Transcript Explication of Ode on A Grecian Urn

Explication of
Ode on a
Grecian Urn
Ryan Blanchard
&
Rebecca Kuhn
Ode on a Grecian Urn
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 haunt 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!
Ode on a Grecian Urn
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.
Ode on a Grecian Urn
O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
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.
Simplified
You are like a woman that has not been with a man yet, a virgin urn
You will live on forever even if the one who has made you is gone; you are
times child now,
A scholarly vase; you seem to know everything and can express it,
The story that you tell is better than any that are in our world,
What is the story you are trying to tell? Is it on about gods, humans, or both?
Is it in the temple or the city of Arcady?
Who are these men or gods? Who are the women they are chasing?
What is this intense chase? What a struggle to escape by the women,
What is this music made by the pipes and timbrels? This almost creates an
amazing feeling!
Simplified
Music you can hear can be very moving, but music that you cannot hear is even better
because you will not grow tired of it or judge it since you cannot hear it. So because of this, play
on unheard music.
Do not play music that creates a sexual mood, but instead play happy tunes that create joy,
Youthful boy sitting under the trees, you will never be able to stop playing your song under the
trees and they will never feel the effects of winter,
You will never be able to kiss the girl who you are trying to swoon, even if you get so close to
achieving it but do not worry! You will never stop loving her (which would probably happen over
time in our world) and she will always be beautiful.
Oh beautiful trees you will never have to experience anything but spring because that is what
the picture was painted of,
And you, happy composer, your songs will not become boring or old because they are never
really heard and they remain just the same.
You have the most amazing love that is forever going. It is warm and enjoyable forever. You will
always have young ambitions and never grow old. You will never have to endure the troubles
with love; how it leaves you heart broking and wishing for more.
Simplified
Who are all these people coming to make a sacrifice? Why is this altar here and
why do you, priest, do you lead that cow that is mooing and bemoaning his fate
to the altar? Her head is crowned with a flowery crown.
There is a little town somewhere; either by the seaside, river, or on the side of a
mountain that is completely empty because everyone has gone to the altar.
Now the town’s streets will always be empty because the people cannot go
back because they are frozen where they are forever, never to return.
You are so mysterious, urn! You are covered in marble men and women that are
well wrought into your shape, but we cannot talk to them and know what they
are really thinking and doing.
Even though they have left behind trodden grass and forest branches they are
still silent and have no explanation. It makes me so curious to know what they are
doing!
Even when this whole generation I live in dies, you will remain because in a sense
you are immortal. You will live on through the agony of the old age around you
and you will not be affected by it.
You will live on to tell future generations that truth is beauty and vice versa. What
you know is all that anyone needs to know.
Diction



Keats uses a mix of both formal and colloquial
language creating vivid images with his
speech to force the reader to try and imagine
what it is the Author seems in the urn.
Keats, however does not deviate from the
normal grammar usage of the time in order to
express himself.
Keats also does not use any words out of
context in his poem.
Tone
 The
tone throughout the poem is one of
happiness but also some curiosity.
“Ah, happy, happy boughs!”
“More happy love! more happy, happy love!”
 Both of these lines give insight to the happy
emotions that Keats is not only feeling as he
gazes upon the Urn but the ones that he is
describing.
Mood
 The
poem makes the reader feel happy
themselves because of the joy that Keats
appears to be taking in the urn.
 It also makes the reader feel curious.
Keats begins to take so much joy in the
urn that the reader themselves become
compelled to see the urn and its beauty
which Keats endeavors to convey.
Perspective
 Throughout
the entire poem there is no
address to the reader at all from the
author.
 He speaks solely to the urn and the
people on it.
 We are there merely as someone who is
overhearing the author’s words to the urn.
Personification
 He
refers to the urn as the “bride of
silence”
 This personifies not only the urn but also
silence as only humans can be married.
Imagery
 Imagery
throughout this poem is very
scarce.
 There are only a couple of examples
Imagery
 “A
burning forehead, and a parching
tongue”
 We
are given insight here as to how much
passion Keats believes the two lovers
sitting together feel for each other.
Imagery
 The
author creates images of happiness
and joy through several lines in the poem:
 “Ah, happy, happy happy boughs!”
 “More happy love! More happy, happy
love!”
 Keats
uses many example of assonance,
alliteration and repetition in this Ode.
 They are used in order to emphasize the
emotions he is conveying.
 However, he doesn’t really use much
onomatopoeia or cacophony.
Poem Structure
 This
poem is classified as an Indefinable
Sonnet.
 It also has 5 stanzas with 10 lines in each
stanzas.
Poem Structure
 Rhyme
Scheme
 ABABCDE
 ABABDCE
 ABABCED
 ABABCDE
 ABABDCE