John Keats

John Keats was born on 31 October, 1795 in London, the son of a

stable keeper. He was raised in Moorfields, London, and attended the
Clarke School in Enfield. The death of his mother in 1810 left Keats
and his three younger siblings in the care of a guardian, Richard
Abbey. Although Keats was apprenticed to an apothecary in
Edmonton, but fate pushed him to be a poet. He continued his studies
during 1815-17 to become a surgeon. Finally he abundaed surgery for
his keen interest in literature.

Supported by his small inheritance, he devoted himself to writing.

Keats also began associating with artists and writers, among them
Leigh Hunt, who published Keats's first poems in his journal, the Examiner. But within a few
years the poet experienced the first symptoms of tuberculosis, the disease that had killed his
mother and brother. He continued writing and reading the great works of literature. He also fell
in love with Fanny Brawne, a neighbor's daughter, though his poor health and financial
difficulties made their marriage impossible. He published a final work, Lamia, Isabella, The Eve
of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, which included his famous odes and the unfinished narrative,
Hyperion: A Fragment. Keats travelled to Italy in 1820 as per his doctors suggestions to seek a
warm climate to improve his health but died in Rome the following year (23 February,1821) at
the age of twenty six.

Keats's reputation grew after his death and by the end of the 19th century, he had become one of
the most beloved of all English poets. His poetry is characterized by sensual imagery, most
notably in the series of odes. He also propounded the term negative capability. His notable works
are -

 Poems (1817) - First collection of poems by John Keats

 Endymion (1818) - the story of a lovely youth
 Lamia, Isabella, The Eve. of St. Agnes and Other poems (1820)
 Keats wrote five odes and each of these is surprisingly remarkable. -
1. Ode To Fancy
2. Ode On a Grecian Urn
3. Ode On Melancholy
4. Ode To a Nightingale
5. Ode To Psyche
 What is this poem about?
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," the speaker observes a relic of ancient Greek civilization, an urn
painted with scenes from Greek life. The first stanza gives the introduction; the second, third
and fourth stanzas describe the main subject, and the fifth stanza presents the conclusion. The
 introduction describes the mystery of the urn and shows what questions the images painted
on the urn pose to the poet; the main subject consists of the scenes on the urn as Keats sees
them not with his physical sight but with his imaginative sight. The conclusion answers the
question which the poet has raised in the first stanza. The speaker admires this state of
existence, but in the end it leaves his "heart high- sorrowful." This is because the urn, while
beautiful and seemingly eternal, is not life.

 Who is the speaker?

The speaker is poet himself. It's written in third person narrative.

 What is the setting of the poem?

"Ode on a Grecian Urn" was written by John Keats in May 1819 and published anonymously in
January 1820 in "Annals of the Fine Arts".

‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ was inspired by a collection of Greek pottery which Keats saw in the
British Museum in 1817. Perhaps, the inspiration for the poem was derived from a marble urn
which belonged to Lord Holland. In giving us the imagery of the carvings on the urn, Keats
was not thinking of a single urn but of Greek art in general. Keats had a natural tendency
towards Greek way of life. This ode shows the full force of Hellenic influence on Keats’s mind.

 What is the tone of the poem?

This ode is based on the tension between the 'ideal' and the 'real'. Keats here imagines an
urn as a symbol of the world of art which represents the ideal world. Then he experiences
that world created through his imagination. The perfect, permanent and pleasurable
world of the urn stands against the destructive, corrupt and painful world of reality.
 Theme of the poem
This poem deals with the theme of supremacy of art over mortal things, unity of truth and
beauty. The important idea in this ode is that art is superior to real life in certain aspects.

Form and structure of the poem (Rhyme, rhythm, line length, stanza length etc.)
 Type of poem: Ode (Romantic)
Ode is a long lyrical poem that is serious in subject and treatment, dignified language,
elevated in style and elaborated in stanzaic structure.
 Rhyme and Meter
This is fifty lines long ode, organised into ten line stanzas, beginning with AB AB CDE rhyme
scheme and ending with three different rhyme scheme of last three lines (I & V stanzas - DCE,
II stanza- CED, III and IV stanza -CDE). Keats has used iambic pentameter for this ode.
 Poetic Devices
Apostrophe, Anaphora, Alliteration, Paradox, Metaphor, Personification, Pun, Oxymoron,
Simile, Chiasmus etc.
 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 haunts 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?

