the reaction of her audience. The nightingale also attempts to sound like the frog and does not stay true to her own voice. At the end of the poem, the frog says, "Well, poor bird - she should have known That your song must be your own."Overall, Vikram Seth's poem examines how talented artists in various industries can be manipulated, and it cautions artists about being true to themselves by not attempting to please everyone else.

Do not trust frogs.  In all seriousness, I would say that the issue of blind trust and faith is one of the messages in Seth's poem.  The fact that the nightingale has real talent and skill, yet placed all of her trust in the frog's supposed "wisdom" is what ends up spelling out her own doom.  She never reflects to consider why the frog is being so "nice" to her, and what his agenda might be.  This brings to light the idea that there might be people with ulterior motives or agendas and this has to be scrutinized and analyzed in dealing with them.  The poem is not saying not to trust, but rather to be vigilant enough to be able to assess why people do what they do.  I think that another message that comes out of the poem is that individuals with talent should be able to hear their own voice and embrace their own vision as opposed to being persuaded and influenced by someone else's.  The nightingale's embrace of her own talent was absent and not clearly defined, which ended up causing her to believe the words of the frog and destroying her own voice.

There are many morals that can be taken away from this poem.  The first would be not to be so trusting of others.  The nightingale trusts the frog way too much and does not scrutinize his potential motivation for overextending her voice, helping to eliminate his competition.  The lesson here might be to not be so open to others without fully assessing their motivation.  I think that another lesson is that artists who create their work for solely public praise and appreciation might stand a chance to actually see their work be temporary and not lasting.  The nightingale is so eager to have someone praise her work and responds to it that we get the impression that she is not mindful that her art is her greatest gift.  The fact that someone likes it is wonderful, but has to be secondary to the expressive quality that is within it.  The nightingale jumps at the chance to have a fan base, to become more praised, and never places her gift in the proper context.  I think that this is part of what ends up dooming her in the end.  Finally, I think that there is a lesson that there will always be "haters" out there.  Call it for what it is:  The frog is a "hater."  He envies her voice, and given his monotonous croaks, one can see why.  The nightingale never fully grasps that there might be malevolent people in the world who are motivated by their own senses of self.  For all artists or individuals who hold passion, the envious eyes of others that would covet what others possess are always there and should be understood in their proper context.

In the opening of "The Frog and the Nightingale" the author sets the scene of the frog's home and the loud, crass, and unrelenting nightly song that the frog sings. The first stanza of the poem allows the readers to understand that the frog's singing is not something that the rest of the inhabitants of the bog enjoys. Though, because they also live in the bog, and cannot live elsewhere, they must endure his nightly intrusions upon their serenity. The first stanza also provides insight on the frog's character. It seems that he does not consider or particularly care whether or not the rest of the bog enjoys his singing. He simply sings on and on throughout the evening and night.

Seth's poem opens with a frog in a bog (did not intend the rhyme) singing his song of monotone.  Since he has been doing this for some time, the other inhabitants in the bog have become quite used to his sound being "croakes, awn and awn and awn."  Yet, since no one else sang in the bog, the other creatures had little choice but to listen to the monotone sounds he made  ("Other creatures loathed his voice,/ But, alas, they had no choice.")  While unpleasant, his song was his own, and few others could rival because the poem indicates few others made any sounds, as well.  The opening of the poem renders a world where there is no competition of voice, and where a singular melody, no matter how awful it is, reigns supreme.  The frog is quite content with being "the only show in town," and singing in his own voice ("Neither stones nor prayers nor sticks/ Insults or complaints or bricks/Stilled the frogs determination/To display his heart's elation.").

Vikram Seth's poem, "The Frog and the Nightingale" is about the rivalry between two animals.  The nightingale's beautiful voice enchants the other animals, and the frog becomes jealous.  He tricks the nightingale into abusing her song so that he will again be the sole performer in the bog.

The poem's subject is enhanced by the musical elements, including meter and rhyme scheme. Each line, while not perfectly iambic, does include four stressed syllables, so the rhythm of the poem is a musical "da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM, da-DUM."  The lines are rhymed in couplets, meaning lines one and two rhyme, lines three and four rhyme, and so on.  In addition, Seth repeats certain rhymes, such as "frog" and "bog," which helps to unite this long poem.

Finally, Seth uses onomatopoeia to create a song for the frog.  Many times in the poem, the frog sings, "Koo-oh-ah! ko-ash! ko-ash!"  While these words have no real meaning, when read out loud, they recreate the sound of a frog's joyous croak.