OdeonaGr

eci
anur
n

Ode:Anodei
saf
orm ofl
yri
cpoet
ry-
expr
essi
ngemot
ions-
and
i
t'
susuall
yaddr
essedtosomeoneorsomethi
ngandit
r
epresent
sthepoet
'smusi
ngsonthatper
sonort
hing.

OdeonaGr
eci
anUr
n
BYJOHNKEATS
(
ful
ltextwi
thmeani
ngsandexpl
anat
ion,
stanza1)

Anur ni sasor tofv ase.See

pict
ure.I tcanbeusedt o
holdflower s,orbepl acedi n
agarden.Butmostl i
kel y
youwi llknowt hiswor dasa
containert hathol dsashes
ofadeadper sonaf terhe
hasbeencr emat ed( =
burnt)
.Whi lstyou’rer eading
Keats’poem, haveat hink
whatki ndofuseKeat shas
i
nmi ndf ort heurn.Theur ns
thatwer emadei ncl assical
ti
mes, byt heGr eeksand
Romans, haddecor ationson
them off igur esdanci ng,
playi
ngspor ts,f
ighting, and
evenhav ingsex.Thef igures
ontheur nscoul dbe
humansorgods.

1
 OdeonaGr
eci
anur
n

1.
Theunbr
okenur
nisst
il
li
ntact
,li
keav
irgi
n.
Symbol
Thoust
il
lunr
avi
sh'
dbr
ideofqui
etness, that
Theurn’
scr
eat
orisdead;
ther
efore,i
t r
efer
s
hasbeencar
edforbyti
meandsilence. t
ourn
Thouf
ost
er-
chi
l
dofsi
l
enceandsl
owt
ime,
Theur
nchroni
clesaseri
esofev
ent
s
thr
ought
hepictureswhi
chador
nit
. Can

Sy
lvanhi
stor
ian,
whocanstt
husexpr
ess
associ
atedwi
thwoods,
for
est
s Poet
ry

Af
lower
ytal
emor
esweet
lyt
hanourr
hyme:
Bor
der
ed Appear
ed

Whatl
eaf
-f
ri
ng'
dlegendhaunt
saboutt
hyshape
Asuper
nat
ural
divi
ne
bei
ng;
agodorgoddess. Humanbei
ngs

Ofdei
ti
esormor
tal
s,orofbot
h,
av
alleyinanci
entGreecefamous
forit
sbeauti
fulwoodlands v
all
eys I
deal
past
oral
count
ry

I
nTempeort
hedal
esofAr
cady
?
anunmar
ri
edy
oungwoman r
eluct
ant

Whatmenorgodsar
ethese?Whatmai
densl
oth?
Vi
olentact
ivi
ti
es

Whatmadpur
sui
t?Whatst
ruggl
etoescape?

Whatpi
pesandt
imbr
els?Whatwi
l
decst
asy
?
Anancientmusi
cal i
nstr
umentinwhich
thesoundisproducedbystr
iki
ng,
scrapi
ngorshakinganobject
.(f
lut
e)

