Stanza 7 of Ode to a Nightingale

In stanza 7 of Ode to a Nightingale, Keats displays his longing to be remembered after his death. This longing is displayed through his description of the nightingale and its song.  The nightingale is an "immortal bird," not merely "born for death." No "hungry generations" can silence the nightingale.  Unlike the nightingale, Keats was quite aware of his own mortality. This poem was written a mere two years before his death, and his health was already failing.  Reflecting on that mortality, and hearing the nightingale's song, Keats ruminates that "this voice i hear this passing night" was the same song heard by emperors, clowns, and even biblical figures such as Ruth. The song is an equalizer and a uniter. The song was present in the two main pillars of western civilization, namely the Roman Empire and the Bible.  The nightingale and its song soar above mortality and time. Keats longs for his words to do the same. While humanity is united by its hearing of the song, Keats is divided from the bird by his mortality. But the Nightingale is more than simple longing. Indeed, while most of stanza 7 has an external focus, the last three lines have a distinctly internal focus. The song that echoes through history also inspires the poet and transcends the material world. It has "charm'd magic casement, opening on the foam." The song unlocks magical realms of inspiration to Keats. It transports him to "faery lands forlorn." In this way, Keats is, in a way, united with the bird. What it unlocks and and inspires in him is the ability to reach outside of mortality, into the realm of creativity and creation. The "nightingale-as-muse" connects the song to the poet, and the poet to eternity.