Oh sweet nigthingale!

Moonlight- the light of the moon; the moon’s radiance (Oxford English Dictionary)

In the conversational poem “The Nightingale” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, he stresses how people should not relate nightingales to melancholic things, but to joyous things. Also in the poem, he uses the word moonlight in an unfamiliar way. He uses moonlight in a positive and beautiful meaning; yet, the first thing that comes to my mind when I think of the word moonlight is creatures in the forest coming out to eat. I imagine animals roaming through the woods and casting eerie shadows. Personally, I think the moonlight is something mysterious with dark and ominous connotations. On the other hand, Coleridge uses the word moonlight and other words associated with it, such as moon, in a different meaning to create a sense of beauty, harmony, and romance.

Readers often relate the word moon or moonlight to something dark and evil. However, Coleridge uses it in a beautiful context. He changes the connotation of the word moonlight by associating it with the joyful nightingales. The image of birds responding, singing, and gazing to the moon makes the overall poem peaceful and calm. He combines the chirpy nightingales with the moonlight, therefore making the whole entire poem sweet and tranquil. Coleridge, therefore, relates the nightingales, symbolizing harmony and bliss, with the moonlight. He brings beauty and mystery to the poem by having nightingales sing to the moonlight.

In addition, the word moon, which relates to the word moonlight, is used several times in the poem. Its effect is that it creates a soothing sound like ooohh because of its o’s in the word. This makes the poem flow and smooth to read and to easily imagine nightingale warbling in the happy night. The nightingales are awake and sing merrily in the night, which the moonlight sooths the atmosphere by creating a harmonious tone to the poem. Furthermore, the word moonlight creates an image of rays of light shimmering on water or providing color to land, which generates a sentimental and romantic feeling to the air. The moonlight seems to make the dark night less scary. It fits perfectly in the poem because the moonlight provides a spotlight for the nightingale to sing. Moreover, it would be spooky to have birds singing in the dark, so having the nightingales sing in the moonlight creates a beautiful picture. In a certain way, Coleridge’s poem radiates, just like the moon, a kind of inspiration and peace to the reader.