II

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!

III

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 forever young;

All breathing human passion far above,

That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,

A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.

IV

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 dressed?

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.

 Key Words (STANZA 1)

Line 1 Unravished Untouched, chaste

Line 1 bride of quietness The urn doesn't speak, it's art alone speaks

Line 2 foster child Nourished child

Line 2 silence and slow time The urn has been adopted and nurtured by silence and the
slow passing time. silence and time have been personified
here.

Line 3 Sylvan Belonging to countryside

Line 3 Historian The urn depicting the rural scenes is record of the rural life of
past

Line 4 A flowery tale Decorated with flowers and other beautiful objects of nature

Line 5 Leaf fring'd legend Ornamental leaf work, bordered with leaves

Line 5 Haunts.....shape Dwells on your surface

Line 7 Tempe or ...... Arcady? Name of the beautiful valleys in Greece

Line 8 Loth Shy, reluctant

Line 10 Wild ecstasy The ecstatic delight

STANZA 2

Line 11 Heard .........sweeter The music we hear is undoubtedly sweet but the imagination
of musical feeling strike the cords of the spirit

Line 13 sensual ears Physical organ (ear)

Line 13 more endear'd Gives sweeter pleasure

Line 14 of no tone Of no particular tone

STANZA 3

Line 21 Happy Because for ever green

Line 22 Spring adieu Spring is eternal in the trees on the Urn

Line 23 Unwearied Never tired

Line 27 Panting Grieve

Line 29 a heart.....cloy'd Weary by excessive sweetness, sweet yet sicking

STANZA 4

STANZA 5

Poetic Devices and Grammatical Structures

Explanation

Stanza I - The ode begins with an apostrophe to the urn. Keats uses three metaphors to personify
the urn: “the unravished bride of quietness”, “the foster- child of silence and slow time” and
“sylvan historian”. He addresses the urn as a bride of silence, who is still untouched. The urn still
looks virgin. The urn is ancient piece of sculpture which has been adopted and nurtured by
silence and slow passing time. Silence and Time are personified here and urn is depicted as their
child. The urn is called "Sylvan historian" because of the forest scene (rural images) carved on it.
It can express itself only through these carvings and story about beautiful objects of nature and
flowers carved on it. This is a powerful medium of expressing thoughts. The artistic cravings of
different scenes of the Urn is more vocal in telling it's story in better way than it could ever told
by the medium of poetry.

In the rest of the stanza, he meditates upon the pictures painted on the urn and raises some
questions to remove the ambiguity. The Urn is inscribed with a legendary figures done in
bordered patterns of scenes. The poet is eager to know whether it depicts the life of Tempe
(beautiful valley on the Eastern coast of Greece) or it belongs to Arcady (place famous for pastoral
beauty) and whether the figures carved on it are of human or gods or both? The carvings of men
in passionate mood chasing maidens who are struggling to escape from their clutches. Then
picture of musicians playing wild and ecstatic music on their flutes and timbrels. Keats watches
these scenes as a spectator and asks what mad pursuit is about. Why are these passionate men
and gods running after shy virgins? Who are these madiens being pursued? Why are they trying
to escape their lovers? What do the pipes and timbrels signify? The last question 'what wild
ecstasy' shows that

Stanza II -

Stanza III -

Stanza IV -

Stanza V -

QUESTIONS

2020 (Sankrit Edu. Department)

