Analysis of Ode to Evening by William Collins William Collins’ poem “Ode to Evening” is the poem which is dedicated to the beauty and praise of the evening. In the poem, the evening is regarded as a goddess which is opposite to the bright sun. The poem has been written in three parts. The first part is about the welcoming and greeting of the coming of the evening. In the second part, the poet asks and pleads the evening to guide and showcase him the path where he can receive peace in his life. The last part deals with the personal view of the poet and the ends with a general observation. The poet requests the goddess of the evening to teach him to sing as he wants to please and allure her beauty by singing for her. He adds that she is one of the most beautiful parts of nature. He says that he wants his songs to be like the soothing sounds of the streams. In order to have a glance of the beauty of nature, the poet treads towards the mountainside to have a look on the descending evening. He remarks at the end of the poem that the beauty of the evening should always be there so as to continue the peace and harmony among the people, nature, and society. The application of the femininity in describing the evening and characterizing her is one of the strengths of Collins. Words and phrases like ‘chaste Eve’, ‘fancy’, ‘rose-lipped’, ‘nymph reserved’, and ‘maid composed’ are some of the illustrations of the use of the femininity in the poem. These traits to the evening adds the concept of an eye-catching woman who is reserved and patient. The evening is merging point of the sunlight and the sunset, in a way, it is a transition from light to dark, day to night. Depicting the negative side of the evening, the poet says, it symbolically hides all the faces of the daytime whether good or bad. In its darkness, everything is same and mysterious. It is the eve that makes sure that the next day is certainly going to be bright and sunny. In that sense, evening is the seed of the hope and life of the next day. Collins personifies evening in this poem as ‘chaste Eve’ which is a Biblical allusion to Eve. The comparison of the evening to the Biblical Eve is ambiguous. If the fallen and flawed state of Eve is associated to the evening, then the evening becomes something negative and cursed state of the day when the bright light of the sun is missed and set. But, if the poet is comparing evening with the innocence and purity of Eve, then the evening means a beautiful time of the day when everything comes to the resting point with peace and harmony all around. The intention of the poet is still ambiguous. To conclude Ode to Evening is one of the masterpieces of Collins. Collins’ odes, do not point morals. Rather they dramatically define their subject by building up a personified and vividly pictured allegorical character. it is the best of the mid-century odes and provides a good bridge to the great Romantic poets.