Analysis of Ode on a Grecian Urn Essay

Keats ode could be approached from two perspectives a literal and a figurative one. As long as the poem belongs to a sprint of writing k at one timen as ekphrasis (poetry that concerns itself with the visual blinds), and the loudspeaker describes several sentiments he observes on the urn, we stomach just follow his eye. In doing so, we could say that the abate of the first stanza introduces us to a number of young men and women voluminous in a scene of sexual passion What mad quest? What struggle to escape? Stanza II and III offer a tag contrast to this atmosphere of intense desire.The speaker depicts here a scene of romantic courtship (a young man piping songs to his be cheatd). The temptations of the flesh are suppressed and the affinity has a platonic character Bold Lover, neer, never canst thou kiss Importantly, the speaker devotes two stanzas to this scene, which could serve as assure that it is of key importance to him. In stanza IV the ritualistic scene of a pa gan sacrifice is depicted. Stanza V, most probably, prevails us back to the first scene of passion. The speaker refers to men and maidens again and we could assume that the trodden weed is an image meant to motivate us of the mad pursuit.So we could claim that the poem comes affluent circle and actually repeats the circular form of the urn. As far as the figurative perspective is concerned, it is first important to none that the urn bears two antithetic identities historical and aesthetic. In early(a) words, it is both an object that can fork over some knowledge about the past and a work of art which should be appreciated for its mantrap only. If approached as a historical object, the urn go away speak about exceptional moments in time if approached as a work of art, it provide speak about eternity.Throughout the poem, the speaker is carve up amid these two identities and only in the final stanza does he cause to achieve some kind of synthesis between them. In a nonhe r(prenominal) words, the poem could be read as representing the dramatic conflict in the speakers take heed between the desire to know the facts and the acknowledgment that beauty is more profound than factual knowledge. At the very parentage of the ode the reader is confronted with a paradox. The urn is referred to as a historian but at the same time its key attributes are said to be repose and silence.A historian who refuses to speak seems to be a contradiction in terms in terms. The paradox begins to be resolved with the awareness that that this sylvan historian has a flowery tale, a leaf-fringed leg supplant (leaf-fringed in addition literally refers to the fringe of leaves depicted on the urn, see picture above) to tell. In other words, the realization that the urn speaks through its beauty the way Nature speaks to us begins to take shape in the speakers mind. However, he is not, as it were, do for this rev nimbleness and the second part of the stanza presents his franti c obsession with factual knowledge.The serial publication of syntactically identical questions, and the very repetition of the pronoun what, reveals an overwhelming desire to discipline about the specific flock of a particular historical scene. What also reveals this ambition is the reference to geographical locations (In Tempe or the dales of Arcady) as come up as the repetition of or, which tells us that the speaker wants to go beyond the uncertainty of alternative and acquire a reliable knowledge of what in truth happened. Importantly, the questions lack predicates, which lends them a staccato rhythm.This conveys both the intensity of the speakers uncertainty and the intense passion of the mad pursuit depicted on the urn. The opening line of the second stanza presents the reader with a philosophical insight. after(prenominal) the hectic series of questions concerning historical fact, the speaker seems to have found the decently words to give shape to the conclusion that the urn has a more fundamental message to communicate to its modern observer. The message lies beyond the physical and thats why it cannot be expressed in the form of words or sounds.It is not a message addressed to the sensual ear the urn pipes to the timber ditties of no tone. The scene of platonic love seems to be in unison with this realization. What matters for the young lover is not the consummation of his passion but his loves eternity as well as the eternal beauty of his beloved (For ever wilt thou love and she be medium ). In other words, the transcendence of the physical in the young lovers family opens the speakers eyes to the more essential, aesthetic identity of the urn.Actually, in stanza III the speaker seems to be in a state of mind close to ecstasy. All questions are now gone and what remains is the formulation to experience a fundamental unity with a beautiful object. The speaker is, as it were, at a loss for words. The whole stanza centers around the neurotic repetition of a mantra More skilful love More happy, happy love This reveals the poets difficulty in speaking about the dreaded beauty of the urn as well as about his empathy with it.However, at the end of the stanza he manages to shape a coherent statement about the look upon of the urn. It presents us with an eternal ideal world lying beyond our terrestrial passions, which leave us suffering A burning forehead and a parching tongue. Somewhat surprisingly, in stanza IV the speaker lurches back to the historical pole. The ritualistic inscrutability of the sacrifice revives his desire to learn more about the particular circumstances surrounding the event.The rhetoric of the first stanza returns the questions, the repetition of or, the reference to particular sites. The stanza ends in a rather pessimistic note. The fact that the link between past and present has been irrevocably lost fills the speakers watch with disappointment And, little town, thy streets for evermore Will si lent be and not a soul to tell Why thou art desolate, can eer return. In an abrupt transition, disappointment recedes and makes room for elation in the opening line of the final stanza. The solemn tone of the apostrophe (O Attic shapeFair attitude ) prepares the synthesis that the speaker is now able to achieve. The urn is here referred to as a cold pastoral. In other words, it combines in a dialectical unity the coldness of a historian who refuses to speak and the warmth of the tale of beauty and love that it will carry through the ages. It seems, however, that one of these poles prevails in the speakers relationship with the urn. The aphoristic closing lines of the poem suggest that factual knowledge does not give humanity access to truth. The only truth that matters is beauty.