John Keats is one of the greatest Romantic poets in English literature.

He believes that Truth is Beauty,

Beauty Truth. He also said that “A Thing of Beauty is a Joy forever”. He is known as the poet of love. His
place in English literature is second only to William Shakespeare. Some of his poems show his ability to
create imaginary world out of ordinary experiences. Ode On a Grecian Urn is a fine example for this. He
was a great admirer of Greek art. The poem is a philosophical reflection on the relationship between art
and life, between immortality and mortality and the Platonic idea of Truth and Beauty. To the poet, art
is a product of the intellect, is inspired by Nature. It creates an ideal world, far above the world of
human life.

2. The sight of the sculptured images on the Grecian Urn inspires a sense of wonder in the poet. He
calls the Urn “unravished bride of quietness” and therefore a virgin. She is the foster child of Time and
Silence. Time, the great destroyer has preserved its beauty. Since it represents life, it is a product of
time. At the same time it is immortal. The Urn is a ‘sylven historian’ because it gives us a history of the
pastoral life of the ancient world. The beautiful woodland scene engraved on it tells us a story far
sweeter than any poem. The poet wonders if the figures are humans or gods. It could be both. In the
picture engraved on the sides of the Greek marble vase, the poet sees a number of beautiful maidens
being chased by youngsters and they are very happy.

3. One by one Keats takes up the themes engraved on the Urn. At first he sees a young handsome
musician under a tree playing his pipe. The poet cannot hear the silent music. So he imagines that
“unheard melodies” are far sweeter than heard melodies. The musical instruments engraved on the Urn
are not playing to the “sensual ear” but play to the soul in us. They produce silent music. The tree is also
immortal. It will never shed its leaves. So, the nature and human beings engraved on the Urn are happy
and happy. This is the wonder of art and therefore art is truth.

Another scene is a bold lover trying to kiss his beloved. He will never kiss her, but he need not worry
about it because his sweet heart will never grow old and his love for her will never die. They are forever,
loving each other and are forever young and beautiful and happy. The images of the tree, the musician,
the musical instruments and the lovers all represent Nature, Art and Life. All these images engraved on
the marble urn tell us about the relationship between nature and life. The imperfections of life are
disappeared in Art because art is perfect.

Now the poet describes a scene of pagan sacrifice engraved on the Urn. A priest is seen leading a heifer
(virgin cow) to a decorated altar in a jungle and a large crowd of people following the priest to attend
the ritual. The little town by the sea or river is emptied forever because the people have gone to attend
the sacrifice. Those streets will remain silent forever. This scene is solemn and serious as opposed to
the earlier scenes, which are happier than others. Keats uses this image to suggest the idea that arts
gives delight even when it deals with tragic and solemn things.

4. Addressing the Grecian Urn again, the poet observes that its message to humanity is important. The
images of the Grecian Urn silently laugh at humanity, because we are mortals and we suffer from
disease, pain and sorrow. Our life-span is even shorter than the life of the lightening. The images of the
Grecian urn are immortal and tell us that “Beauty is Truth, Truth Beauty”. Beauty and Truth are
identical. In this poem, Keats pays glorious tribute to the immortality of art. Beauty dies soon, but Arts
makes it immortal. Art is great because it is unaffected by the sorrow and the misery of the world of
reality. In this poem Keats shows us that art can capture and immortalize one fleeting moment of beauty
from real life. Human life and happiness are brief, but art enshrines them with an ideal beauty that
gives them eternity. Any beauty, which is not truthful and any truth, which is not beautiful are of no
practical importance to mankind.

The poet cannot hear the music of the young man playing on the musical instruments, standing under
the trees. So the poet imagines that the ‘unheard melodies are sweeter than heard melodies because
the silent music is for the soul of human being.

The passion experienced by the lovers in the picture is very different from real human passion. The lover
is trying to kiss his lady love but he can never finish it. But his love for her will never die or disappear.
Similarly the girl will never become old and ugly. She will forever young and beautiful. But in real human
life nothing is permanent. Youth and beauty and love will be faded out and disappeared very soon. Real
human life is full of sorrow, pain, disease and death. But in the world of art there is immortality of
beauty and youth.

The images of the Grecian urn laugh at us because we humans are mortals and our life is full of sorrow,
pain, disease and disappointments. But the images are immortal, and silently tell us that beauty is truth
and truth beauty. Any beauty, which is not truthful and any truth, which is not beautiful are of no use or
importance to mankind.