Keats first introduced the concept of Negative Capability as a characteristic of a ‘man of achievement’, in which he ‘is capable of being in uncertainties, Mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact & reason’. 150 years later, Bion in his article ‘Notes on Memory and Desire’ adopted this concept into psychoanalysis by suggesting that an analyst must be in Negative Capability during the analytic hour. This paper attempts to further explain Bion's use of the concept by comparing it to a state of mind expressed in Keats' poem, “Ode to a Nightingale”. The poet bears the pain that accompanies him, without intending to solve it or seek answers. Instead of longing to discover the facts of life that cause suffering, he completely opens himself up to his imagination. Similarly, the analyst experiences at-one-ment with the patient's emotions by negating himself and letting go of the urge to find answers. In this way the patient's emotional truth is revealed. The paper also includes an analysis of Bion's addition to Freud in this regard, and of other post-Bion interpretations of the concept. The paper concludes with three examples of analyses that demonstrate its arguments.