What Does An Ode To A Grecian Urn Mean

From the first few lines Keats alludes to the great romances of the previous ages as opposed to William Shakespeare's great tragedies. While it could be discerned that Keats is referring to his poem

if you look at his poem. After the 1st half of the 3rd stanza, all the

The similarities between the poems lie in their abilities to utilize imagery as a means to enhance the concept of the fleeting nature that life ultimately has and to also help further elaborate the speaker’s opinion towards their own situation. In Keats’ poem, dark and imaginative images are used to help match with the speaker’s belief that both love and death arise from fate itself. Here, Keats describes the beauty and mystery of love with images of “shadows” and “huge cloudy symbols of a high romance” to illustrate his belief that love comes from fate, and that he is sad to miss out on such an opportunity when it comes time for his own death.

Conversely, Keats does not conclude with a positive image of love; the knight’s pain is shown when Keats metaphorically places him ‘on the cold hill’s side’ along with the many other ‘pale kings and princes

This is the study of typology, and the application of these techniques gives assistance in clearing up the fundamental concept of the poem. This supplies the intentions for the entire piece of writing. Bryant applies this representation of mental images to begin the portrayal of hills, valleys, forests, and different bodies of water, that make up what we address as our earth, to seek demonstrating that all of these things are just the beautifications that we should appreciate . These are the decorations and embellishments for what he calls, “the great tomb of men”. The author also utilizes the description of how ancient these things are that make up our land as a tactic to explain how they have been here longer then we have. Afterwards, he discusses that every elegant element in the sky are looking down on our little “abodes of death” from the heavens. In other words, death is inescapable. The existence of time will keep going. The way of life will carry on, and nature will no doubt proceed without us after we pass away. Initially, this conclusion could be interpreted as miserable as he resumes contrasting back and forth between the unrestricted open space of nature while you're alive and the confinement of a grave when you die, He elaborates that this is all you are able to achieve but, he concludes identifying a more beneficial and constructive frame of reference to turn around the idea of this resolution. He explains that the globe is just an

The last stanza shows how the speaker will die and his physical body will be gone, but art will stay forever. That is how the old man will leave his mark on the world.

The first four lines are metaphors the speaker uses to draw you into the poem wondering who is in the urn. Making the urn as a mystery box. He goes into great detail about the urn, but leaves the final judgment of who was actually cremated in the urn to the listener. The speaker starts the poem off by acting as if the urn is a bride on her wedding day at the alter and the silence you hear as the groom approaches her. Maybe that’s not it, the ashes in the urn is a foster child, silence and slow time is the parents who are symbolized as the urn to protect the ashes. Then finally the speaker calls the urn a “historian” statin to the listener just imagine the stories these ashes could tell not just of those who have visited the urn, but of life

Meanwhile in “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, the speaker experiences the belly of the whale when he comes to the realization that he will never be immortal like the painting on the urn. The belly of the whale--as mentioned before--deals with the lowest point in the character’s life, and specifically in this case, the persona, a human with a mortal life desires the ability of being immortal. The speaker undergoes the same wants as Dorian Gray but does not gain them. If anything “Ode on a Grecian Urn” serves as the realistic version of people accepting mortality than The Picture of Dorian Gray. Although Dorian Gray expresses what it “looks like” to receive what a person wishes for, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” turns a lesson into a wide perspective about what

John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” is written through the power of eternity, beauty and truth regardless of existence, as Wordsworth showed likewise. Keats illustrated his poem through love in its sublime. For example, in the first stanza he says, “What wild ecstasy?” (Keats 930). If ecstasy is a huge feeling of

becoming any worse in the future since “a thing of beauty is a joy for

Conversely, in another of Keats’ poems “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, he describes a piece of art that is spoken of in admiration. Keats believes that art as beautiful as this or any art for that matter is forever. This artistic expression transcends death itself. “When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe” (Keats). While everyone around grows old and eventually passes away this art is untouched by the hands of death. The works people leave behind are immortal and will withstand the test of time. Whether it be a sculpture or a poet’s work. Keats is not the only one who sees a death as an opportunity though. In “On Death”, another of Keats’ poems he speaks of death as a chance to let go of the suffering in this life and find peace in another. In the first line of this poem Keats creates an idea that when we are living, or awake, we are dreaming. “Can death be sleep, when life is but a dream, And scenes of bliss pass as a phantom by?”(Keats). I believe he’s saying that we are living in a dreamlike state, where we go by in our everyday lives and every

For this source, the focus was on a section of the book that was about John Keats. The problem this source is addressing is an emphasis on Keats and what he was focusing on when he wrote. It opens with a quote from Keats: “Difficulties nerve the spirit of a man.” (298) This is a problem that this source presents: the difficulties that Keats dealt with in his short life, specifically in the end, and how it affected his poetry. The source speaks mostly about Keats’ love for nature and how sensuous he was about it. Even though that is the opposite of the poems I want to focus on in my project, I still felt like this source was informative in the ways of which Keats was inspired in his other works. He’s stated to having an “intense and faithful”

Keats, on the other hand, uses the “Ode on a Grecian Urn” to express his perspective on art by examining the characters on the urn from either an ideal or realistic perspective. In the beginning, Keats asks questions regarding the “mad pursuit” (9, p.1847) of the people on the Grecian urn. As the Grecian urn exists outside of time, Keats creates a paradox for the human figures on the urn because they do not confront aging but neither experience time; Keats then further discusses the paradox in the preceding stanzas of the poem. In the second and third stanza, Keats examines the picture of the piper playing to his lover “beneath the trees” (15, p.1847) and expresses that their love is “far above” (28, p.1848) all human passion. Even though

In the second stanza, the speaker beholds a piper joyfully playing under the tress for his lover to find him with song. “Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared. The use of imagery of the senses is effective here. For I consider poetry to be more musical in nature than literary text. The speaker claims to be hearing melodies emanating from the urn, which for me the sound transmission from the urn correlates to the finite aspects of fleeting love. While the nature of art of the urn seems to me to represent the exquisiteness and infinity of the universe. Indeed, the sounds of silence from art is akin to vastness of space and time. “She cannot fade, though, thou hast not thy bliss,” (line19). Keats is asking the readers to not grieve for him. Because, her beauty will not diminish over time it is everlasting.

Imagery is seen all throughout the poem, but can be seen specifically when Keats is referencing death. Through the uses of the word “hemlock” which is a poison made of herbs, and “Lethe” which is, in Greek mythology, “a river in Hades (the underworld). Souls about to be reincarnated drank from it to forget their past lives.” (Melani) These words, along with others, paint a distinct picture of death and forms a very dark image of Keats’ inner thoughts. In the 2nd Stanza, Keats describes the real world with words such as “Flora” which is the “goddess of flowers and fertility.” (Melani) and Hippocrene which is, in Greek mythology, a “spring sacred to the Muses, located on Mt.Helicon. Drinking its waters inspired poets.” (Melani) Through the uses of these words, readers can infer that Keats seems to think that life, when enjoyed, is blissful and pure. Imagery is used