuss.
First of all, you should do some brainstorming and jot down the main points needed for the body
paragraphs. For example, one of the adult norm challenged by Nicholas is that adults think they are always
correct. Another adult conception of (or misconception) is that children can be disciplined through
punishment. Another may be that things which do serve any practical purpose for which they are made
should be discarded. (Instead of using them into some alternative purpose). Now you are ready to develop
the body paragraphs on those lines.
First of all, let's begin with the introduction.
Lumber Room by Saki is a short story about a child with an unusual intelligence and imagination. This
child, Nicholas, manages to outwit his strict aunt through several tricks. First, he refuses to eat his
wholesome bread and milk claiming there was a frog in it as he put it there himself. Secondly, he gains
entry into the lumber room by pretending that he wanted to enter the gooseberry garden. Thirdly, he savors
the so called discarded items put into dust and decay by adults in the lumber room. He also outwits his aunt
who had fallen into a rainwater tank with witty answers. In all these occasions, Nicholas challenges the
accepted norms and opinions of the adults of his day.
Ok, with this introduction, now you are ready to head off into the body paragraphs of the essay.
I shall illustrate the paragraphing technique next day
Answer for an Essay type question from Oscar Wilde's Nightingale and the Rose:.
What makes Oscar Wilde’s Nightingale and the Rose particularly appealing to children?
The Nightingale and the Rose is a 'fairy tale' story written by Oscar Wilde, originally for his two
sons, in the late 1880s. Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin (Ireland) 1854, and was well known for
his wit and story telling. The Happy Prince and other stories and is a story, which focuses on a
lovelorn student, anxious to find a rose to bring his love and a sympathetic nightingale, observing
the student's anguish. As there is no rose, the student fears his heart will be broken. The
nightingale then seeks a rose for the student, encountering a tree that can provide a rose, but
only if the nightingale sacrifices itself, its own blood providing the redness of the rose. The
nightingale embarks on one final flight prior to its martyrdom, telling the student to only be a true
lover, "...for love is wiser than philosophy." Here, the student attempts to analyse the bird, and
while enjoying her singing, claims, "they do not mean anything or do any practical good." The
final outcome is tragic, the student's love refuses the rose for jewels, the student throws away the
rose and doesn't realise how it was produced. So the nightingale's sacrifice is not appreciated by
the girl.
There are a number of reasons why this story appeals to children. First of all, it is written in
simple diction so that it appeals to children very much. The language of the story is very
descriptive and full of figures of speech, yet the choice of words is fairly simple, related to
feelings and natural elements, so the overall understanding of the text is not a problem. This
should be connected to the fact that the story is part of the collection “The Happy Prince and
Other Tales”, which was intended by the author to target the children readership.
Another feature of the story that makes it especially appealing to children is its fairy tale
structure. Fairy tales have a few interesting features:
1) The frequent use of personification
This is self-evident because it is the very definition of fairy tales. In this story, the rose-trees, the
lizard, the daisy, the butterfly, the oak, the moon, and of course the Nightingale are all
personified.
2) The symbolic meaning given to words
The rose of course is the symbol of love, but many things mentioned in the text also stand for
something, including the lizard, daisy, and butterfly, which the author used on more than one
occasions to stand for certain char¬acter types.
3) The vivid, simple narration, which is typical of the oral tradition of fairy tales
4) The repetitive pattern used
A typical fairy tale would often have a sequence of three episodes or three steps or three people.
It might go something like this: Once upon a time, there were three sisters. The first was ugly,
and the second was stu¬pid, but the third was both pretty and clever. They would then marry
three men. The first two were invariably obscenely rich whereas the third was al¬ways poor.
Then they were for some reason sent to look for some treasure. The first two failed and the third
succeeded, but he only succeeded in his third attempt after overcoming many difficulties...This
pattern is evident in the Nightingale and the Rose too. For example, the nightingale finds his rose
that later becomes the red rose in his third attempt. The above features would definitely appeal to
children as fairy tales have never failed to entertain children The universal demand for the Harry
Potter stories by children is a good example for that.
The romantic element in the story may or may not appeal to the children in Sri Lanka due to the
cultural difference. However, the vivid descriptions in the story will be surely enjoyed by them.
The poem ‘To the Nile’ by John Keats is remarkable due to several reasons. For one
thing, it is a poem about River Nile, situated far away from England where Keats was
born. Secondly, it is both, about nature and the poet’s own imaginative power. Students
find this poem somewhat difficult because of the elevated language used by the poet
and the complexities of the Sonnet structure. I believe this analysis will help teachers as
well as students to surmount these difficulties and appreciate the real beauty of this gem
of a sonnet.
This poem is a sonnet written in the Petrarchan style which contains an octave (the first
eight lines) rhyming abbaabba and a sestet(next six lines) rhyming cdcdcd. In the Italian
or the Petrarchan sonnet, there is usually a ‘volta’ or a ‘turn’ of the line of thought from
the Octave to the sestet. In this sonnet also, Line number 9 marks a change of thought.
