Ode To A Nightingale/ Ode On A Grecian Urn - comparison

Ode To A Nightingale/ Ode On A Grecian Urn

John Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale" is intricate in detail whilst maintaining its ability to allow many different readings from its readers even whilst its own statements are quite precise. One very common reading of the ode is to see the nightingale as a symbol of poetic inspiration and fulfillment. This is displayed by Keats's descriptions of the nightingale and his use of imagery that links closely with that of inspiration. Thus, the poem is interpreted to be Keats's quest to find inspiration and go beyond human boundaries. Another reading of the same poem, which suppresses the symbolic role of the nightingale and focuses more on the strong paradoxes evident throughout the poem, is that of Keats's desire to lose himself completely in an experience of happiness by the effort of his imagination, however, this renders reality more painful by contrast and this experience can be only maintained momentarily before reality sets in again

Keats's "Ode to a Nightingale" can fittingly be interpreted as a metaphorical text on the nature of poetic inspiration and the poet's quest to become one with inspiration as historically, birds have always been ideal as symbols of inspiration. The way Keats describes the nightingale plays a central part to this reading of the poem. In the first stanza, Keats describes the bird as a "light-winged Dryad of the trees" (1.7). It is because of its "light-wings" that the nightingale is able to soar above the earthbound men. It can be construed that inspiration, unlike men, have neither boundaries nor forces holding it back. The images in the first stanza are nearly all of anesthesia and linked to the sorrow of the human condition: "drowsy numbness", "dull opiate", "hemlock" and "Lethe-wards". These sorrowful images are sweetly augmented by such moments in which the Nightingale sings its song with Keats describing it as being in a place with "...shadows numberless, / Singest of summer in full-throated ease." (1.10). This line displays the easefulness in which inspiration is able to transcend boundaries and the ability of the nightingale's song, poetry, to take a man out of himself and conduct him into the realm of imagination.

Keats's direct use of imagery also lends strength to this reading of the poem. In stanza two, Keats longs for fine wine to escape and "Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget" (1.21). This, however, is not merely a wish to escape through drink, but a wish for escapism through poetry. This is displayed when Keats wishes for a wine "Full of the true, the blushful Hippocrene" (1.16). Hippocrene is the fountain sacred to the Muses, beings of inspiration for artists and poets. Inspired by the bird Keats wishes to "leave the world unseen" (1.19) and fade into the forest with the nightingale. This is a wish to achieve the "full-throated ease" of the nightingale, not carried by wine, "But on the viewless wings of Poesy, / Though the dull brain perplexes and retards:" (1.32-33). Like the nightingale, poesy, too has wings, though it is more insubstantial than the bird. Keats longs for inspiration as his brain is "dull", and is ironically, transported by poesy. The synaesthesia used in the fifth stanza, when Keats is with the Nightingale not only condenses the imagery of the lush darkness of a summer evening, but also show that although Keats is physically in darkness, he is nevertheless, through poetic inspiration, able to describe what flowers are present through smell alone.

Keats's wish for immortality is seen most strongly in the third stanza where he laments, "Beauty cannot keep her lustrous eyes, / Or new Love pine at them beyond tomorrow." (1.29-30). All the sorrows of life Keats mentions in this stanza seem to be connected with the mortality of humans. From the mortal bird, the nightingale is transformed to its symbolic and immortal form of poetic inspiration at the climax of stanza seven. Keats exclaims, "Thou wast not born for death, immortal bird!" (1.61) and "The voice I hear this passing night was heard / In ancient days by emperor and clown" (63-64). It is hard to imagine how a simple bird could be immortal as Keats states, yet if one appreciates the nightingale as a metaphorical symbol for poetic inspiration, it is easy to understand its final transcendence of the boundary of time and finally place as Keats tells of its song that has visited fairy lands: "oft-times hath / Charmed magic casements, opening on the foam / Or perilous seas, in fairy lands forlorn." (67-70).

On the other hand, the second interpretation of the poem, in which the paradox that the world of imagination offers a release from the painful world of actuality, but at the same time renders the world of reality more painful by contrast, is also a valid reading. Keats alludes to a number of ways to avoid reality, in the first stanza, such as poison: "hemlock" (1.2) and narcotic drugs. A sense of drowsy numbness is also established by the long clogging vowel sounds that feature heavily. Keats also uses wine, loss of memory, imagination and even death itself as a form of escapism from the brutal realities of a world he describes as "Where but to think is to be full of sorrow" (1.27)

By an effort of the imagination Keats manages to subdue all his knowledge of the human suffering he describes in the third stanza and to enter so completely into the ecstasy of the nightingale's song that he becomes no more than an instrument recording the minutest particulars of physical sensation. For example, in stanza five, though he cannot see it, Keats describes the beauty of a place in the minutest detail by the sheer force of his imagination. The soft sounds, and descriptions of flowers used in this stanza yield an enchanting and beautiful atmosphere to the landscape. He feels, for a moment, in stanza seven, how marvelous it would be for his life to end in such a state of bliss ("Now more than ever seems it rich to die/.../ In such an ecstasy!" l.55 and 1.58 respectively), but the paradox is that death would mean the end, for Keats, of the nightingale's song as he realises when he says, "Still wouldst thou sing, and I have ears in vain-- / to thy high requiem become a sod." (1.59-60)

In fact, the whole poem is a paradox of continually changing moods from one stanza to another. There is an extremely subtle and varied interplay of motions, directed now positively, now negatively. In first stanza, Keats's "Heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains / My senses, as though of hemlock I had drunk" (1.1-2) however, surprisingly, Keats associates happiness and great pain and paints them as intrinsically related. Another paradox is evident in the wine in stanza two that is "Cooled a long age in the deep-delved earth," (1.12) yet it is also "a beaker full of the warm South" (1.15).

