ASSIGNMENT

Subject: Victorian and Romantic poetry

Topic: Analysis of the poem “ode on Grecian urn” by John Keats

Submitted to: Mam Sumaira

Submitted by: Tajammul Hussain

Class: Bs English

Section: 4C morning
Analysis

Structure of poem

"Ode on a Grecian Urn" is organized into ten-line stanzas, beginning with an ABAB rhyme
scheme and ending with a Miltonic sestet (1st and 5th stanzas CDEDCE, 2nd stanza CDECED,
and 3rd and 4th stanzas CDECDE).

The title of the poem ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ gives readers the central idea at first hand. It is a
poetic representation of a piece of art, specifically the beautiful paintings on a Grecian urn. The
poetic persona has encountered the urn with utter astonishment. He is rather astounded by the
artist who has created this everlasting piece. The depictions on the vase raise several questions
in the onlooker’s mind. Through this poem, Keats’ persona describes it beautifully. In the end,
he proclaims the everlastingness of art through the line “Beauty is truth, truth beauty”.

In the first stanza, the speaker stands before an ancient Grecian urn and addresses it. He is
preoccupied with its depiction of pictures frozen in time. It is the “still unravish’d bride of
quietness,” the “foster-child of silence and slow time.” He also describes the urn as a
“historian” that can tell a story. He wonders about the figures on the side of the urn and asks
what legend they depict and from where they come. He looks at a picture that seems to depict
a group of men pursuing a group of women and wonders what their story could be: “What mad
pursuit? What struggle to escape? / What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?”

In the second stanza, the speaker looks at another picture on the urn, this time of a young man
playing a pipe, lying with his lover beneath a glade of trees. The speaker says that the piper’s
“unheard” melodies are sweeter than mortal melodies because they are unaffected by time. He
tells the youth that, though he can never kiss his lover because he is frozen in time, he should
not grieve, because her beauty will never fade. In the third stanza, he 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 happy that the love of the boy and the
girl will last forever, unlike mortal love, which lapses into “breathing human passion” and
eventually vanishes, leaving behind only a “burning forehead, and a parching tongue.”

In the fourth stanza, the speaker examines another picture on the urn, this one of a group of
villagers leading a heifer to be sacrificed. He wonders where they are going (“To what green
altar, O mysterious priest...”) and from where they have come. He imagines their little town,
empty of all its citizens, and tells it that its streets will “for evermore” be silent, for those who
have left it, frozen on the urn, will never return. In the final stanza, the speaker again addresses
the urn itself, saying that it, like Eternity, “doth tease us out of thought.” He thinks that when
his generation is long dead, the urn will remain, telling future generations its enigmatic lesson:
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” The speaker says that that is the only thing the urn knows and
the only thing it needs to know.

Themes

Keats’ ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ taps on the themes of the immortality of art, beauty,
and romanticism. The main theme of this poem is the immortality of art. To depict this theme,
Keats uses a Grecian urn and the emotive paintings on this piece. Each painting incites complex
emotions in the speaker’s mind. He expresses his thoughts regarding the depictions. By doing
this, he tries to portray the everlastingness of art or this special vase. Keats contrasts art with
humans to portray that art exists forever even if the artist is no more. Besides, the themes of
nature and beauty, and nature are also integral to the central idea of this ode.

The analysis of some of the literary devices.

Consonance: Consonance is the repetition of consonant sounds in the same line of

poetry such as the sound of /l/ in “Will silent be; and not a soul to tell” and /n/ sound in
“All breathing human passion far above.”

Symbolism: Symbolism is using symbols to signify ideas and qualities, giving them
symbolic meanings different from literal meanings. Keats has used a lot of symbols in
this poem such as, “plants and trees” are the symbols of youth and spring, “urn” itself is
the symbol of time and life.

Personification: Personification is to give human attributes to animate or

inanimate objects. He has used personifications at several places in the poem. He
addresses the urn as “bride of quietness” and “Sylvan historian”; “you soft pipe, play
on” as if pipe and urn are humans that can perform certain acts.

Assonance: Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds in the same lines of poetry such
as the sound of /o/ in “More happy love! more happy, happy love!” and /i/ sound in
“Attic shape! Fair attitude! With brede.”

Metonymy: It is a figure of speech that replaces the name of things with something it is
closely associated. Here, Keats links the man’s heart to his feelings of being “high
sorrowful and cloyed.”
Synecdoche: A figure of speech in which a part is meant to represent the whole. He has
used this device to express the downside of natural love as he has used the words,
“burning love” that is fever and “parching tongues” is thirst.

Anaphora: It refers to the repetition of any word or expression in the initial part of
the sentence such as ‘forever’ in the first two lines and ‘happy’ in the last two lines.

Alliteration: Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sounds in the same line
of poetry such as the sound of /n/ in “Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. And
/t/ sound in “” Beauty is truth, truth beauty, —that is all.”

Paradox: A paradox is a statement that may seem contradictory but can be true, or at
least makes sense. He has used paradox in the second stanza, “Heard melodies are
sweet, but those unheard”, “Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone”, implying melodies are
heard by the spirits and not by the ears.