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Ode on a Grecian Urn



Ode on a Grecian urn is a poem by John Keats, written in may 1819. It has five stanzas, containing ten lines each.

When poem starts poet imagines himself standing before an ancient Grecian urn and addresses it. He is in deep thoughts that the pictures on the urn have frozen in time. Poet imagines urn as bride of quietness. Means urn is silent and for it time has stopped. He also describes the urn as a historian that can tell a story. Poet sees fingers on the side of the urn and asks what legend they depict and from where they come? Poet looks at a picture of group of gods or man pursuing a group of women. Poet wonders and questions comes in his mind like what their story could be? Why this struggle to escape? Why this wild ecstasy? Why this mad pursuit? etc.

In second stanza poet looks at another picture on the urn. A young man playing a pipe, lying with his lover beneath trees. Poet days that piper's unheard melodies are sweeter than heard melodies. Because they are unaffected by time. He feels like couple in picture are real and says though he can never kiss his lover because they are frozen in time, but lover should not grieve because her beauty will never fade.

In third stanza poet 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 songs will be forever new and that the love of the boy and the girl will last forever because they are frozen on urn and time can not affect them.

In fourth stanza poet sees another picture on the urn. It is one group of villagers leading a heifer to be sacrificed. Poet wonders where are they going? And from where they came? He imagines their town would be empty and streets would be silent. Now they are frozen on the urn, so they can never return.

In last stanza poet again addresses the urn and says it is eternal. When he and others will be dead, this urn will remain and will tell future generations a lesson that beauty is truth, truth beauty. This is the only thing he knows and the only thing he needs to know. Here poem ends.

So this poem reflects Keats's idea about time, eternity, love, beauty etc.



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