In the last stanza, Keats realizes he cannot follow the nightingale as he had hoped; its song has only momentarily separated him from himself and the fiction of his imagination cannot be sustained: "Adieu! The fancy cannot cheat so well" (1.80). Even as he listens, the melody fades into the distance like an illusion: "Fled is that music: --Do I wake or sleep?" (1.80) and the poet is returned, reluctantly and uncertainly to reality.

In conclusion, the two interpretations are equally valid and lend themselves completely to the disposition and the values of the reader and the paradigm of the society. The reading that the poem is essentially Keats's quest for poetic inspiration and fulfillment can find strength in the poet's descriptions which gradually transform the nightingale into a symbol of inspiration that transcends the human boundaries of sorrow and mortality. Keats's imagery, such as the wine of the Hippocrene, and that of the viewless wings of Poesy further enhance this viewpoint, as does his lamenting of the woes of mortality and exultation of the bird's immortality. The second reading of the poem as Keats's desire to lose himself in happiness is made valid because of the examples of the oxymora of life that Keats depicts. The descriptions of the dark, and heady scents of the woodland and Keats's ecstasy in the song of the nightingale and his subsequent realisation of the paradox of his death most clearly supports this viewpoint as does his reluctant return to reality from a temporary escapism through imagination and "fancy".

~~~~~BIBLIOGRAPHY~~~~~~

- Keats: Odes, A selection of Critical Essays edited by G.S. Fraser. First published in 1971 by Macmillan Publishers Ltd.

- The Poetry of John Keats by Haskell, Dennis. First published in 1991 by Sydney University Press in association with Oxford University Press

- Introduction to Keats by Walsh, William. First published in 1981 by Methuen & Co. Ltd

- Brodie's Notes: Selected Poems and Letters, John Keats by Handley, Graham. First published in 1978 by Pan Books Ltd

- Critics on Keats edited by O'Neill, Judith. First published in 1967 by George Allen & Unwin Ltd

ODE ON A GRECIAN URN

Keats was an important figure in early 19th century poetry and arguably wrote some of the most beautiful and moving poetry in the English language, despite dying at a very young age. Many of Keats' themes and concerns are quintessentially Romantic such as the beauty of nature and the transience of human life in time. Keats seems troubled by a quest for beauty and perfection and this is especially evident in his odes. These lyric poems were written between March and September 1819 and Keats died in 1821.

In Ode To A Nightingale, Keats turned to the song of a bird in his quest for perfection, in Ode On A Grecian Urn he has turned to art. Instead of identifying with the fluid expressiveness of music the speaker attempts to engage with the static immobility of sculpture. This is done by examining the pictures on the urn and by the speaker describing them and interpreting their meaning. Finding a paradox in nearly all that he finds, it is as if Keats examines both sides of every coin using the urn as a base of perfection and the mortal ...

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The choice of an urn as the subject is in itself interesting, a container designed to keep things safe from decay. However, by keeping something safe from harm by enclosing it, you also prevent it from being released. This symbolic struggle is a theme repeated throughout the poem.

The urn's perfection is established in the opening lines being referred to first as a bride and then as a child, both of which imply a sexual undertone but by being unravished and fostered, the urn retains a God like purity, never tainted by the desires of man. The long vowel sounds of individual words such as 'thou' 'still', 'bride' and 'quiet' intrinsically imply a passage of time which the urn is unharmed by - it is still a child and therefore young, again separating it from the decay which both man and nature are subject to. Stanza one ends with a series of questions directed at the urn by the speaker as he imagines who and what the figures are.

Stanza two begins with another paradox:

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter; therefore ye soft pipes, play on:

Not to the sensual ear,.......

This introduces the idea that the unheard songs of the piper on the urn and by extension all experience gained through means other than the physical senses, are more perfect and lasting than those understood through the 'sensual ear' as they withstand the passage of time and nature. This concept of the very best sound being one you can never physically hear but one you imagine is then applied to further images on the urn. Despite the fact that the 'bold lover' can 'never, never' kiss the 'fair youth', they are told not to grieve as being frozen on the urn, they nor the trees around them will ever fade - their love will last forever in anticipation of their kiss - the very best feeling comes from the imagination as with the unheard melodies.

