Ode On a Grecian Urn
Ode On a Grecian Urn
Poem By John Keats
Name: Parmar Dipali K.
Roll No. : 26
Assignment Sem. 2
Email Id: dipaliparmar247@gmail.com
Submitted to: The Department of English, MKBU.
Ode on
a Grecian Urn expresses the poet’s love of romance, deep delight in
nature and his interest in the Greek mythology. This poem includes the famous
line, “Beauty is truth, and truth is beauty.”In the poem we find the
reference to Flora, Dryad, and Bacchus that all related to Greek
mythology. Thus, it shows that Greek mythology had a deep hold on the mind of
the poet.
Dryad:A
Dryad is a tree nymph, or tree spirit, in Greek mythology. In Greek drys signifies "oak." Thus, dryads
are specifically the nymphs of oak trees.
"Such
deities are very much overshadowed by the divine figures defined through poetry
and cult,"
-Walter
Burkert
They
were normally considered to be very shy creatures.
Bacchus: Bacchus is a God of Wine. He is the patron deity of
agriculture and the theater. He was also known as the Liberator - freeing one
from one's normal self, by madness, ecstasy, or wine. He is a major, popular
figure of Greek mythology and religion. His festivals were the driving force
behind the development of Greek theater.
The language of the Ode is quite
poetic. Ode on a Grecian Urn has a concrete imagery, richness of
colouring and the elements of charm and deep human interest. John Keats wrote
Ode on a Grecian Urn in May 1819. Soon afterwards, he
recited the poem when he went for a walk with his friend Haydon. It was Haydon
who had introduced John Keats to the Elgin marbles.
Elgin Marbles
It was
Haydon who aroused Keats interest in Greek sculpture. The poem was published in
January 1820.
The
poem is one of several Great
Odes of 1819. Keats found earlier forms of poetry unsatisfactory
for his purpose, and the collection represented a new development of the ode form. He was inspired
to write the poem after reading two articles by English artist and writer Benjamin Haydon.Keats was aware of other works on classical Greek art,
and had first-hand exposure to the Elgin Marbles, all of which reinforced his belief that classical Greek
art was idealistic and captured Greek virtues, which forms the basis of the
poem.
Ode on a Grecian
Urn was not well received by contemporary critics. It was only by the
mid-19th century that it began to be praised, although it is now considered to
be one of the greatest odes in the English language.
Q About the Poet:
(A) John Keats:
He born on 31 October, 1795 and died on 23 February, 1821
at the age of 25. He was an English Romantic poet. One of the main figures of
the second generation of Romantic poets.
His poems were not received well by critics during his
lifetime. His 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.
(B) Early Life:
He was
born in a middle class family. His parents were unable to afford any high class
school so in 1803 Keats was sent to board at john Clarke’s school in Enfield. Which
was close to his grandparent’s house. The small school has a liberal outlook
and progressive curriculum. In this atmosphere Keats developed interest in
classics and history, which would stay with him throughout his short life. At
the age of 13 he started focusing on reading and study. His father and mother
both died soon. Then he left his school. He has done apprenticeship with his
friend Hammond and then in 1815 he registered as a medical student at Guy’s
Hospital. Within a month of starting, he was appointed as a dresser at the
hospital, assisting surgeons during operations.
In the spring 1819, he left his job
as a dresser, to devote himself entirely to the composition of poetry. He was
facing real world difficulties, yet manage to complete his 5 odes including Ode
on a Grecian Urn. The odes were Keats's effort to discuss the relationships
between the soul, eternity, nature, and art, which he was busy considering
throughout 1819.
Q Structure of the 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 pattern which is used here, makes the poem unified
in structure as well as theme.The word "ode" itself is of Greek
origin, meaning "sung". While other writers of Keats’ time were
following rigid patters of strophe, antistrophe, and epode, Keats’
method of writing was like a transformation. Keats's odes seek to find a
"classical balance" between two extremes, and in the structure of Ode
on a Grecian Urn, these extremes are the regular structure of Classical
literature and the irregularity of Romantic poetry.The
use of the ABAB structure in the beginning lines of each stanza represents a
clear example of structure found in classical literature, and the remaining six
lines appear to break free of the traditional poetic styles of Greek and Roman
odes.
Q The Poem:
First known
copy of "Ode on a Grecian Urn", transcribed by George Keats in 1820.
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?
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!
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 for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
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 drest?
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! withbrede
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."
Q Analysis:
(A) The
Title:
The title of the poem is not “Ode toa
Grecian Urn” but Odeona Grecian Urn. This indicated that
there is an ode on the actual urn. The poem begins with apostrophe, an act of
speaking to someone who is not there, or to an object, such as an urn, which
means either the urn is speaking, or the poet is translating a picture on a Grecian
urn into an ode.
(B) Stanza
wise critical commentary:
Stanza 1:
In the first stanza, the ideas
conveyed are those of silent repose and great age. The urn is disaffected by
the destruction of time. The urn doesn’t speak, and has not spoken through
ages. Its art alone speaks. It is the child of time, because it is made
by men and cultivated by time.
The poet starts thinking as soon as
he sees the sight of piece of ancient sculpture and then his Imagination
catches fire. In this stanza he addresses the urn- a product of ancient Greek
art- as the bride of quietness. He implies that it has long been wedded to a
noiseless inarticulate condition. The poet calls the urn as ‘unravish’d
bride of quietness’. After that the poet asks us to see the urn and in
its mystery of unchanging silence. Keats chooses his words with careful
correctness. The urn is an ‘unravished bride’because it stands in
a sacred relation to a special kind of existence. Urn keeps this relation
intact. The urn is also the ‘foster child of Silence and slow Time’.It
is not their actual child because they have not created it but they have kept
and preserved it. Ans that is why it is called their foster child. The urn is a
historian who expresses flowery tale depicted on the urn. The urn expresses
flowery tale more sweetly than the poetry does. It is the first victory of art
over poetry. It expresses a tale more sweetly because there is much room
for imagination. On the border of the urn, many numerous figures are depicted
which represents young men and maidens and various musical instruments. The
loves are pursuing and the maidens are trying to keep their chastity.
