The poem ode on a Grecian urn by John Keats was written in 1819

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The poem “ode on a Grecian urn” by john Keats was written in 1819. This poem is an ode because the poet is praising the Grecian urn for its beauty and art. We see that instead of just praising one specific image, he has used images from different urns and has made it into one imaginary urn. This poem has a few prevalent themes, which I will be talking about.

One theme included is that of silence. We see this in almost every stanza. The opening line “thou still unravish’d bride of quietness” makes the reader sense the tone of stillness and silence. This gives the poem a subtle start. In the second stanza the poet says “heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter.” This is again brings the theme of silence. The poet has portrayed the theme of silence in a very beautiful way in the previous instances.

 In the fourth stanza he brings up this theme again by portraying an empty town. He questions about why the town is so empty but towards the end of the stanza he realizes he will never know because the picture will stay the same forever and no one will ever resolve the question as to why its so desolate. This stanza has a sense of mystery to it that the theme of silence has brought out. We see that silence is a theme because t is an urn that the poet is talking about and nothing on the urn can be really heard.

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Another theme brought out in this poem is that of innocence. The urn represents an innocent world unaffected by the suffering and hardship that comes with change. We see that in the images, the tress never have to deal with losing their leaves and even the urn itself is described as “unravish’d” or pure and it will remain this way forever. The poet might portray this theme of innocence because he wants to show that this urn is beautiful and still fresh and pure. It also shows that it is never changing.

This poem also contains the ...

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