Essay on Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn"

Essay on Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn

This essay is going to discuss about the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats. First, it will be presented a brief definition of ode and its usual types and then the discussion will be carried on.

In Greek, ode means "song"; it is a lyric poem in which the authors usually talks about sentiments, makes a revelation and it is written in first person. It is usually a long poem where the stanzas are elaborated. It has no fixed form; the author creates it himself. It also has a marked formality and an elevated tone. The mood of this type of poem is usually melancholic and introspective. There are usually two types of odes: the public that deals with historic and political themes; and the private that works on introspective themes, as self-revelation.

About the title "Ode on a Grecian urn", the word "on" means that the author is going to talk about this object.

[Barcelona Street Art] Nineta + Unknown Author

English: First surviving draft of Ode on a Grecian...

English: John Keats by Joseph Severn 1819. Oil on ...

This Grecian urn, in this case, is a fictional one. In the first stanza, the author presents the object: "unravish'd bride of quietness", "foster-child of silence and slowtime". Gives a few details upon the scene presented in the urn: "sylvan-historian", "flowery tale". What we can perceive in this stanza: the bucolic scene, presented in the urn, is sweeter than the author's verse.

Still on the first stanza, more specifically the second word of the first line, the author presents a polissemic word "still". This word can be an adverb, carrying the meaning of the adverb "yet" or can be an adjective, in which the word "motionless" could be substituted. Either one or the other passes a theme that will be carried out throughout the poem.

The author, on this first...