Stanza three continues in the same vain of joy in discovering that time will never change the images on the urn. The repetition of the word 'happy' seems to imply a build up of joy that can only go on growing as it will never be winter, always spring and 'for ever new'. Line 26, 'For ever warm and still to be enjoyed', again reminds the reader that the pleasure is always in the anticipation. The results of going beyond this point are then given with 'breathing human passion' leaving '....a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,/ A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.' The satisfaction of passion only leaves man with a wearied physicality which the urn will never have to experience.

The fourth stanza returns to more images on the urn, this time of a sacrificial procession of people and the speaker begins to imagine the town which they have left empty. For the first time the speaker almost seems to relent on the perfection of never changing and, addressing the town directly, seems to hold real and generous feeling that it will always be 'desolate'. 'For ever more' in line 38 now refers to emptiness. It is as if the vivid, fresh mood of stanza three has been reversed. The speaker's interaction with the urn ends, however, as being 'frozen', it can offer no more answers, there is nothing more that it can reveal.

In stanza five, the speaker 'takes a step backwards' and considers the urn in its entirety as an inanimate object and not in terms of the scenes on it. We are again reminded of the frailty of the human condition in line 46 with 'When old age shall this generation waste' and that the urn is safe from the ravages of time and human history. It will remain a 'friend to man' and finally comes the message that the urn has for us. The speaker has questioned the urn for four stanzas and the reply of 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty' answers none of the questions which have been posed. It tells us nothing about the individual features on the urn and seems to come from what the urn actually is. It is an object of beauty that the speaker has experienced. If we take it that the final two lines are spoken solely by the urn (although this has long been a topic of debate) it is as if the urn is saying that the speaker has been asking all the wrong questions. The final paradox of the poem is that whilst maintaining its silence, the urn as still spoken and partially answered some questions although its response is not necessarily what was expected.

Despite the 'happy, happy' tone of some parts of Ode On A Grecian urn, it is hard not to feel a sadness for the joy that is only be anticipated and never actually felt. By being preserved from the passage of time, the characters on the urn are also trapped by it, never being able to reach for new joys in the future. Preservation from time forbids growth which is a key element to life itself. The themes of struggle between staying constant and changing, of joy leading to sadness, are echoed throughout Keats' odes. In the final stanza of Ode On Melancholy, Keats views pleasure and pain as inextricably linked:

She dwells with Beauty - Beauty that must die;

And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips

Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh'

Turning to Poison while the bee-mouth sips:

Beauty must die, joy is fleeting and the flower of pleasure will turn to poison. This seems to echo the sadness found in Grecian Urn. It is as if the joy of anticipation is overshadowed by the anticipation of the sadness which is sure to follow. In Grecian Urn, time always brings decay, here pleasure always leads to sorrow. These struggles however seem to become reconciled in Ode To Autumn. If the struggle with the urn's preservation was symbolic of Keats' own struggle to evade death, his overall feeling seems to have mellowed in his ode to autumn.

The selection of this particular season implicitly takes up the themes of temporality, mortality and change but whereas the urn's perfection lay in being immune to the passage of time, autumn's seems to be that it embraces it. Despite the impending coldness and desolation of winter, autumn is a time of plenty and warmth in this ode. In the urn, the speaker found joy in it staying spring forever, but now autumn is told not to think of the songs of spring but to recognise the music it has of its own. Not only has time not damaged the beauty of nature, it has actually allowed more beauty to develop, beauty which could not be possible within the limitations of the urn. Even the understated sense of inevitable loss in the final line does no seem tragic as the birds will return as the seasonal cycle continues. Instead of joy always leading to sorrow, sorrow will now lead to joy.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bloom, H.,ed. The Odes of Keats Modern Critical Interpretations (New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1987)

Booth, J. Notes On Keats' Poetry (London: Coles Publishing Company Limited, 1973)

Gittings, R. John Keats (London: Penguin Books Limited, 2001)

Ode on a Grecian Urn and to a Nightingale

Ode on a Grecian Urn draws out two different emotions. Firstly, happiness is drawn out, mostly due to the fact that Keats uses the word happy so many times. Upon reading the poem again I find hints of sadness when examining the urn. The beginning of the poem is one of happiness and wonderment as Keats asks what men or gods are these, referring to the figures on the side of the urn. Keats seems intrigued by the beauty of the urn and how everything on the urn may fade but is forever imprinted on the side.

