Ode to a Nightingale - by John Keats

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A reading of the classic English poem 'Ode to a Nightingale' by John Keats, published 1819. For more information and insights visit: https://robertstephenparry.com/poem-ode-to-a-nightingale.html
Widely regarded as one of the greatest poems in the English language, the lines compare the mundane existence of a man listening to the song of a nightingale (a bird which can sing at night as well as during the day) with the eternal presence across the generations of the nightingale itself and the response it has evoked in those who have heard it and will continue to hear it forever.
In reflecting on these matters, the poet realizes he is also connecting to a higher aspect of his own self - albeit only for brief moment - for eventually the bird flies away, leaving the poet wondering whether he has woken from a dream, or else whether he 'sleeps' again in the dull 'reality' left by its absence.