The poet seems to have awakened from his reverie or day-dreaming of the charms of
the Nile and begins to reflect on the natural beauty of the river. The poet addresses the
Nile directly, in the style of his great Odes such as, ‘Ode to Autumn’ or the ‘Ode to a
Grecian Urn’. One should also understand the historical and geographical importance of
River Nile to understand this beautiful sonnet.
Historically, the Nile is said to be the cradle of one of the oldest civilizations in the world:
the Nile valley civilization or the Egyptian civilization which developed alongside River
Nile. Geographically, it is the longest river in Africa as well as in the world. The Nile has
two branches. One is the White Nile (the longest branch) which originates in Lake
Victoria and the other, the Blue Nile originating in Lake Tana in Ethiopia. Although
shorter than the White Nile, the Blue Nile contributes more than 85% of the total volume
of the Nile waters. The two branches meet in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan, and finally,
end in Cairo, Egypt, where it flows into the Mediterranean Sea by forming a large, rich
delta.
The Nile can be called an international river as it flows through as many as nine
countries in Africa, including Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, Congo, etc. The annual
flooding of the Nile had become a blessing in disguise for Egyptians, as it deposited the
rich loam mud on the banks of the river which turned it into a fertile landscape, ideal for
agriculture. The building of the Aswan Dam and several other dams across the Nile later
helped to manage the flooding to a great extent. River Nile is also steeped in mythology,
with Hapi being its chief God associated with flooding, thus, bringing fertility and
fruitfulness. Osiris and his wife Isis are also worshipped by the Egyptians.
Keats, being a lover of Greek mythology may have heard of God Nilus, the Greek God of
River Nile, and the travelogues of English Explorers, such as, John Speke who
undertook an expedition to the interiors of the Dark Continent as it was then called.
Mountains
The poet begins the sonnet with the line “Son of the Old Moon-Mountains African!” In
this line he personifies the Nile as the “son” of the old African Moon-Mountains. In other
words, The Nile originates from the Moon Mountains just like the River Mahaweli
originates from Sri Pada or the Adams Peak. The two branches of the Nile, the White
Nile and the Blue Nile are said to originate from the two lakes- Lake Victoria and Lake
Tana in Ethiopia. However, these lakes are also, in turn, fed by streams flowing from the
mountains. Therefore, it was difficult to ascertain the true source of the Nile although it
was historically associated with the legendary “Moon-Mountains” , so called may be due
to their semi-circular shape or because they were snow-capped.
The exact origin of the Nile remains uncertain as the two lakes are fed by so many
tributaries. One might also wonder what poetic techniques are used in this particular line.
One technique is inversion where the word order is changed or inverted. Here, the
position of the adjective “African” has been inverted as it normally comes before the
head noun, in this case, Moon-Mountains. Another technique is personification. The
River is personified as the ‘son’ of the Moon-Mountains which are like parents. The next
line is, “Chief of the Pyramid and Crocodile”. Why is the Nile called the Chief of the
Pyramid and Crocodile? The ancient Egyptians built pyramids as tombs for the
Pharaohs (their kings) and queens. These tombs were made with huge blocks of stones,
transported along the Nile in barges to the pyramid sites. It would have been impossible
otherwise to transport these stone blocks through the rugged desert lands stretching into
hundreds of miles. Thus, it is right to call the Nile the Chief of the pyramids.
River Nile is the home to the largest species of crocodiles in the world. Especially, the
banks of the Nile are teeming with these huge crocodiles who are also associated with
the God Osiris legends. As such, we cannot say that the poet has used exaggeration or
hyperbole in this line. However, the poet has used the technique of contrast here, as the
Pyramids are non-living things while the crocodiles are living things.
Life
In the third line the poet says “we call thee fruitful and that very while”. The poet rightly
calls the Nile fruitful since it is the river that sustains life in the Nile Valley not only by
providing food from agriculture and fishing, but also by providing them with a mode of
transport and serving as a playground for water sports. The Nile itself was considered as
a symbol of fertility, as according to Egyptian mythology, the manhood of the slain King
Osiris was supposed to be eaten by a crocodile so that his wife who was searching for
the scattered body parts of the King could not resurrect him into life as that part was
missing. In this line, the poet uses the adjective “fruitful” as a noun. “Thee” means an old
term for “you”.
Imagination
The third line is a run-on line meaning that it links with the fourth line which reads as, “A
desert fills our seeing’s inward span”. Here, the poet refers to his imagination which fills
with a desert. Imagination is sometimes called the “third eye” but here the poet calls it
“seeing’s inward span”. Literally, it means the inner dimension of our vision or
imagination. Taken together, this line means, our imagination is filled with a desert while
we wonder at the fruitfulness of the river. Thus, fruitfulness and barrenness exist side by
side, another wonder of nature.