But when reading the poem over I see a different side of the poem. I believe that Keats is second guessing the blessing of being immortalized on the urn. The forever figures on the urn are just a tragic reminder of glorious times passed that may never be seen again. As in lines 36-40 in which Keats states that citadels are emptied of people, streets are empty and silent and no one can ever return. Another disappointing setback of the immortality of the urn is its repetition. Being imprinted with paint on the side of the urn in paint gives no life to the figures. They are trapped in the position for all eternity with no capabilities. Who would want an immortal life with the curse of being trapped when one could life a mortal life full of free will, and choice making? Line 17 speaks of a lover who can not kiss his partner because he is stuck in position.

Ode to a Nightingale is a tough poem to read. Keats is somehow hurt by the song that gives him pleasure. Keats may be jealous of the nightingale, perhaps of the simplicity of life. A nightingale has no worries, just instincts to eat, rest, and seek shelter, while humans worry for so much more. Keats seems to drink so he can forget his worries and be on the same plane as the nightingale. In line 27 Keats says to think is to be full of sorrow, perhaps saying that being like the nightingale without worries is pure pleasure.

As Keats seems to recover from his high he thinks of death. For a moment he envisions death as a peaceful slip into irresponsibility, he will be of no worries and the nightingale will keep singing. But the nightingale soon flies away and Keats is left wondering if this encounter was a dream or reality, or did he imagine it all. I believe the message is that being human is a double edged sword. Having free will we can make decisions and take actions to bring us pleasure. But along with this ability comes responsibility. We must work hard for profit, pay taxes and debt, worry about the future, and we all have the knowledge that someday we must die.

'Ode on a Grecian Urn' is a delightfully reflective, lyrical poem, which contemplates the beauty of static art with the transience of life. Although initially we revel in the enchanting charm of the urn depicted we understand that art is eternal in its moment of emotion, and what it gains in its infinite life it also looses with the lack of motion of it being fixed. By looking at the intricate poetic language Keat's chooses for this ode we are allowed access to the enchanting images of the urn and also into the introspective mood of Keat's himself.

The word 'ode' derives from an ancient Greek word meaning 'song' which sets the mood of the piece. We see the art of the urn and also the lamentations and meditations of the poet as having many perspectives like that in a song which can display a range of emotions. The ode open with a series of personifications of the Grecian urn, it is a 'still unravish'd bride', a 'foster-child of silence' and a 'Sylvan historian'. These paradoxical images suggest it taking many forms, it can speak yet it is silent. This draws attention to the fact it is art, it will remain static, and it is not a moving consciousness. The first two lines are ended with commas and a ceasural pause interrupts line 3. This allows us to consider the very separate, differing guises of the urn before we move onto yet another metaphor. The fact it is a 'still unravish'd bride' adds a duplicity of meaning. 'Still' can be understood as a verb suggesting the urn has the unmoving perfection of a bride. Or it can be understood as an adjective suggesting it is empty and devoid of human emotion being a work of art. Keats uses the ambiguity of language to hint that beauty may not be as perfect as we understand, there are many ways we can interpret art but in many ways it is sterile, like the 'unravish'd bride', and likened to death. The poetic device of assonance is also displayed in line 2 with the repetition of 'I' sounds in 'silence' and 'time'. This serves as an echoing technique that exaggerates the passing of time and the eternal images that will never cease to exist.

The ode itself is a mixture of characteristics from the traditional Shakespearean and Petrachan sonnets, like 'Ode to Autumn'. The first quatrain rhyme scheme is ABAB with the ending sestet of the stanza being a deliberate corruption of the Petrachan rhyme scheme, following the pattern of CDE DCE rather than the traditional form of CDE CDE. The poem also exhibits other poetic conventions by the way it is written mainly in iambic pentameter. However, Keats is tractable with this trait whilst retaining classical formality. Line 7 is a nine-syllable line with two unstressed syllables. This adds to the excitement of the tumbling amount of questions the poet is asking of the scenes depicted on the Grecian urn. The use of anaphora is also evident, each question drawing attention to itself by beginning with 'What'.

X / x x / x / x /

'In tempe or the dales of Arcady?'

Stanzas 2 and 3 explore the images and scenes on the urn. Repetition of words is most prevalent in these stanzas; 'heard melodies are sweet, […] unheard / Are sweeter', 'ye soft pipes […] Pipe to the spirit', 'happy, happy boughs! […] More happy love! More happy, happy love!' This repetition draws attention to the poem as a poem, acknowledging to the reader that like the urn is a work of art, so is the poem, and like the urn is eternal, so is the poem. The problems that we encounter with the urn being sterile and fixed, are the problems we will encounter with the poem. It can only explore a momentary feeling - it is not transient like life itself. The repetition of the word 'happy', although essentially is an uplifting word, is made to sound uncomfortable through the insistence it creates. Poetic devices such as these warn us that language can be ambiguous and the initial interpretation may not be all it appears to be, and the job of the poet is to exploit these ambiguities like that concerned with feelings upon life.

