CC - IX: Explanation( "Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird!/No hungry generation tread thee down") of John Keats's "Ode to Nightingale"

 "Thou wast not born for death, immortal Bird! 

 No hungry generation tread thee down"

      These lines are extracted from the seventh stanza of John Keats's poem "ode to a nightingale". Here, the poet brings out a contrast between the world of motility represented by human beings and the world of immortality represented by the song of the nightingale.

                             The poet says that the bird is not subject to decay and death. The immortality of the bird lies in its song. The reasons are as many as three first, the individual bird may die but the species of the bird remains alive forever; secondly, the song but maybe transient, but the bird-Song is permanent and thirdly, and more importantly, the song of the nightingale has been pleasing men of different classes and social position down the ages (as in historical time the song gives happiness to the the emperor and the clown, as in Biblical time the song gives a healing touch to the sad heart of Ruth suffering form homesickness any medieval time the song Charms forlorn figure Damselheld captive in the magic castle by an enchanter). It suggests that the song transcends the barriers of time and space. In other words, it symbolizes the great tradition of timelessness. Where is man is 'born for death 'and struggling for existence because of the suffering of ills of life as listed in the third stanza of the poem, the world of the bird is free from this struggle for existence. The transcended quality of the song of the bird helps it to come out of the life and death cycle.

                            In this lines, the poet clearly reveals the universality of the song of the nightingale. The bird is the the immortal witness to human mortality. The perennial spectator of mundane transience. The phrase 'hungry generations' reminds one of 'dying  generations' in Yeats' poem "Sailing to  Byzantium".