Impression after reading Ode to a nightingale

After reading Ode to a nightingale, I felt my blood boiled, I was on fire and full of enthusiasm and just could not calm down. It is so romantic and I had been touched so much. In fact, although the title of the poem is “Ode to a nightingale”, throughout the poem, it has basically little words describing the nightingale directly however the writer mainly uses the graceful image of nightingale to express his own feelings. It is said that a nightingale will die on a full moon night. And at midnight, it will fly to the highest rose-tree, and uses the thorn scratch its chest, then makes out a sonorous sound, singing loudly until the blood of the heart dries and reds the roses on the branches. Meanwhile this sound of singing seems like could penetrate everywhere and everything and keep an eternal life. I see the energy and hope of life and a bright future, and suddenly get courage and become positive. I think the poem makes me feel in that way.

And the author of Ode to nightingale is John Keats who is a Romantic Poet from UK. He was born at a poor family in the end of 18 century in London. In 1818, when Keats was 23 years old he got tuberculosis while also was deeply in love with Miss Fannie Boone. Just under such a terrible condition which between agony, poverty and sweetness, Keats was quite enthusiastic, full of grief and indignation and kept the desire for life in his heart. Therefore, he wrote the poem Ode to a Nightingale on a sober night and companied with the loud sound of the birds.

It is acknowledged that the poet was in difficulties and tied out however at this time he heard the nightingale’s loud singing like an inspiring ring. His heart was moved by such sound of singing. I remember the poem was written like this, “That I may drink, and leave the world unseen, and with thee fade away into the forest dim. Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget what thou amongst the leaves hast never known, The weariness, the fever, and the fret Here, where men sit and hear each other groan; Where palsy shakes a few, sad, last grey hairs.” The soft night and beautiful surroundings make Keats feel comfortable and enjoyable. Even though he does not know the names of the flowers, he feels them by heart and soul. What’ more, he absorbs in this world and hope he can always live in such a place where is far from that dark society. Ode to a Nightingale has a clear feature of romance, Keats uses perfect metaphors, gorgeous and quite fluent words to express his strong ideas and deep desire to free world. And I consider the British romance style reaches perfection from Keats.

English078 朱虹 07014648

第二篇：大学英语读书笔记

Comment on The Wife of Bath’s Tale

Throughout the story, I consider Chaucer put his both sympathy and satirize into it. According Chaucer’s description, the wife was very cunning and always had an excuse for her legitimacy of five marriages. And she’s proud of what she did that using many kinds of lies to conquer the previous old but rich men, making them piss away all their money on her. Although the forth husband took her youth and beauty away, Alison took it back from her fifth young and handsome husband again. What’s more, she still believed in Mr. Right and despite a number of failed marriages behind her, but urged to seek the sixth although she is more than fifty years old. And she do finds comfort in the arms of her 22-year-old so-star Jerome. They fall pass ionately in love, but behind the smiles the pressures of their age difference are never far away. Based on this point, Chaucer shows his satirize into it. As the tale has such a reversal or fantastic story line. Chaucer describes Alison with plenty of bad words and seemed like to build an image of dissolute women over the entire surface. But the truth is not. However When it comes to the reason that why Chaucer used such bad words on Alison, from another view I think this is, also, for the most part, a feminism article. Just like the traditional roles between husband and wife reversed. If a man married five times and people may think that’s not a big deal, so why women could not. What’s more, Alison has already beyond fifty years old. People might not accept women in her age falling love with a guy that is only about twenty. And this is really satirizing what the author actually wanted to convey. Since the common version is usually very tough. Meanwhile, people are difficult to accept new things. Therefore, I guess the author in fact lashed out at this kind of phenomenon. He was opposed to the unfairness or prejudices on women. And he advocated women’s right and the equality of men and women.

To sum up, what feelings Chaucer might to express is very complex. On the surface Chaucer showed the satirizing on the wife with derogatory words. On the other hand, the hidden theme Chaucer wanted to say is a kind of feminism, the fairness between men and women. Therefore, taken in this sense, Chaucer was sympathetic with Alison.

English078 朱虹 07014648