Ode on a Grecian Urn

Conlan Campbell, Andrew Brinkmann

By John Keats

!

SummaryYou unchanged, quiet work of artYou adopted child of historyHistorian who is muteA tale that is sweeter than our rhymeWhat old message is on youOf men or gods or bothIn places of rural beautyWho are these men? Who are these reluctant women?What chase is this? What attempt at escape is this?What drums and flutes? What excitement?

Music that is heard is sweet but unheard musicIs sweeter so your pipes play onNot to the refined taste but insteadPlay simple songs that have no complicationChild beneath the trees, you can't leaveYour song and the trees will always have leavesLover you can never kissNo matter how close you get, but do not be sadShe will never leave though you can't be with herForever you will have your love and she will be beautiful

The happy trees cannot not loseTheir leaves and spring will not endAnd the musicianWill forever play songs that will stay newThere will be loveForever and never losing it's impactForever newAll human feelings will stayThat make your heart feel almost illAnd make you feel nervously sick

What people are going to the ceremony?To where are they going, priestDo you lead that cow mooingWith her fancy attireWhat small seaside townOr mountain fortressIs missing it's people this holy morning?The small town, which is emptyWill be completely silent with no one to sayWhy it is empty and none will return

Oh elegant shape! Good attitude! With interwoven designOf stone men and overexcited maidensWith nature effected by manYour form takes us out of our thoughtsAs does our time you cold work of artWhen we become oldYou will remain, never fully experiencing troubles or loveYou will be ours and you will say to us"Truth and beauty are the sameThat is all you know, and all you need to know"

John Keats

• Born near London in 1795• Lost his biological father and many siblings

to disease or accidents• Left a career in medicine to write when he

was twenty• Earlier works received harsh feedback• Between 1880 and 1820, Keats published

his most well-known works

"Here lies one whose name has writ on water"

• Keat's work was never fully appreciated or realized until after his death

• Keats knew before his death that he would be remembered as a far greater writer than when he was alive

• Died at age 25

Context

• John Keats was a romantic, writing near the end of the Romantic period.

• Feelings, nature, impulses• Keats admires the trees, the music• Deals with feelings and other concepts• Love, music, beauty

Form

• Ode on a Grecian Urn is in fairly strict iambic pentameter with only a few variations.

• There is consistent rhyming in the poem despite an inconsistent rhyme scheme.

Theme

• One theme that Keats emphasizes in this poem is the fleeting nature of time and how people should appreciate things before they are gone.

• Beauty in youth• Timelessness • Frailty in mortality

Theme

• Another theme is the tie between truth and beauty and how both come from one another

• There is much debate about the meaning of the last two lines of the poem

• Speaks of beauty being what is true• Presumably how truth appears in youth

versus old age; looking back

Annotated Bibliography

"Biography." John-Keats.com. N.p., 26 Feb. 2000. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <http://www.john-keats.com/>.

A. This source deals with John Keats's life and career, along with some of his motivations and downfalls.

B. This source contains factual information published by a poetry authority, amd has its own domain

name.

C. This source will help to gain further insight on Keats’s life and the context of his poems.

"A Brief Guide to Romanticism." - Poets.org. Academy of American Poets, n.d. Web. 24 Apr. 2013.

<http://www.poets.org/viewmedia.php/prmMID/5670>.

A. This source is a definition and description of literary romanticism.

B. This source is published by an esteemed poetry association and it’s credibility rests on its good reputation as a source of information and regular site maintenance.