Odes on a Grecian Urn By: John Keats Taylor Clark & Ashley Soto Mrs. Olsen, Instructor Poetry 9 February 2011 "Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats." EnglishHistory.net. Web. 10 Feb

Ode on a Grecian Urn Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape Of deities or mortals, or of both, In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy? Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd, Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone: Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare; Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss, Though winning near the goal - yet, do not grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu; And, happy melodist, unwearied, For ever piping songs for ever new; More happy love! more happy, happy love! For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd, For ever panting, and for ever young; All breathing human passion far above, That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd, A burning forehead, and a parching tongue. Who are these coming to the sacrifice? To what green altar, O mysterious priest, Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies, And all her silken flanks with garlands drest? What little town by river or sea shore, Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel, Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn? And, little town, thy streets for evermore Will silent be; and not a soul to tell Why thou art desolate, can e'er return O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede Of marble men and maidens overwrought, With forest branches and the trodden weed; Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral! When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Paraphrase In the first stanza, the speaker stands in front of a Grecian urn and addresses it. He is preoccupied with its depiction of pictures frozen in time, he describes the urn as a “historian” that can tell a story. The speaker questions the figures on the side of the urn, if they have a story and wonder what their story is? In the second stanza the speaker looks at another picture on the urn and there is a young man playing a pipe lying with his lover beneath a glade of trees. The speaker says the melodies are sweet and unaffected by time. He tells how he can never kiss his lover because he is frozen in time. In the third stanza the speaker looks at the trees surrounding the lovers and feels happy that they will never shed their leaves. He is happy for the piper because his song will “for ever new” and the lovers will last forever. In the fourth stanza the speaker examines another picture on the urn. A group of villagers leading a young cow to be sacrificed and questions where the villagers are going and where have they come? He imagines their small town to be empty and silent for those who have left it, frozen on the urn and will never return. In the fifth stanza the speaker addresses to the urn saying that it will last forever, the speaker thinks that the urn will surpass his generation. The urn will remain telling future generations mysterious lessons. " SparkNotes: Keats’s Odes: Ode on a Grecian Urn." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 17 Feb

Diction Use similes, symbols, and metaphor for the spiritual and emotional states he seeks to describe. He borrowed figures from ancient mythology to populate his poems. Ex: For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! "SparkNotes: Keats’s Odes: Ode on a Grecian Urn." SparkNotes: Today's Most Popular Study Guides. Web. 17 Feb

Tone and Mood Keats tone seems admiring of the urn and the scenes on it and tone is serious. The mood in this poem is romantic.

Rhetorical Situation The speaker in this poem is to good for this world. He is standing in a dusty corner of a British museum pressing his face to a display case and declaring his love to the marble pot. "Ode on a Grecian Urn Speaker." Shmoop: Study Guides & Teacher Resources. Web. 08 Feb

Figurative Language Lines 1-2: The poem opens with an apostrophe, by addressing something that cannot respond. Also, the speaker uses a metaphor to compare the urn to an "unravish’d" bride and "foster-child." The urn is being personified, or treated as if it were a person who could actually get married. Line 3: Through metaphor, the urn is compared to a "sylvan historian," or someone who tells stories about forest life. Lines 41-42: The speaker praises the urn’s shape and posture and provides the image of "marble men and maidens" that form a kind of "braid." Line 44: The apostrophe and personification continues ("Thou silent form"). Lines 48-50: The urn is personified as speaking to the humans. The urn uses a simple chiasmus in the expression "Beauty is truth, truth beauty." "Ode on a Grecian Urn Symbolism, Imagery & Wordplay." Shmoop: Study Guides & Teacher Resources. Web. 08 Feb

Imagery The poem is practically a jungle…the speaker is in a museum then at a wild party with attractive young people. Then he is socializing with a young musician which both are artist trying to produce melodic lines. The music is directed towards the ”inner” spirit ad not the ears.

Sound End Rhyme Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape Of deities or mortals, or of both, In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy? Rhyme Scheme: ababcdedce, ababcdeced, ababcdecde, ababcdecde, ababcdecde

Structure The poem's structure: (1) The first stanza introduces us to the topic, the picture on the urn, and presents several questions; (2) The second stanza speaks of music and love; (3) The third stanza continues with music, nature and love; (4) Stanza four deals with religion and sacrifice; (5) Stanza five gives a recap of the problem and the descriptions, followed by the truth revealed by the Urn--that beauty outlasts all. Rhyme Scheme: ababcdedce, ababcdeced, ababcdecde, ababcdecde, ababcdecde "Ode on a Grecian Urn Analysis: Enjoy This Analysis of Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats." Find Health, Education, Science & Technology Articles, Reviews, How-To and Tech Tips At Bright Hub - Apply To Be A Writer Today! Web. 07 Feb

Structure Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, A Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, B Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: B What leaf-fring'd legend haunt about thy shape C Of deities or mortals, or of both, D In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? E What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? D What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? C What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy? E

Conclusion/Evaluation Overall the urn captures both beautiful and awful things. What makes the urn so beautiful? It is that it is honest, it captures all parts of life, good and bad. In many of Keats poems, the speaker leaves the real world to explore a transcendent, mythical, or aesthetic realm. At end of the poem, the speaker returns to his ordinary life transformed in some way and armed with a new understanding.

Personal Reaction Ode on a Grecian urn was a very hard poem to understand. We did not enjoy this poem mostly because it was difficult to understand. Keats, who wrote the poem used very romantic language. When reading it we did not see anything that related to us.