In his poem Ode to a Nightingale, John Keats allows readers to explore the depths of his thoughts as he encounters a nightingale. He explains that he becomes so happy and captivated by the nightingale's song that he only seeks to escape with his life. At first, Keats believes that he can only escape with the help of wine, but then realizes that he prefers to use poetry and his imagination, which he believes to be immortal and permanent, as a means of escape. achieve an existence comparable to that of the nightingale. Indeed, Keats uses literary allusions, the symbolism of the nightingale, as well as metaphors and descriptive images to compare the immortality of the nightingale and art itself, with the mortality and painful existence of humanity . In the first stanza of the poem, Keats is so fascinated by the song of the nightingale, he tries to convince himself that alcohol and drugs are the only way for him to escape the misery of human existence. In line 2, the author references the hemlock when discussing his state of mind while listening to the nightingale's song. Hemlock is the poison that the Greek philosopher Socrates consumed when he was put to death. This allusion is significant because Keats is trying to express how the nightingale's song hurts his heart and numbs him, as if he had just drunk poison. This pain that the author feels is not painful however, rather he is implying that the pain he feels is somewhat pleasant, and he desires to feel this way even more. In fact, Keats continues to talk about how he feels by stating that he feels like he "...flushed a boring opiate down the drain/A minute later, and Lethe's halls had sunk" (lines 3-4). The author alludes to ...... middle of the article ....... The Ode to a Nightingale is a poem in which the author experiences a conflict in which he desires to escape the human world, but can't seem to find a way to do it. At first, Keats convinces himself that the drugs will alter his mind enough for him to escape the world with the nightingale, but he soon realizes that a more permanent solution would be to use poetry and art to escape. Indeed, the captivation he feels at the hands of the nightingale is symbolic of how it is art that captivates Keats and allows him to feel a sense of immortality and happiness. However, he realizes that he can never escape death, because humans are doomed by their mortality. The departure of the nightingale at the end of the poem means that one cannot use poetry to escape life forever, because even though poetry is immortal and continues to live, man must eventually die..