The nightingale has been a recurring literary motif throughout time in Europe and the Middle East. This 'small and inconspicuous' bird has long been held up as the paragon of birdsong, and its vocal outpourings both celebrated in verse and likened to the words issued by poets themselves. This program features poetry and prose that muses upon the sound of the nightingale's song and its implied meaning. The excerpt here is Meredith Penman reading John Keats' Ode to a Nightingale.