1. In the poem, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" the poet refers to the Urn as : ........... .
A. Happy, Happy boughs
B. An unravished bride of quietness✓
C. Heard Melodies
D. Mysterious prist
2. "Ode on a Grecian Urn" deals with the -
A. Supremacy of nature over ideal art
B. Supremacy of ideal art over nature✓
C. Supremacy of god over man
D. Supremacy of men over women
3. The 'Urn' has not been described by the poet as-
A. Unravished bride
B. Foster child of silence
C. Sylvan historian
D. Bold lover✓
 2020 (School Edu. Department)
4. Which image that Keats recreates in his "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is not "Sylvan"?
A. of fair youth beneath the trees
B. The deities in the dales of Arcady
C. The pastoral Piper's
D. The unravished bride of solitude✓
5. Keats says in his "Ode on a Grecian Urn" that "unheard melodies are sweeter" because-
A. he has tasted them before
B. they cannot be shared
C. they are oblivious to all
D. they strike the cords of the spirit✓
6. The bold lover in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" need not grieve because-
A. he will sometime be able to kiss his beloved
B. he will sometime be able to enjoy the bliss
C. his love and her beauty have become eternal✓
D. he will never get old to repent
2016
7. Keats addresses the Grecian urn as an "Attic Shape" in his "Ode on a Grecian Urn"
because it was-
A. from Greece ✓
B. Preserved in an attic
C. Placed in Greek Museum
D. A recepticle for ashes
8. What according to Keats, will the Urn remain to man, when "old age shall this
generation waste?"
A. a forgotten historian
B. a friend✓
C. a silent spectator of his word
D. an art desolate
9. The Urn in Keats "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is addressed by which one of the following
expressions?
A. Attic shape✓
B. Bold lover
C. Green alter
D. O mysterious priest
2014
10. The description that does not refer to Keats' Grecian Urn is-
A. a sylvian historian
B. an attic shape
C. a cold pastoral
 D. a mysterious priest✓
11. To what kind of an alter the priest lead the garland heifer in Keats' Ode on a Grecian
Urn?
A. a small town church
B. a green alter✓
C. an alter in Arcady
D. a breeded alter
2012
12. Heard melodies are sweet , but those unheard are sweeter." These lines have been taken
from-
A. Ode to the West Wind
B. Ode to Nightingale
C. Ode to Autumn
D. Ode on a Grecian Urn✓
13. She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, forever wilt thou love, and she be fair!"
These lines from Ode on a Grecian Urn to-
A. Permanence of time
B. Transient time
C. Permanence of art✓
D. The present moment
Modal Question
14. Which one is not correct about John Keats?
A. He was one of younger romantics
B. He was died of tuberculosis at the age of 26
C. He was one of older romantics✓
D. He was very much influenced by Edmund Spenser
15. Which one is not Keats's works?
A. Endymion
B. Lamia
C. Isabella
D. Adonis✓
16. Which one is not correct about John Keats?
A. He was born in October 1795
B. Ode to a Nightingale is one of his famous works
C. Sensuousness is major theme of his poetry.
D. He was died in February 1820✓
17. When was Keats's first volume published?
A. 1818
B. 1817✓
C. 1821
 D. 1820
18. When was Ode to Gracian Urn composed?
A. 1819✓
B. 1820
C. 1821
D. 1817
19. This ode of Keats was much influenced by.....
A. Personal biased
B. A marble Urn possessed by Lord Holland✓
C. Friendship
D. None of the above
20. Which one is not a theme of this poem?
A. Mortality of the art✓
B. Immortality of the art
C. Contrast between the everlasting nature of art and ephemeral nature of living being
D. Praise of natural beauty
21. The concept of Hellenism belongs to....
A. John Donne
B. John Keats✓
C. John Milton
D. John Abraham
22. The poem, Ode to Gracian Urn was written as in.......
A. Subjective form
B. Objective and descriptive form✓
C. Personal biased
D. None
23. The Urn described in the poem belongs to....
A. Italian sculpture
B. Greek sculpture✓
C. American sculpture
D. India era
24. The poem is divided into.....and......lines.
A. 5 stanzas and 56
B. 5 stanzas and 50 ✓
C. 5 stanzas and 70
D. 5 stanzas and 57
25. In one stanza, how many lines are included?
A. 14
B. 10✓
C. 10 and half
 D. 8 and one heroic couplet
26. The term negative capability belongs to...
A. John Donne
B. John Keats✓
C. John Milton
D. John Abraham
27. In which meter, the poem Ode to Gracian Urn was written?
A. Trochaic meter
B. Iambic pentameter✓
C. Iambic tetrameter
D. Anapestic meter
28. ‘Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness’ Which device is used by the poet in the above
line?
A. Alliteration
B. Personification✓
C. Litotes
D. Simile
29. Who is called bride of quietness and why?
A. Poet himself because of silence
B. Poet himself because of his illness
C. The Urn because of wedded to silence✓
D. The Urn because of its position
30. Which one is not used for the Urn in the very first stanza?
A. Bride of quietness
B. Foster child of silence and slow time
C. Thou star of shining✓
D. Sylvan historian
31.