2
 OdeonaGr
eci
anur
n

Par
aphr
ase:
Youar et heunravished( whosemodest yhasnotbeenv oil
ated)brideof
quietnessandt hef osterchil
dofsi lenceandshow t ime.Youar ea
histori
anoft hef orest swhocandescr i
bet hebeauti
fulstoryf arbetter
thanpoemscando.
Whati sthisstorywhi chisdepictedony ouwi thinaborderoff l
owers?I s
theset t
ingoft hest or yi
nTemperori nAr cady ?Whataret hese,menor
gods?Whatar et hesedi si
nclined orunwi ll
i
ng women?Whati st his
struggletoescape?Whatar ethesepi pesandt i
mbrel
s?Whati sthi
swi ld
ecstasy.
Li
nebyl
inedi
scussi
on:
Li
ne1:
THOUst
il
lunr
avi
sh’
dbr
ideofqui
etness,
Theur nisthev i
rgi
n(“unrav
ished”meansshehasnotbeentouched)
brideofqui
etness.Abri
deisawomanwhoget smar
ri
ed.I
nthi
scaset he
vaseisthebri
deofquiet.
Line2:Thoufoster-
chi
l
dofSilenceandsl
owTi
me,
Theurnisalsothefoster
-chi
l
d( =notabi ol
ogicalchi
ldbutonethatis
takencareofbysomeoneel sethanitsparent)ofSilenceandTime.
Usuall
ytimeisfast
,butherenot,becausewear etal
ki
ngaboutanurn
whichisnotal
i
ve,soti
mepassessl owl
yforit
.
Li
ne3&4:Syl
vanhi
stor
ian,whocanstthusexpr
ess
Afl
ower
ytal
emoresweetlythanourr
hyme:
Syl
van (orsyl
vi
an)meansoft hewoods.Theword hasa pl
easant
,
peacef
ulconnotati
on.Sosy lv
anhist
ori
anmeansthemakeroftheurn
whopresent
sapl easantsceneint
hewoods.May
beonesuchast
his:
Cansti
sanol
d-f
ashi
onedf
orm ofcan.
Li
ne5:Whatl
eaf
-f
ri
ngedl
egendhaunt
saboutt
hyshape
Whatlegend(=ol
dst
ory
)fr
amedwi
thl
eav
escanbef
oundar
oundy
our
shape(=theur
n).
3
 OdeonaGr
eci
anur
n

Li
ne6:Ofdei
ti
esormor
tal
s,orofbot
h,
Dei
ti
esaregods,and mor
tal
sar
ehumans(
mor
talcomesf
rom t
he
Fr
enchmort=dead.
)
Li
ne7:I
nTempeort
hedal
esofAr
cady
?
Tempeisavall
eyinGreece.Adal
eisalsoaval
ley
.Arcadyisaregi
oni
n
Greecet
hati
sassoci
atedwithapeacef
ulandsi
mplecount
ryli
fe.
Li
ne8:Whatmenorgodsar
ethese?Whatmai
densl
oth?
Amaidenisanoldwordforgi
rl
.Lothmeansnotwil
li
ng(t
hegir
lsdon’
t
wantt
o).Whatdon’
tthegir
lswant
?Well
,probabl
ytobeki
ssedormore
t
hanthat
.
Li
ne9:Whatmadpur
sui
t?Whatst
ruggl
etoescape?
Madpur suitmayr ef
ertoaclassi
cscenewherefaunswhoareal
ways
hornypursue(pursui
tist
henoun,andpursuemeanschase)t
hegi
rl
sor
nymphs.Theny mphs/gi
rl
sthenstruggl
e(fi
ght
)toescapethemen’s
grabbi
ngarms.
Li
ne10:Whatpi
pesandt
imbr
els?Whatwi
l
decst
asy
?
Pi
pesar
efl
utes.At
imbr
eli
sananci
entt
ambour
ine.
Themusicisplay
edandt hepeopleorgodsi
nthepi
ctur
earegoingwi
l
d.
They
’reecst
ati
c.They
’reprobabl
ydanci
ngwil
dly
.Yougetthei
dea.

Expl
anat
ion:
Keatswasi nspiredbythesightoftheEligi
nMar blesandGr ecianUrns
attheBri
tishMuseum.Thepoetgotachancet olookattheGr ecianur
n
andbegant othinkaboutit
slongdur at
ionont heear t
h.I
tisthesignof
si
lentonwar dmov ementoftime.Theur nusweddedt oquiet
ness, i
t
exist
soutsidethesphereofhumanact ivity
,apartfrom t
hemov ement
andchangeofl if
e,unt
ouchedbyt imeanddeat h.

 Ur
nist
hesy
mbol
ofunchangi
ngper
fect
ionandbeaut
y.

