Ode On a Grecian Urn { John Keats

Essay. ‘Forever will thou love, and she be fair”.  Discuss the central theme of ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ with reference to this line.

                                                                               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.

Answer the following in two or three sentences

1. Why does the poet address the urn as the ‘foster child of silence and slow time? Answer: First 4 lines of paragraph No.2

2. How has the urn become a ‘sylvan historian’?  The urn is a sylvan historian because it gives us a history of the pastoral life of ancient times.

3. ‘Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter’. Explain.  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.

4. How are the persons and nature engraved on the urn superior to their counterparts in reality?     Answer: 4^th paragraph of the essay.

5.  How is the passion experienced by the lovers in the picture different from real human passion?

 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.

6. Can you see the streets of the deserted town in the picture? Where do they exist? The streets of the deserted town are visible in the picture. The town is situated on the sea shore or river side or on the slope of a mountain and strong citadel is built around the town.

7. How does the Grecian urn affect our thoughts?  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.