Stanza 2:
In
the second stanza, silence is highlighted in the beginning when Keats
challenges our curiosity by a paradox. He expressed a paradox with a simplicity
which makes it more striking. These lines have not only a musical rhythm but
also a musical structure.
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Keats finds this unheard music and the melody of silence
in the flute-player on the urn. The music which we do not hear but only
imagine, is sweeter than any music actually heard. These unheard melodies are
sweeter because they are the ideal of what music ought to be. Here, silence
symbolizes the timeless and unmoving music and passion. Now the poet
reflects that this music carved on the urn is itself soundless.
Though the actors are motionless,
action goes on. Song will not end; the lover cannot leave his song. The
maiden is like the urn, a ‘still unravished bride of quietness’.
The figures of flora of the urn live
most really. The pipe, the trees, the bold lover, the damsel have all passed
away but here on the urn they live forever. Art has awarded eternality on love
and beauty. In real life beauty cannot keep her radiant eyes but here on the
urn, the beauty, which aroused the passion, does not fade away.
Stanza 3:
The third stanza tells us directly
about the feelings of Keats. We find that the post is extremely unhappy,
especially, about his love affair. He is also unhappy as the pursuit of beauty
is dead and the expectation of death.
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
Who are these coming to the sacrifice? .....
The central idea of this stanza is that the pursuit of
beauty eats up the flower. The third stanza expresses the difference between
life and reality. The green trees will never shed their leaves and will
enjoy the perpetual summer. The melodies were always remain young and his song
will remain ever finish and new. The urn is the record of the lovely and yet
fatal enchantment. The urn for Keats is ever warm and still to be enjoyed. The
urn will remain among the leaves free from all the limitations.
The warmth of love depends upon the
fact that it has not been enjoyed. The catchy phrase ‘warm and still to
enjoyed’ may mean that love will retain its warmth because it still to be
enjoyed. Love depicted on the urn is above human passion.
In this stanza, first we see the
advantage of Art over Nature as in the first stanza; we saw its advantage over
poetry. Art is elevated and calm. It is free from wisdom. Its joys have no wounds.
They leave no pains afterwards. It possesses the power to awaken the
imagination to more sweet and glorious perception than reality can ever
possess.
Stanza 4:
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
-evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
-for those
who have left it, frozen on the urn, will never return. Here, the poem
challenges the limitations of art through describing their possible existence.
Stanza 5:
Here the mind of the poet has turned
to the thought of the remote and forgotten life beyond the urn. The
figures on of the urn have become reduced to ‘brede of marble men and
maiden.’ Addressing the urn Keats says,
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity:
Keats means that works of art, like
the urn, takes us from the ordinary life of thought into the extraordinary
life of imagination.
The disputed close of the poem then
follows. The focus of dispute is the final two lines. There are difficulties
with the final two lines.
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
There have been numerous comments on these two lines;
·
For some critics it is an
utterance of New Testament.
·
Robert Bridges says that these
lines are not very distinguished.
·
For Couch, they areuneducated
conclusionand for
·
T. S. Eliot it is a
serious stain on a beautiful poem.
Q Conclusion:
C. M Bowra has explained the theory of ‘Beauty is
Truth’. He says that truth is another name for ultimate reality. Truth is
discovered not by the reasoning mind but by imagination. The imagination has a
poetical insight into the true nature of things. Keats accepts its discoveries
because they agree with his senses. Keats calls this reality ‘beauty’ because
of its overpowering effect on him. Keats’s concern is with the imagination in a
special sense, and he is not far away from Coleridge in his view. The rationale
of poetry is at once both beautiful and real.
The Ode on a Grecian Urn reminds
us of the seventh stanza of the Ode to a Nightingaleand
further explores the possibility of communion between the two worlds, the
eternal and the temporal. In Ode on a Grecian Urn, the
adopted symbol is different from that of the Ode to a Nightingale. The
nightingale is covered up in leaves, and remained invisible. The
urn, a work of art, is something concrete, visible, and immediately
traceable. The urn is contrasted with the nightingale, as it is a product of
human attempt on the other hand the nightingale is a product of nature.
The paradox is that the creation of a mortal creature has entered the region of
the immortal.
The beauty of Greek Sculpture Art provides the
apparent theme. The Ode on a Grecian
Urn gives importance of passion and to the idea of permanence.
The duality of the theme of this Ode is indicated in the very opening stanza
where we find a clue of real attitude of Keats toward the permanence of the urn
and the supremacy of art over life. The music of the flute-players depicted on
the urn has a sweetness which music in real life can never possess.
In the last stanza Keats announces that the sorrows
and the meaninglessness of life can be surpassed and excelled if we learn the
lesson of the Urn, that ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty.’
The Urn states that there is not merely a close
relationship but an actual identity between beauty and truth. Whether the final
words of the poem are supposed to be spoken by the Urn or whether they are
intended to be the poet’s own comment does not greatly affect the meaning. The
words…
-that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
-are dramatically appropriate.
References
·
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ode_on_a_Grecian_Urn
·
http://www.google.co.in/search?q=Ode+on+a+Grecian+Urn&client=ms&source=Inms&isch&sa=X&ved=)ahUKEwiJoc-jtN7KAhUOvo4KHVTGCtgQ_AUIBw
·
dilipbarad.blogspot.in/2013/01/ma-english-study-material-reading.html?m=1
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