To A Nightingale

In the sonnet "To A Nightingale," Charlotte Smith begins by talk about the loneliness that a nightingale might feel, as smith describes the nightingale as a "poor melancholy bird," who's songs have "sweet sorrow flow" and are "mournful melody of song." The speaker does not understand how something as free as a bird could seem so down. However, the speaker feels a connection to this bird's melancholy state, she wants to figure out what is causing the nightingale to sing these saddened songs.

In the second stanza of the poem the author explores more into the reasoning behind the gloomy song. She tries to look into the meaning, attempting to translate "what mean the sounds that swell thy little breasts." However, the volta occurs as the speaker finally understands, not what the song of the nightingale means, but what it is like to sing a sad song like the nightingale. With this the speaker's connection to the bird grows as it is singing to the "listening night." The speaker finishes with a tone that is more envious of the nightingale. The nightingale is able to freely sing to let out emotions for others to hear. The last two lines of the poem are "Ah! songstress sad! that such my lot might be, to sigh and sing at liberty--like thee!" The speaker does not celebrate over the suffering and sadness, but instead the freeness of letting its emotions be heard by others out loud.