Ruth is the subject of the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament Bible. She left her home of Moab to follow her mother-in-law to her home country, Israel/Jordan. She worked as a gleaner (gatherer of harvest). She later on marries a Jew named Boaz and becomes the great-grandmother of King David.
Keats references Ruth in line 66 of "Ode To A Nightingale," stating that maybe the song of the Nightingale he is now hearing, was also heard by not only Ruth, but by by-gone emperors and peasants. This 'immortal' bird's song has persevered from century to century and is now reaching his ears and heart.
*A great article by Shahid Najeeb looks at how Psychoanalysis is at the center of all religion. It takes Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale" and examines how the pain of human existence has led to the concept of soul, God and immorality.
Keats references Ruth in line 66 of "Ode To A Nightingale," stating that maybe the song of the Nightingale he is now hearing, was also heard by not only Ruth, but by by-gone emperors and peasants. This 'immortal' bird's song has persevered from century to century and is now reaching his ears and heart.
*A great article by Shahid Najeeb looks at how Psychoanalysis is at the center of all religion. It takes Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale" and examines how the pain of human existence has led to the concept of soul, God and immorality.