“How many bards gild the lapses of time!” is Keats’ reflection on the ability of poetry, both human and animal, to “gild the lapses of time” or to make everyday life more enjoyable. Though outwardly seen as an ode to the talents of the singing birds, Keats’ poem is as much about the talents of the birds as it is about Keats’ own talents. Keats’ poem strives to be as melodious and inspiring to the reader as the sound of birds are to him. By invoking the classical symbolism of birds as poets, Keats’ poem begs the question whether the songs of the birds is not a reference to poems that may have inspired the poet’s work.
I do agree with what you have to say about this poem, however, I think it has other important aspects to it than just the singing of birds. Keats does note other natural elements in this poem, such as the sound of water and leaves in the wind. Although these poets seem to have some deep fascination with birds and their songs, which is seen in their many other "bird" poems, I think Keats was trying to make a point about the beautiful sounds of nature altogether and their influences, not just the influence of bird songs.
ReplyDeleteI'd ask that we look closely at the relationship between the bards and the birds in the poem: this is a sonnet, and the opening of the sestet begins with "So"--indicating that Keats is employing a simile. The octave describes Keats' relationship to his poetic predecessors (they feed his fancy and when he sits down to write his own verse, they intrude on his mind--but not in an entirely bad way). The sestet then introduces a comparison between the "pleasing chime" of the other poets in Keats' mind and the sounds of nature: bird songs, leaves, waters--and a bell, which is certainly not the same as the rest. This conceptual dissonance between nature's sounds and the the "great bell" returns us to the chime in his mind, while also setting up the final two lines. The sounds tell us something more about what is going on when Keats is composing poetry (that is the work of the simile); these sounds, and a thousand more, explain how all the poets make a chime rather than confusion. The crux of the poem is thus contained in line 13, which mediates between the thousand sounds and the claim that they make pleasing music not wild uproar. The key then is to figure out what exactly Keats means by the phrase "That distance of recognizance bereaves,"--this wil tell us not only what relation he is positing between nature's sounds and those of poetry, but also what perspective on nature he is putting forward in the poem.
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