In the next line, the poet says, “Nurse of the swart nations since the world began.” It
means, River Nile has nourished the dark nations or the Africans since time immemorial.
The Nile has given life not only to one nation but to the several countries through which it
flows. The next line starts with a rhetorical question.
“Art thou so fruitful?” This is followed by another rhetorical question:
“or dost thou beguile/Such men to honour thee, who, worn with toil,/Rest for a space
‘twixt Cairo and Decan?”
Here, Keats may be referring to temples dedicated to Osiris, scattered along the banks
of the River. According to legend, Isis, wife of Osiris, built those temples to enshrine
various parts of his slain body scattered along the Nile by his brother Seth who
murdered him. The poet in these lines wonders whether the Nile has a certain magical
charm that makes people consider it as a holy river like River Ganges in India, most
sacred river to the Hindus.
The poet also sees the River having a rest between Cairo and Decan. Cairo is the place
where the river ends and Decan must be the place where it begins. However, we get
confused here since the word Decan in Egyptian lore refers to a group of constellations
(36 to be exact) thus, meaning the river is having a rest between land and sky which
does not make much sense. Was Keats referring to the Decan plateau in central India
from whence begin rivers such as, Narmada and Tapti? So, can it be a geographical
inaccuracy?
Questions
I invite you to consider these questions. Even the writers of the e book issued by the NIE
have made the mistake of identifying the Decan plateau as the source of River Nile – a
glaring mistake indeed, since we live in a world far more advanced (in terms of
technology and knowledge) than that of Keats’. So far (in the octave), Keats has treated
the Nile reverently. However, from line number 9 which starts the sestet, we can see a
‘volta’ or a turn in the line of thought: The poet’s attitude to the Nile changes from one of
reverence to a realistic one.
“O may dark fancies err! They surely do;” What does this line mean? Well, literally it
means that fancy or imagination can mislead us. This line reminds us of a similar line in
the Ode to a Nightingale by Keats: Adieu! the fancy cannot cheat so well As she is fam’d
to do, deceiving elf.
Here, also Keats is being critical of his own habit of day-dreaming or ‘negative capability’
as he calls it. According to Keats, negative capability is ‘when man is capable of being in
uncertainties. Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason.’
However, he also appreciated reality or ‘truth’ as he calls it.
It is aptly expressed in his ‘Ode to a Grecian Urn’ when he says,
‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.’
Thus, the poet now begins to doubt his “dark fancies” or his romantic imagination which
took him to the exotic lands of ancient Egypt of Pyramids, Pharaohs and the great Nile
steeped in legends. He now becomes more ‘down-to-earth’ and begins to explore the
River from an artistic or aesthetic point of view. Next, he says :
‘Tis ignorance that makes a barren waste Of all beyond itself…’
Here, he may be wondering at his own ignorance or the ignorance of the Europeans
whose ‘dark fancies’ about Africa consisted mainly of vast deserts and giant pyramids.
The poet has even asked “Art thou so fruitful?” earlier.
This obsession with desert, according to Keats, is due to ‘ignorance’ as the Nile valley is
surely a fertile landscape, so fertile that it gave birth to the first human civilization.
In the last few lines we can see the typical Keatsian language, sensuous and very much
alive to the beauty, sounds and smells of nature.
Thou dost bedew
Green rushes like our rivers, and dost taste
The pleasant sunrise.
Green isles hast thou too,
And to the sea as happily dost haste.
The poet begins to see the River in all its resplendent beauty in its majestic journey
towards the sea. He compares the Nile to “our rivers” whose green rushes or the plants
with long leaves are decorated with dew or drops of mist.
This is a beautiful visual image that appeals to our eyes. The river also tastes ‘pleasant
sunrise’. This is a combination of visual and gustatory images. The river also contains
“green isles”. The repetition of ‘green’ produces an effect of lush greenery which
contrasts with the repetition of ‘desert’ in the octave.
The sonnet appropriately ends with the line: ‘And to the sea as happily dost haste’. I am
tempted to believe that the word ‘happily’ contains a pun or wordplay since ‘Hapi’ was
the God of the annual flooding in Egyptian mythology.
The poem is written in elevated language and it is rich in meaning despite the fact that
Keats wrote this poem in a friendly sonnet competition with Leigh Hunt and Shelly on 4
February 1818, at Hunt’s house in Lisson Grove with a 15 minute time limit.
As a nature poem “To the Nile” makes us appreciate the beauty of a river and its value
as a life giving source. We also learn how the people in ancient times worshipped the
river as a God or a gift of nature. We also get some momentary pleasure by looking at
the lush greenery and the beauty of the river in the morning.
The poem thus helps us appreciate the fertility and the beauty of rivers at a time when
they are being increasingly polluted due to industrialization.