Dr Embers Presents - Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats (Featuring guest reader J.Vale)

“We are always getting ready to live, but never living.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson

Tonight, we leave the hearth behind… and carry the fire out into the woods.

In this episode of Verse and Tales, we explore Ode to a Nightingale by John Keats — a poem that captures a fleeting but wonderous moment of beauty… Where the weight of life is set aside, and something deeper takes hold.

As the nightingale sings, Keats is drawn into a kaleidoscope of emotions, from wonder, despair and even the temptation of death.

This episode is a meditation on presence in the moment, and the quiet tragedy of always preparing to live, but failing to notice time slipping away, the gentle invitation to stop, listen, and exist fully.

So join me… by the fire… beneath the trees…

The Fire is Lit!

Follow the journey on Instagram: @Doctor.Embers
Speak with me directly: doctor.embers@outlook.com

If something you hear stays with you,
 you are always welcome to share it —
 a thought, a reflection, or even a story of your own.

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 so you never miss a chance to journey with us.

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:31

This is Verse and Tales, podcast of story and poetry told by the fire. What lies behind us, what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us. These are the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson. There's something within each of us, unseen, often overheard, though waits not for permission, but for voice. In a word so quick to judge by appearances alone, we forget that even the most unremarkable among us carry something wondrous. Tonight we hear an old tale, its origins long forgotten. The tells how the nightingale came by its song. A tale of a bird, modest in feather and form, yet touched in some quiet moment by something golden, something eternal. So come, draw close to the fire. This is the story of how the nightingale got its song. Once upon a time, when the world was new and young, as all great stories do begin, God was walking through his garden, looking at all the animals and thinking, This is good. There were the mammals and great big weird ones with great big necks towering off into the sky. And over there, fishes and swimming things all different sizes, great big huge lumbering whales and tiny darty little fish. If you listen very, very carefully, you could hear the scurrying of the insects at And he looks and thinks this is good. But it's not it's not perfect. Something's missing. And he looks and he looks and he looks again. Then he sees it. The fish in the sea, all the varieties. The animals on land and all the varieties. But the air the air was plain. So he decided to do something about it. So he put out a big word to all of the birds of the world. Tomorrow I'd like you to come to this meeting. And the next day, God gets himself ready. To the left of him, he opens up one case, and there were all manners of beaks, some build, some short and stubby, some really, really long ones. There was also other bits in there as well. Wobbly jowly bits, bits that go on top of the heads, all sorts of weird and wonderful things in there. And then the middle one, what he opened that one up. And up, and up, and up. It's one of those ones that keeps opening all the time. And as he opened it and opened it and opened it, there was every colour you could imagine. And a few you might not know about. And finally to the right of him, God opened the case, and there were all different types of legs and feet. There were big sharp claws, webbed ones, big long legs, tiny little stubby legs. All lay down. And so Gown flies the first bird. He lands in front of God. Now, you know when you start a project, you do something simple just to get yourself warmed up. Make sure you know what you're doing. So he takes this bird, dips the red paintbrush, and paints a lovely red breast on the bird. And so off flies the first robin. And the next bird comes down and God thinks, hmm, I know what I'm going to do. Now you must understand because the world was new and young, animals are more pliable than they are now. So he painted it white, built up its body, and he stretched and stretched and stretched out its neck really, really long. Gave it two webbed feet, and off flew the first one. The next bird flew down, and God sort of changed its shape to be kind of like a loaf of bread. Painted it all black, except its front. She kept white. Gave it very, very stubby legs. Two webbed feet. He looked a bit like a waiter. And off waddled the first penguin. Now God's starting to have great fun. And he starts to create all these different animals, colours, sizes, all sorts of things. And by the afternoon, I think the paint might have got to God's head because he started going a little bit crazy. And he took one bird and he painted it red and thought, okay, I'll add a little bit of blue, and I'll add a little bit of green, a bit of turquoise, a bit of this, a bit of that. And this brightly coloured bird became the first parrot. And the day wore on, and God looked around at his garden and said, Now this is perfect. There were all the animals, all the birds, different colours. Some were swimming now in the sea, some were flying above his head. One was even running on the ground really, really fast. Yes, this is perfect. But then he spots it over in the distance. Just coming down towards him. A tiny brown speck. Getting closer and closer. Very quickly. Wings were flapping, flapping, flapping really, really hard. And he sort of comes down, he crashes in front of God. And he starts getting a little bit out of breath. Oh, I'm sorry, says the little bird. I'm sorry, I'm like, but the kid the kids wouldn't wake up this morning, and that took me forever. And then there was traffic and I forgot to set my alarm and I was told it was tomorrow, but now I find out it was today and I couldn't get the shower to work this morning. I didn't want to turn over without having a shower. And then I finally was able to have a bath, but then I realized I had to have my breakfast, and you know, I don't want to fly without breakfast. I can't really fly without breakfast, so I'm just gonna have my breakfast. And Cond looks down at the little bird and he says, Okay. I'm sorry. And then he looks down at his boxes. Now the one on the left. That had all the different beaks and the wobbly bits in there, and they were all gone. The one on the right, all the different legs and claws and feet, they were all gone. And the one in front of him, with every type of paint and colour you could imagine, and a few you might not even know existed. Well, that was all gone. So God looks down a little bird and says, I tell you what, you can be the only ordinary looking bird in my creation.

unknown 7:52

How about that?

SPEAKER_00 7:54

Oh, but I don't want to be the only ordinary looking bird. All my friends are different colours. Some have got wings, some are gonna flabbergas, some are in the sea, someone running on the ground. I don't want to be the only ordinary bird!

SPEAKER_02 8:05

It says God, what do you want to do? And and then he he he he spots it. At the tip of a paintbrush. A tiny little fleck of gold. So Gauss says to the bird, I'll tell you what, I'll tell you what, open up your beak nice and white.

SPEAKER_01 8:30

And so the bird does really, really, really wide now. Then God, ever so gently, ever so carefully, just touches the back of the little bird's throat. And what should come out with the most beautiful song you have ever heard?

SPEAKER_02 9:00

A song so gorgeous, so beautiful, that for generations to come people would write stories and sonnets, would sit and play and listen to that incredible song. God says to Little Bird, You may be the only possibly ordinary looking bird, but you're gonna have the most beautiful song. And that is how the nightingale got its song. So the next story finds you. And if you have thoughts, reflections or ideas, speak up. If you'd like to request a favourite story, poem, or theme, I am all ears. Perhaps you too have crafted a wondrous work you wish to be shared by the fire. You'll find a way to share it in the episode notes. Until we meet again, keep the fire close.