Category : POETRY LESSONS
“Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats
Introduction: Ode on a Grecian Urn is undoubtedly the most renowned ode in the history of English literature. This is a perfectly written, an irregular ode
so though the rhyme been has used throughout, but not in a strict way as in other is done in other forms of ode. John Keats has tried to praise the features of classical Greek art through his ode. Consequently, there cannot be another poetic form is as appropriate as this ode which is a true illustration of classical Greek art itself.
Summary of Ode on a Grecian Urn
John Keats is one of the greatest poets. His poems are monuments of meticulous craftsmanship and supreme aestheticism. A victim of frustrated love, he is concerned with themes of love in much of his poetry. So he’s known as the love poet. Some of his poems demonstrate his capacity to create an imaginary world out of the common experience. Ode On a Grecian Urn is a good example of this.
In this Keat’s was influenced by the experience of the Greek sculpture. He was a fantastic Greek art admirer. The poem is a philosophical reflection on the connection between art and life, immortality and human death, and the Platonic concept of Truth and Beauty. To the poet, art is the product of intellect, which is inspired by nature. It produces an ideal world far above than common world of life where people are suffering from illness, sadness, pain, starvation, poverty, and death.
The sight of the sculptured images on the Grecian Urn inspires a sense of wonder in the poet. He calls the Urn as a bride wedded to quietness and remaining a virgin. She is the foster child of Time and Silence. Time, the great destroyer has preserved its beauty. It is a timeless thing. Since it represents life, it is a product of time. At the same time, it is immortal. The Urn is a ‘silver historian’ because it gives us a history of the pastoral life of the ancient world. The beautiful woodland scene engraved on it tells us a story far more sweetly than any poem. The poet wonder if the figures are humans or gods. It could be both. He sees the maidens being pursued by their lovers and musicians playing pipes and timbrels. Their ecstasy becomes his.
The poet is inspired and feels a sense of wonder by the sight of marvelous images sculptured on the Urn. He addresses the Urn as a bride wedded to quietness and remaining a virgin. She’s a foster kid of Time and Silence Time the great destroyer has maintained its beauty. It’s something timeless. It is a product of time because it constitutes life. It’s immortal at the same time. The Urn is a ‘silver historian’ as it provides us a history of the ancient world’s pastoral life. The lovely woodland scene engraved on it informs us a tale much sweeter than any poem. The poet wonders if people or gods are the figures. It might be both. He sees the maidens being pursued by their lovers and musicians playing pipes and timbrels. Their ecstasy becomes his.
Keats takes up the themes engraved on Urn one by ine. Firstly, he sees a musician playing his pipe under a tree. The poet is unable to hear the “unheard melodies.” So he imagines that “unheard melodies” are much sweeter than melodies that have been heard. The musical instruments on the Urn are not playing to the “sensual ear,” but they are playing to the soul in us. The tree is immortal as well. It is never going to shed its leaves. Therefore, nature and human beings in the Urn are glad and happy.
A courageous lover attempting to kiss his beloved is another scene. In fact, he never kisses her, but he doesn’t have to worry about it because his sweetheart will never grow old and his love for her will never die. They love one another forever, and they are young and lovely forever. The images like. tree, piper, and lover depict nature, art, and life. All these pictures in the marble urn inform us about the nature-life relationship. In Art, the imperfections of life are dissolved.
Then the poet defines an engraved scene of pagan sacrifice on the urn. A priest is seen leading a heifer to a decorated altar and a big crowd following the priest to attend the ritual. The small town by the sea or river is eternally emptied because the people have gone to attend the sacrifice. These roads are forever going to stay silent. In contrast to the previous scenes, this scene is solemn and severe, which are happier than others. Keats utilizes this image to suggest the concept that even when dealing with tragic and solemn stuff, art provides pleasure.
Addressing the Grecian Urn once again, the poet recognizes the importance of his message to mankind. The images engraved on Grecian Urn quietly laugh at mankind because we are mortals and suffer from disease, pain, and sadness. Our life is even shorter than the lightening life itself. The Grecian urn images are immortal, telling us that “Truth is Beauty and Beauty is Truth. Beauty and truth are the same. Keats pays glorious homage to art’s immortality in this poem. Beauty is about to die, but Arts make it immortal.
Art is fantastic because it is not affected by the sorrow and wretchedness of the world of reality. Keats demonstrates us in this poem that art can capture and immortalize from real-life one fleeting moment of beauty. Human life and happiness are short, but art enshrines them with a perfect beauty that bestows them eternity Any beauty that is not truthful and any reality that is not lovely is irrelevant to mankind.
citadel – fortress
dales – vales
timbrels – small hand drums
pious – devout
Questions and Answers
1. The poem opens with a series of comparisons between the urn and random types of people. The comparison between the non-living urn and the very much alive people is known as what?
Ans. The comparisons come in the form of metaphors, but the attribution of living qualities to the urn is known as personification.
2. What is the first picture that the speaker sees on the urn?
Ans. The speaker sees a picture of men chasing women and asks what the reason could be.
3. Why are the melodies played by the piper in the urn’s second picture superior to those played by actual, living pipers?
Ans. The melodies played in the picture, though silent, are unaffected by time and are unconstrained in meaning.
4. Why, according to the speaker, will the town of the fourth stanza be silent “evermore”?
Ans. The town will be silent because its citizens, as depicted in the picture on the urn, have fled it and are frozen in time in the picture.
5. How does the speaker engage, interact, or react to each picture on the urn? Do his responses change? Why?
Ans. The speaker tries to ask questions of the urn with the first picture, but seeing how the urn cannot answer him, he abandons the line of questioning. With the second picture, the speaker tries to imagine what the experience of the characters on the urn must be like, trying hard to identify with them. His attempts, though, remind him of his own life and how he is tied to his experiences, so he abandons this line of interaction. Finally, with the third picture, the speaker tries to think about the characters as though they are experiencing time. His theory gives the picture an origin and destination; but then, unable to know if the journey is completed, he becomes captivated by the static nature of the urn. His responses show a progression in his identification with art.
6. Who speaks the poem’s final line, “that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know”?
Answers may vary. This question has been debated by critics since the poem’s first publication. If the speaker is the speaker of the poem, the line signifies that he understands the limits of art. If the speaker is the urn, then perhaps art shows that there is no limitation to life. The speaker may also be directly addressing the urn itself or the reader.
7. What is the meaning of “unravished bride”?
Ans. “Unravished bride” implies a bride not spoiled by man’s hand. Her chastity is still maintained. The sentence not only stresses the untouched beauty of the urn but also takes us to the point that the urn is spiritually lovely. No one can comprehend the secret of its marvelous beauty.