The poet celebrates the pipes and their sweet melodies. He celebrates the fact they are sweeter when we can't hear them suggesting that the beauty of imagination is true beauty of the world. What our mind perceives is truth and beauty and we can see and hear beyond the original natural form itself. This sentiment is echoed in the final two lines of the poem. The trees will never know what it is like to be bare of leaves, they will always be bountiful and full. The lover will 'never, never' kiss the fair maid. This repetition finalises the insistence of 'never' contrasting the art with real life. It is dead in its moment of pleasure. For although the lovers will be 'for ever' fair and in love they will never reach the moment of 'bliss'. The poet expresses the images or people depicted on the urn are far above 'human passion' and will never feel the absolute sorrow and unhappiness that accompanies our humanity.

Keats also makes use of other poetic systems such as run-on lines and half rhymes. This aids the diction of nature and pagan mythology by imitating the natural flow of speech with all its nuances. Natural speech does not automatically follow iambic pentameter with a definite pause after every 5 feet so the poem parallels natural speech, which is in accordance with the poet addressing the urn; 'happy, happy boughs! That cannot shed / Your leaves,' and 'Fair youth, thou canst not leave / Thy song'. It is interesting that the words 'shed' and 'leave' are the words emphasised here, suggesting that the urn has a never-ending beauty which it cannot 'leave'. The opposition of the virtues of existing forever in this state, and the sorrow of it being fixed, are deliberately pondered on before the poet makes his decision choosing the upheaval of life over the desolation of eternity. The half rhyme of 'play on' and 'no tone' resonates in a prolonged fashion. The half rhyme unsettles the imagery of enchantment and acts as an indication that nothing is inherently 'happy' or balanced. The assonance of this also reverberates around us reminding us of the control of time, something that this piece of art and its images will never have to confront. The inverted word order of 'streets for evermore / Will silent be;'

In stanza 4 the poet asks questions of the sacrifice that is illustrated on the urn and speculates about the empty town the spectators have left. It is here when the true meaning of the poem accumulates. The barren town that it's 'folk' have left converts the joy into an eternity of bleakness. The beauty of art is death-like with no motion, variance or fulfilment. Therefore life, with its altering moods and emotions is preferable to living in a death-like state for eternity. The literary device of alliteration is heard throughout this stanza with the repetition of 's' sound; 'skies', 'silken flanks' 'sea-shore' and 'citadel' to name but a few. These insistent sound patterns elaborate on the poem as a work of art.

In stanza 5 the splendour of the Grecian urn is transformed into a 'silent form' as the narrator calls it 'Cold pastoral!'. This paradox exemplifies the meaning, that true beauty is in the process of the imagination, not in the eternal. The imagination weaves and wanders whereas this beauty is rigid and sterile. The ending lines on this stanza have been hotly debated through time but my interpretation is that the 'silent' urn mimics the thoughts of the poet that 'Beauty is truth, truth beauty…' through the malleable nature of the imagination. Imagination is truth and in truth there is beauty. Beauty is beyond the cold image before us, beauty is evident in what we see other than its form.

Although the ode is written from the point of view of the narrator and his constantly questioning mind, it is impersonal as there is no 'I' evident. Therefore this leads me to believe it is a universal ode, one that any emotive being can relate to. It's meaning is located within the poem and there is no hidden message or moral for us to tease out of it.

In consequence I find this ode richly eloquent through Keats preferred use of diction and imagery. The fact that the poem, which is a work of art, discusses a work of art draws attention to the techniques that artists use to make something pleasing. The inverted word order of 'streets for evermore / Will silent be;' is an example of art drawing attention to itself. In this way, Keats exploits various poetic devices to draw attention that the same meaning can be applicable to all works of art. What we extract from them is beautiful, not just the art itself, which exemplifies one of the many endearing characteristics of the Romantic Movement!

TOTAL WORDS: 1527

BIBLIOGRAPHY

The Open University (2002), Approaching Poetry,

The Open University, Milton Keynes

Stephen Bygrave ed. (1996), Romantic Writings,

The Open University, Bath

The Open University, Persisting Dreams, TV2

The Open University, A210 AC2131, Romantic Poets

The Open University, A210 AC2132, Poetry Tutorial

WR Owens and Hamish Johnson (2001), Romantic Writings: An Anthology,

The Open University, Milton Keynes

Marilyn Butler (1981), Romantics, Rebels and Reactionaries,

Oxford University Press, Oxford

Paul O'Flinn (2001), How to study Romantic poetry 2nd edition,

Palgrave, Basingstoke

Discuss the use of poetic form and language and its effects in 'Ode on a grecian urn'

The urn is portrayed, in elevated language as a dignified and silent form, suitable for this horation ode comprised. It is written in iambic pentameter which lends the piece a familiar, flowing rhythm. The tone is both musing and meditative. The poem is an apostrophe as the speaker addresses the object directly, but the word 'urn' is only used in the title. The effect of this is to focus the reader's attention on what is represented rather than the physical form. The rhyme scheme is a formal ABAB CDE for the first seven lines of each stanza, however the remaining three lines seem to break from this formability as the scenes depicted on the urn break from the pure lines of the object.

