Coleridge employs iambic pentameter, which provides the poem a lyrical rhythm that mirrors the musical nature of the Nightingale. As Sara could be a reference to his wife Sara Flicker, Coleridge is moving away from the conventions of traditional Romantic poetry which focused on the pastoral by extending his admiration to humanity and presenting audiences with a romantic declaration of love. "To The Nightingale" Poetry.com. Change). And makes cool banks to pleasing rest invite. This moment is thy time to sing, This moment I attend to praise, And set my numbers to they lays. As her work developed more fully during her retirement at Eastwell, Finch demonstrated an increasing awareness of the poetic traditions of her own period as well as those governing older verse. Written by the Right Honourable Anne, countess of WebTo The NIGHTINGALE. She authored religious verse and love lyrics, as well as fables, pastorals, verse plays, odes, songs, and occasional poems. Exploring TaPor and Voyant text analysis tools, I set out to discover what happens in the text that marks these changes. We see that at the beginning and middle of the poem there is a much stronger use of the two words, is and as. We could assume that this is when she is comparing herself to the nightingale. Her voice is clear and self-assured, evidence of the controlled and confident poise of an aristocratic poet. Finch focuses on the happiness of the Nightingale in order to juxtapose her own restrictions as a female poet living under a patriarchal society. You cannot copy content from our website. Her admission in A Nocturnal Reverie that her verse attempts Something, too high for Syllables to speak might be linked to the Romantic recognition of the discrepancy between human aspiration and achievement. As her work developed more fully during her retirement at Eastwell, Finch demonstrated an increasing awareness of the poetic traditions of her own period as well as those governing older verse. Anne Finch, Countess of Winchilsea At age The ode was immediately popular and received much attention for its accurate description of the symptoms of melancholiathe disease often associated with the spleenwhich Finch suffered from throughout her life. This Moment is thy Time to sing, But this from love, not vanity, proceeds; You know who writes, and I who tis that reads. She and her husband remained loyal to the Catholic Stuarts, a tenuous stance to assume given the popularity of the Protestant William and Mary in Britain in the 1690s. In To Mr F Now Earl of Winchilsea, for example, she appropriately invokes the Muses for inspiration, only to reject such external sources in favor of her own emotion. Free as thine shall be my Song; As thy Musick, short, or long. Finch experimented with rhyme and meter and imitated several popular genres, including occasional poems, satirical verse, and religious meditations, but fables comprise the largest portion of her oeuvre. When to Please is least design'd, Please note! : Printed by John Barber on Lambeth-Hill. have not. I then saw some interesting trends on Voyant links. Subsequently, one could argue that in Finchs poem the Nightingale takes on the role of a muse that inspires and is admired by the poet. To The Nightingale We see from the data, another word that I put in: sweet. The word sweet (or derivatives of it) was used three times fairly close and not following far behind the use of these two comparison words, is and as. Something changes, however, and we see a drop in the these two words as well as no continuation of light words such as sweet. Rather, we see an upshoot in the usage of the word cease, a much harsher word. This is a sharp contrast to Coleridge who places his personal happiness over that of the Nightingale. Or touch the Soul, but when the Sense was Love. By continuing, well assume you agree with our Cookies policy. And the Time of Buildings past! There are many exclamation marks in the poem. (2002) or Margaret Ezell's Coleridge, on the other hand, moves slightly away from this tradition by intertwining the Nightingale and humanity to showcase humanitys prosperity. Finch uses the elevated status of the Nightingale to contrast her own human suffering and critique the patriarchal society she lives under which oppresses Finch and prevents her from reaching the Freedom that the Nightingale embodies. Yet as far the Muse outflies. When Odours, which declind repelling Day, National In addition, when I first googled Anne Finchs poem to compare it to Keats, I found it typed out on a website without separate stanzas but as one long ongoing poem. WebA Nocturnal Reverie By Countess of Winchilsea Anne Finch In such a night, when every louder wind Is to its distant cavern safe confined; And only gentle Zephyr fans his wings, And lonely Philomel, still waking, sings; Or from some tree, famed for the owls delight, She, hollowing clear, directs the wandrer right: Cease then, prithee, cease thy Tune; The data suggests that these are moments when she feels closer to the nightingale. If you write a school or university poetry essay, you should Include in your explanation of the poem: summary of To The Nightingale; central theme; This essay has been submitted by a student. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. In perfect charms, and perfect virtue bright: When odors, which declined repelling day. tell me, tell me, why, Thy dulcet Notes ascend the sky. Poetry Foundation, miniature watercolor portrait of Anne Finch by Peter Cross, "a fast succession of high, low and rich notes that few other species can She and her husband remained loyal to the Catholic Stuarts, a tenuous stance to assume given the popularity of the Protestant William and Mary in Britain in the 1690s. Skill to my Hand, but to describe my Heart; In addition to celebrating her love, Finchs earliest verse also records her own frustration and sense of loss following her departure from court in 1689. Anne Finch public activity; for a woman to do so was, in the Augustan period, risque "Song and Speech in Anne Finch's To the Nightingale,'", Transcription, correction, editorial commentary, and markup by Students of Marymount University, James West, Amy Ridderhof. sources. Or censure what we cannot reach. Coud they both in Absence now impart by Anne Finch. The speaker begins by acknowledging that hypochondria is also often associated with the spleen, the pretended Fits, the sullen Husbands feignd Excuse, and the coquettes melancholy pose, careless Posture, and the Head reclind. She then proceeds to undermine these portraits of feigned illness, treating the disease as a real and terrifying affliction: From Speech restraind, by thy Deceits abusd, few female authors in the Augustan era to successfully master the masculine Hark! Countess of Winchilsea Anne Finch Since the advent of feminist recovery criticism in the 1970s and 1980s, Anne a woman that attempts the pen, Such an intruder on the rights of men, Such a presumptuous creature, is esteemed, The fault can by no virtue be redeemed. emphasizes Finch's Augustan roots, highlighting her use of form as Research informing these annotations draws on publicly-accessible resources, For more information on women writers and manuscript Most likely inspired by the popularity of the genre at the turn of the century, Finch wrote dozens of these often satiric vignettes between 1700 and 1713. But she is soon trapped, Fluttring in endless circles of dismay until she finally escapes to ample space, the only Heavn of Birds. Such images of entrapment and frustration are echoed in Finchs description of the limitations of womens social roles in England at the turn of the 18th century. sweet, still sweeter yet The wistful, hopeful tone changes throughout the poem, however. Change), You are commenting using your Facebook account. Both Finch and Keats use their Nightingales to explore themes of mortality. Joys in th inferior world, and thinks it like her own: Till morning breaks, and alls confused again; Our cares, our toils, our clamors are renewed. This Moment is thy Time to sing, This Moment I attend to Praise, And set my Numbers to thy Layes. The subsequent loss of income forced the Finches to take temporary refuge with various friends in London until Heneages nephew Charles invited them to settle permanently on the familys estate in Eastwell in 1689 or 1690, where they resided for more than 25 years. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Exert thy voice, sweet harbinger of spring!