Ode on a Grecian Urn
Analysis:
This poem reflects Romanticism’s ideal due to the fact that it incorporate major uses of imagery and feelings to express Keat’s wonderment of the stories a Grecian Urn can tell. Thou still unravished bride of quietness, In this stanza, Keats uses wordplay to emphasis the knowledge that a Grecian Urn holds. He wanted to capture the quiet majestic being that is the Grecian Urn.
What men or gods are these? What maidens loath? |
In this part of the poem, Keats delves into his imagination to unravel this part of the urn. He was curious why these men would chase after these fair maidens and poses these questions not to answer them, but to add to the wonder and possibilities that the picture may be depicting.
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
Forever wilt thou love, and she be fair!
This is one of the examples that shows the theme of the timeless beauty captured by the poem. He uses this image on the grecian urn of man that cannot kiss his lover, yet because it is an image frozen on the urn, Keats shows the beauty in the moment and how it lasts forever. The description of how the tree would never shed its leaves and be bare is another example of the theme of timeless beauty.
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty"---that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
Keats realizes that in essence, the grecian urns job was to capture the moments in time when the Greek used to live and pass it on to others like Keats. He understands that the only thing the Grecian Urn understands is the beauty it possesses and thats all that matters for the urn.