Ode to Humanity

I was inspired by John Keats' poem, Ode to a Nightingale. In the poem, as the narrator is in great pain and knows he will die with tuberculosis, he hears a Nightingale singing outside. The power of the Nightingale's song makes him forget about his pain, and he feels his spirit rise with the notes of the bird into an ecstasy. He has an existential epiphany about the meaning of life as his own life is immortalised through his poem. During Lockdown, as the narrator did, I realised the beauty of nature, and became more aware of the unnoticed beauty around us every day. My Ode to Humanity is a reflection of nature.

This piece was made as part of ENO's Lockdown Aria challenge. Children and young people across the country made work inspired by the concept of an Aria "a single character sharing their inner emotional world and thoughts with an audience."

The work was created as part of Arts Council England's The Way I See It project which captures the impact of the Coronavirus pandemic on the lives of children and young people, articulated in their own voices, through their own creativity.

English National Opera is the national opera company dedicated to one simple aim: making opera for everyone.