An Unenthused Opinion of the Nightingale

Compared to Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale, Clare’s The Nightingale’s Nest portrays an unromantic description of the famous bird. It is hard to read John Clare, like most of the other Romantic Poets, without taking into account his lifestyle and upbringing. Clare’s peasant upbringing is important to his descriptions of the natural world. The nightingale is apart of the speakers everyday life and is “heard many a merry year-/ At morn and eve, nay, all the livelong day” (5-6). Although the nightingale is ever present, the bird only reveals itself 20 lines into the poem when the speaker notes that it’s strange that “so famed a bird / Should have no better dress than russet brown” (20-21). The speaker is unimpressed by the physical appearance of the nightingale and it’s nest. The nest is described as being made of “dead oaken leaves” (78), “scraps of grass” (80) and “scarce materials” (81), providing an uninspiring image of the famed nightingale’s dwelling. The speaker’s observations of the nightingale describe this literarily famous bird as being pretty ordinary. This unromantic view of nature can be attributed to Clare’s deep understanding of nature based on his upbringing and lifestyle in the countryside. While Keats portrays a romanticized and enchanting account of the power of the nightingale’s song, Clare’s interpretation is not flowered up. Clare’s writing is much more observation based instead of relying on imagination and glamorized views of the natural world.