The first line introduces the metaphor of the urn as a 'still unravish'd bride'. (1.1) There is a dual meaning to the word 'still' which can refer to both time and lack of motion. There is the interesting paradox of married yet virginal. The metaphor changes in the second line to a 'foster child'. (1.2) The urn is both wedded to and adopted by time and silence. It is described as a 'sylvan historian', a recorder of history, stressing its link with the past. It is through the questioning of the urn that the reader learns of the images that have captivated the speaker to the extent that he describes them as superior to his poem. He appears unsure as to whether the figures on the vase are Gods or mortals, which again emphasizes the beauty of the figures. The use of alliteration in 'silent and slow time' and 'leaf-fring'd legend' add to the harmonious tone and contrasts with the discord of the next lines. The word are of two syllables or less and the use of seven consecutive questions adds pace to the poem. From the 'silence' and 'quietness' the poem moves to 'mad pursuit' and the 'pipes and timbrals' (1.10); from the 'unravish'd bride' to 'wild ecstasy'. There is a tranquillity and purity to the urn which is belied by the passionate sexual chase depicted.

The second stanza adopts a gentle tone once more. The speaker is looking into the figures, attempting to engage more fully with them through his imagination and this becomes most apparent when he addresses himself to a figure within the scene. The first three lines of the second stanza contrast the real world with the ideal, yet unreal scene on the urn. Initially here the speakers preference appears to be for the scene. The enjambement at the end of line eleven draws the reader's thoughts and encourages them to consider the apparent oxymoron of unheard melodies. The 'sensual' (2.13) world appears to be initially rejected in favour of that 'more endear'd'. However in the following three lines the speaker acknowledges the drawbacks of being thus frozen in time. The language is negative and there is the repetition of the word never, emphasising the continuation of this state. There is the paradox of the 'Bold lover' (2.17) who is destined never to have his 'bliss'. (2.19) There is no fulfilment of desire. The speaker goes on to tell the figure not to 'grieve' over this as 'She cannot fade' (2.18), another negative. The use of the word 'cannot' as opposed to 'will not' implies a lack of choice . The final line features the first 'For ever' of seven (I have included the 'for evermore' from line 37 within this). The prospect of a love unfulfilled 'for ever' cannot be a happy one.

In the third stanza the speaker expands on the last lines of the previous stanza. The trees are personified by as 'happy boughs', (3.21) the 'happy melodist' (3.23) remains 'unwearied' and the 'happy love' (3.25) is 'All human breathing passion far above.' (3.28) The inversion ensures the rhyme of 'love' and 'above' but there is also a contrast between the strong sound of 'human breathing passion' and the soft vowels of 'far above'. This human passion is described in terms of symptoms of fever or illness. However the tree 'cannot shed' (3.21) its leaves. It is trapped in a permanent Spring. The words 'for ever' are repeated five times leaving the reader with a uneasy sense that these figures are condemned to permanent, unchanging happiness and unfulfilled anticipation. The use of the word 'happy' can be seen as ironic. The depictions on the urn are 'far above' the pains of human existence, but satisfaction remains impossible.

The speaker turns to another tableau, that of the procession. His questions are directed not to what can be seen but to the 'green alter' (4.32) where the heifer is to be sacrificed and the origin of the people. The humbleness of this scene is in contrast to the confusion of 'mortals' and 'deities' (1.3) of the first stanza. The word 'folk' instead of people gives the depiction of the figures a simplicity. The words 'little town' are used twice and in giving three possible locations the universality of the scene is stressed as opposed to the named 'Tempe' and Arcady' of verse one. The town is personified as it is described as 'desolate' a word generally associated with human feeling. The speaker directly addresses the town which indicates yet further involvement and the journey further into his imagination. The use of poetic inversion in the last three lines not only enable the rhyme, but also ensures the stanza ends with the forlorn 'can e'er return'. (4.40)

In the final stanza the speaker considers the urn as a whole once more. The alliteration of 'marble men and maidens' (5.42) ensures the two are thought of together almost as a single figure. It is interesting that the word 'overwrought' (5.42)is used as not only does it refer to the craftsmanship, but also has connotations of over-excitement which echoes the 'mad pursuit' (1.9) of the first stanza. References to the urn itself are once more are in terms of 'silent form' and comparison to 'eternity' (5.45) reflecting the 'silence' and 'slow time' of verse one. The phrase 'dost tease us out of thought' is intriguing. Is the speaker taken away from objective thought, 'teased' into the ultimately unreal world of the urn? Is the urn itself 'out of thought?' or perhaps it was an escape from the pain and passion of real life? Pastoral scenes are associated with a warmth, but the urn is 'cold pastoral' (5.45), not only in the marble, but also in its disassociation from passion.