4
 OdeonaGr
eci
anur
n

 Inthisfi
rstv
erse,weseethenarr
atorannouncingthatheis
standingbefor
eaver yol
durnfrom Greece.Theurnbecomest he
subjectofOdeonaGr eci
anUrn,soalloftheideasandthought
sare
addressedtowardsit
.Ontheurn,wearetoldthereareimagesof
peopl
ewhohavebeenf
rozeni
npl
acef
oral
loft
ime.
 Thef i
guresonurnsuggestsomestoriesaboutt hemselv
es.These
fi
guresareborderedbytheornamentalleafwork.Tempe_the
vall
eywascelebratedbytheanci
entpoet sforit
sbeautywhichwas
sacredtoGodApol lo.Ar
cady
_anideal pastoralcount
ryi
nclassi
cal
l
iter
ature.
 Thenarratoriswonder ingj ustwhatl
egendorstorythefi
gures
stuckont hesideoft hepot teryar
etry
ingtoconvey.Onesuch
pict
ure,seeminglyshowi ngagangofmenast heychasesome
women, isdescribedasa“ madpursui
t”butthenarr
atorwantsto
knowmor eaboutt he“struggletoescape”orthe“wil
decstasy.
”The
j
uxtapositionbetweent heset woideasgivesaninsi
ghtint
ohowhe
i
spr oj
ectingdiff
erentnarr ati
vesontoonescene,unsureofwhich
oneistrue.

 Thescenesdepi ctedont heur nshowt hatarti

spermanentbuti t
l
acksl if
eandwar mt h,whilemanpossesesl i
febutlack
eternit
y.Keat
shast ri
edt oreconcil
et heopposit
es.Hepresentsthe
cont r
astbetweent hetransit
orinessofhumanj oyandt heeterni
ty
ofar t
.Thescenesdepi ct
edont heurnhavebeeni mmortal
izedby
artandur nneverknowl if
eunpr edict
ablechangesanddecay

 Urnisweddedtoquiet
ness,doesnotspeakandhasnotspokenfor
ages,
it
sartal
onespeaks.
Itexisi
tsoutsi
dethespher
eofhuman
acti
vi
ti
es,
apar
tfrom t
hemov ementandchangesoflife,
unt
ouched
byti
meanddeath.
5
 OdeonaGr
eci
anur
n

 Urnhasremainedper fectthroughouttheagesandt i
mehasnot
spoi
ledit
sbeaut yatall.
Butunr avi
shedr aisesother
questi
ons.
.???
? .
whileperfectionandspoilessnessaregoodthi
ngs
butdepri
vedfrom thewar mthofl i
fe.
..
.veryhighpricepai
dfort
he
perf
ecti
on.I
thasst i
llmantaineditsvir
ginit
y .

 Anci
entGr
eeksort
hear
ti
stswhomadei
twer
eit
sor
igi
nal
parent
s,af
tert
hei
rdeat
h,i
tisundert
hecustodyofsi
l
enceandslow
ti
me,ti
medoesnotstandsti
ll
fori
tbutpassi
ngslowl
y.Ur
nissymbol
ofunchangi
ngbeaut
yandper
fect
ion.
 Theurnishi
stor
ianofrural
li
feofancientgreeksandatthesame
ti
mepreserv
ingl
ifeandbeautyfrom t
hedestructi
onof
ti
me..
..
fr
ozenalovelymoment ,
keepi
ngitfr
eshandnewf orever.I
t
i
sdoingthi
staskinbett
erwayt hanpoetspoetry
.Thi
scomparison
showsthatKeatsisemphasizi
ngont hepowerofart
 Urncantellf
lower yt
alesmoresweetl
yascomparetopoets,i
ts
happypastoralscenesarecol
orf
ulandinvi
ti
ngbecausethescenes
hi
ntatunspecifiedsi
tuati
onsandtheywit
houtt
hegrossnessof
humantalesie.
.namelyofwhathappendbef or
eandwhatoccur ed
l
ater

 Wenot einthisstanzaheavyuseofi nt
err
ogat i
on.
Thepoetis
curi
oustoknowaboutt hesesil
entgestur
es,hewant stoknowwho
arethesefi
gures,whatarethemot i
vesoftheiract
ions,
hemakes
suggesti
ons,aboutthepossibi
l
iti
esthatexceedetheboundriesof
whatisactuall
ydepicted.

 Thesil
entur
nisf
ull
ofnoi
seandactionsshowstheparadox,
the
wordsli
kepi
pe,
ti
mbrel
s,
wil
decstasy
,str
uggl
etoescape,mad
per
suit
sshowVOILENTacti
vi
ti
ds

 Thefigur
esar
enotselfexpl
anatory,t
hevi
ewer
shav
etocont
ri
but
e
thei
rownimaginat
ionf
orunderstandi
ng.
6