Critical Appreciation

Ode on a Grecian Urn

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” was written in May of 1819 when Keats was 23 years old
and his life was in emotional turmoil. In the previous six months, his brother tom
had died, and he had met and fallen in love Fanny brawn that, at the time the
poem was written, lived next door to him in Hampstead.

This poem was inspired by a collection of Greek sculpture, which Keats saw in the
British museum. Partly, perhaps, the inspiration for the poem was derived from a
marble urn, which belonged to lord Holland. In giving us the imaginary of the
carving on the urn, Keats was not thinking of a single urn but of Greek sculpture in
general. Keats has native sympathy for, and a natural affinity with, the Greek
mind. The ode shows the full force of Hellenic influence acting on a temperament
essential romantic.

the poem begins as the gives the urn different titles. He comments on the figures
on the urn. Since the figures are frozen images, the bride on the urn is still
(unmoving) and since she has yet to be ravished, she has still not consummated
her marriage. The images on the urn depicted a rustic scene, have survived many
years; they tell an ancient story. Therefore, the urn is a Sylvan historian.

The poet sees some figures playing music on the urn. The tunes cannot be heard
but the poet considers that unheard music is perfect in its abstract and immortal
form than if it were to be heard by the sensual ear. The bold lover will never kiss
the girl he is pursuing, but then, she will age either. The boughs will never lose
their leaves. The piper will be “forever piping songs for ever new”.

Keats looks upon another image of a priest attending sacrifice. The poet cannot
connect to the religious significance. He then considers that the empty
town will always be empty. The poet’s tone has become overtly melancholy
at this point, as he has moved from the immortal beauty of the images to
their frozen loneliness.
In the final stanza, the poet laments the fact that when the generation is gone,
the urn will remain. After the poet’s generation has become old or passed,
the urn will say;

Beauty is truth, truth beauty—that is all

Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.

Sensuous Imagery is a striking quality of Keats’s entire poetry is fully revealed in

this ode. Keats had a genius for drawing vivid and concrete pictures mostly with a
sensuous appeal. The whole of the poem is a series of such pictures- passionate
men chasing reluctant maidens, the flute-players playing their ecstatic music, the
fair youth trying to kiss his beloved, the happy branches of trees, the worshippers
going to a place of worship in order to offer a sacrifice with a mysterious priest
lead them, a little town which will always remain desolate – these are pictures
which Keats vividly bring before our minds. The passion of men and gods and the
reluctant of maiden to be caught or seized is beautiful depicted in the following
two lines:

What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?

What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?

Here is the picture of a lover trying to get a kiss which never materialize:

Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss,

Though winning near the goal-

An important feature of poetry of john Keats is that he frequently uses references

to Greek mythology, art, literature and pastoral scenes. This aspect of his poetry
is often known as Hellenism. The Ode on a Grecian Urn is thoroughly imbued with
the spirit of Hellenism. Beauty, with Keats as with the Greek is the first word and
the last word of Art. Keats worshipped Beauty, as did the Greek, the Greek alone
in all the world could say with Keats, “Beauty is truth”.

An important idea in this ode is that, art is superior to a real life in certain
respects. The depicted on the urn will always enjoy spring. The flute –players
shown on the urn will never tire of playing tunes, which are ever new. The passion
of the lovers depicted on the urn will never decline, and the beauty of the
beloved will never fade. Heard melodies are sweet but those unheard are
sweeter. The music of the flute- players depicted on the urn has a sweetness
which music in real life can never possess.

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;

The central thought of this ode is the unity of Truth and Beauty. Beauty and Truth,
says Keats, are not two separate things. They are the same thing seen from two
different aspects. What is beautiful must be true, and what is true must be
beautiful. There can be no question of beauty being separated from truth. Every
piece of art, which is based on truth or reality, must be beautiful; and every
beautiful work of art must have a hard core of truth in it. According to this
interpretation, beauty is a symbol of art and truth is a symbol of life. The poet has
been in search of some ideal situation, which is free from all flaw and defects.
However, as the discussion in the previous stanza suggest, both life and art have
their shortcomings despite their merit and plus points. Art gives immortality and
permanence but it is without change and variety which is basic of human
progress. Moreover, life is full of change and variety needed for progress, but it is
short lived and temporary. Nevertheless, art and life are imperfect, how to fine an
ideal situation. Keats provides a simply solution and answer to this question by
saying

Beauty is truth, truth beauty-that is all

Ye know on earth and ye need to know.

Ode on a Grecian Urn consists of five stanzas that present a scene. Each stanza
has ten lines written in iambic pentameter.

Keats also uses of alliteration such as “Thou foster- child of silence and slow time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express”.” Of marble man and maidens
overwrought”.
Keats is very fond of using compound words. He uses few compound words in
Ode on a Grecian Urn such as foster-child, leaf- fring’d, and high sorrowful.

In this poem, Keats as generally used simple and short words. Most of the words
used by him are monosyllabic likes still, tale, our, mad, kiss, far and bisyallbic like
quietness, sweetly, rhyme, historian.

Ode to Nightingale and Ode on a Grecian Urn are finest examples of pictorial
quality and sensuousness. There are both similarities and dissimilarities in these
odes.

As the theme is concerned, both of the poems are similar. Poems seal with a
universal theme- mortal and immortal, transience and permanence.

The structure of the Ode on a Grecian has a close parallel is that of its
contemporary Ode to Nightingale. The Ode to Nightingale with its eight stanzas is
longer but has the same kind of plan and development.

Both of the odes are rich in the use of symbol. The central symbol of Ode to
Nightingale is nightingale. On the other hand, the main symbol of Ode on Grecian
Urn is Urn. In Ode to a Nightingale, the world of nightingale is a symbol of
perfection, happiness with its fullness. The Grecian Urn is the symbol of
immortality of art.

Keats expands the range of his sensuousness from pictures of physical love to the
pictures of natural beauties. In Ode to a Nightingale, the poet looks for eternal
beauty. The beauty of the song of Nightingale is beautiful from time immemorial.
It delights people in all ages everywhere. The urn itself is a symbol of everlasting
beauty. The painter may die but the beauty of the painting is everlasting. The
poet may dies but poetry is undying.

In all poems, the poet is Greek in temper and spirit. Keats is a representative of
Greek thought and culture in a sense in which Wordsworth, Shelly, Coleridge are
not. In Ode to a Nightingale, there are references of dryad, Hippocrene, Lethe-
that remind us of Greek mythology. The Urn itself is from Greek mythology. It
immortalizes Greek joy, culture, religion.
But there is also dissimilarity in these poem.The tone of Ode to Nightingale is
pathetic and it is more subjective than Ode on a Grecian Urn. The tone is joyous
and objective in Ode on a Grecian Urn. The overall tone of the poem is
melancholic in Ode to Nightingale.

The above analysis of the theme and technique of the poem clearly reveals that it
is one of the greatest odes of John Keats. It contains all those poetic qualities for
which he is known in the entire world as poet. The poem is objective and
romantic in temperament but its technical perfection gives it a classical touch.