Lines 47-48 are enjambed which encourages us to read through to the final couplet. The Urn is in the real world and will remain so after those who view it now are gone. There will be others in future. It is a part of life and yet the life carved upon it is unchanging. It is unaffected by the pain and time as the human condition will know it, but will be there for future generations and have something to say to its viewer.

Although action is portrayed, the scenes on the urn are frozen in time. This element fascinates the speaker, It is a form of immortality, to never be wasted by old age, be out of love or feel the pains and sorrows of life. But it is not life; the images 'haunt' the urn, the melodist pipes 'to the spirit ditties of no tone.(2.14) These images are ghosts. Life and passion may be transient but the 'bold lover' will never kiss his lover or experience the 'bliss' of consummation. The town remains 'desolate' for eternity.

In the final two lines the speaker gives voice to the urn; 'Beauty is truth, truth Beauty'.(5.49-50) The enjambement of this line drives us to read on and to consider the two lines together. The speaker resumes, but it is unclear whether he is addressing the urn or the reader. The phrase is extremely ambiguous. Perhaps the urn is saying that 'truth' can be discovered through the consideration of art. This does not sit easily when we look at the speakers words. Is the 'truth' the reality of life? If this is the case the speaker has reached a conclusion that the reality of life, however transient is superior to the static unchangeable eternity depicted. If we assume the speaker's words are to the urn, They mark a return from his imagination to reality. Despite the urn's attempts to 'tease us out of thought', (5.44) the ultimate 'truth' of the urn is it's beauty as an object. It is required to be no more than that.

Throughout the poem, Keats has used paradox, opposites and ambiguity in his language. He has also reflected this in the structure, the expectations of the rhyme scheme are subverted in the last three lines of each stanza. The poem is crafted to leave the reader uncertain, and to provoke thought. The different interpretations that can be placed upon the piece must have been intentional. The hint of an answer at the end may be an illusion of one. If the speaker has come to no firm conclusion from his meditations on the urn, this is reflected in the readers meditation of the poem.

Discuss the use of poetic form and language and its effects in 'Ode on a grecian urn'"

The excellence of every art is its intensity, capable of making all disagreables evaporate from their being in close relationship with Beauty and Truth."

John Keats

John Keats was born October 31, 1795. Keats published three books of poetry during his lifetime, but was dismissed as a middle-class interloper by most critics. He had no advantages of birth, wealth, or education; he lost his parents during his childhood, watched one brother die of tuberculosis and the other emigrate to America. Poverty kept him from marrying the woman he loved. And he achieved lasting fame only after his early death in 1821. Yet grief and hardship never destroyed his passionate commitment to poetry.

John Keats wrote "Ode on a Grecian Urn" in 1819. This ode is based on a series of paradoxs and opposites on the discrepancy between the urn with its frozen images and the dynamic life portrayed on the urn, the human and changeable versus the immortal and permanent, participation versus observation, and life versus art. A "Grecian Urn" is an ancient vase with a work of art printed on it. Keats would often times use his poetry to create a world of pure joy, but in this poem the world of fantasy is the life of the people on the urn. Keats sees them, simultaneously, as carved figures on the marble vase and live people in ancient Greece. Existing in a frozen or suspended time, they cannot move or change, nor can their feelings change, yet the unknown sculptor has succeeded in creating a sense of living passion and turbulent action. The real world of pain contrasts with the fantasy world of joy. Initially, this poem does not connect joy and pain. "More happy love! more happy, happy love!" (Keats, line 25). When one reads lines such as this, one cannot help but think that the poet must have been very, very happy, and that, in fact, the tone of the poem is light and filled with joy. Unfortunately, this is not the case in John Keats's poem. At first glance, the tone of the poem seems light and flowery. Yet, when one looks deeper into the poem to find its underlying meanings, one discovers that the tone of the poem is very morbid. This is because the poem has two separate levels. Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn" has a superficial level of happiness and joy, which acts as a façade for a deeper level of morbidity and death, most likely because of the fact that Keats was dying as he wrote this poem. The urn is symbolic of death. Another example is the lines "Forever warm and still to be enjoyed. Forever panting, and forever young:" (Keats, lines 26-27). In these two lines Keats is talking about the immortality established on this urn. However, he realizes that true immortality does not exist. The last two lines in this poem,'Beauty is truth, truth beauty,-that is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know' has been very controversal between critics. I believe these last two lines relate to Keats fantasy world. In the eyes of John Keats, the urn is perfected beauty and art is superior to reality. Unlike Keats present circumstances, dying from his illness, art does not undergo changes. The perfected beauty of the urn is truth and satisfaction to Keats. No matter what challenges life has placed his way, his truth, that of the urn is his peace.

Keats' poem "Ode to a Grecian Urn" deconstricts humanity's mortality and in the end urges people to take pleasure in what remains, namely beauty. WARNING: The essay gets a bit sassy towards the end.

Ode To a Grecian Urn

This poem says something insidious about human nature, or at least civilization. But before I get into that, this is what I believe the poet is trying to say, and I only use the term "believe" because there are many different ways of interpreting this poem. The key to it is the last two lines, ""Beauty is truth, truth beauty" -that is all/ Ye need know on earth, and all ye need to know." What Keats is trying to convey is the fragility of human life, and how people shouldn't worry so much because in the end "Old age shall this generation waste". The Grecian Urn will stay forever in that blush of life, where the beginning, the anticipation, the curiosity abounds forever. The possibilities for the characters on the urn are endless, but we are mortal and therefore should take comfort where we can- namely in beauty.

This is a crock. While Keats lauds the girl who cannot fade, and who will always be fair, this leaves real women to try to hold themselves up to a standard that cannot exist beyond the imagination.

While American women attempt with Botox and other unnatural products to fight the signs of very natural aging, the characters on the urn will never age. And the whole idea of beauty, while idyllic is not tangible; you can't eat beauty, and it doesn't usually pay the rent. Beauty should be a mother who wakes up at three o'clock in the morning to feed her newborn, beauty should be the uncle who stays home with the kids so the parents can have a quiet night together. This is a true and inner beauty, one that truly lasts. Instead, beauty is in the unattainable, the youth and agelessness of these fictional characters on a glorified pot. The idea of a kiss, forever in the making, but never quite coming to fruition is romanticized, so where does that leave real kisses? Are they worse than those imagined? Keats would have us believe so.

When he wrote, "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter still", he is telling us that no matter how hard one practices, they can never achieve the greatness of the imagination. Would it be better then to never even try? To never be kissed? What this poem states is there is a brief moment of perfection, and then everything goes downhill. That brief moment lives up to everything the imagination can conjure, then reality steps in. Like a photograph of a couple on their prom night, this urn represents everything in it's ripening stages, a stage that can last for only one day.

Because there were few female poets of Keats' caliber and recognition there are no examples I can name of a woman poet writing about this particular issue. However, I like to think a woman would not have been so naive as to actually believe that a silly ancient samovar would be worth an entire poem. Or if she did, she probably would have made the poem more about the actual physical beauty of the urn rather than commenting on the impossibility of real achievement. Why is it we are told that beauty is youth? Why can't a grandmother be beautiful? Or even a woman over thirty-five? Because of men like Keats who started this whole fad. That's my theory, and I'm sticking to it.

Now let's move on to the other part that bothered me. Keats might have chosen these words because they fit his rhyme scheme, but such an accomplished poet must have chosen them for a reason. These words are "Unravish'd bride", and "ever panting, ever young". Keats consoles the young man on the urn that while he may never actually kiss the maiden, she will at least always be pretty. However, Keats glorifies her by being pure- an old time term for virginity. What's so great about virginity? And this poor chick is sentenced to it for eternity, and this poor guy is so close to his girl, but can't get there. Keats does not see this as a ring of Hell although I know he was writing after Dante, so he would have known about these things. Instead, her virginity is lauded, and he's supposed to be happy because at least he can have a little eye candy for the rest of eternity. Why didn't Keats comment that while the Grecian Urn is pretty, he would much rather have the attainable? Because men don't want what they can have!

If a man could have a woman who never aged, one he could lock up in a glass coffin like Snow White and bring out for parties and other social events but not touch, he would not be happy. He would want one that aged, one he could touch. This is part of the grass-is-greener-on-the-other-side syndrome, or is it? The fact that someone felt it necessary to place this sexist poem in an anthology makes me wonder- is it really ironic? It could be that Keats was making fun of people who chase after the greener side only to realize (usually too late) that what they wanted all along was right in front of their noses. Or it could be that Keats wrote this while he was still in his naive, fantasizing youth hood and he didn't know any better. Even Shakespeare wrote a few shlocky sonnets before he came down to the real, honest ones (the one about his love's hair being coarse, but he loved her anyway). If it is a folly of youth, I am more than willing to forgive Keats even if it could be proved he helped the sexist movement along. Christ, even Cindy Crawford was fired by her make-up company when she aged over thirty-three. If she can't make it out there as beautiful, most women don't stand a chance, but I have an idea.

My idea is, let's take all the men who subscribe to this nonsense about virgin women, the youthful, blushing "unravish'd bride(s) of quietness", the ageless (or at least twenty years younger than them) women. Let's gather them all up together, and lock them in a room with the Grecian Urn and this poem (I'm sure there's a copy of it near all the Urn's this poem could be about). Then let's leave them for, say, a year with only bread and water and see how long this form of perfection lasts as the ideal in their lives. I'd bet my whole checking account that they'd be crying for their momma's and begging for a real woman, lumpy and aging, who can speak. Because with all of Keats' talk of "wild ecstasy" and "pipes and timbrels", unheard melodies grow tiresome after a while, and there is nothing like the sound of a woman's voice to put a smile on anyone's face.