Transcript Slide 1
Ode On A Grecian Urn By: John Keats Sean Lowman and David Kang [not really…smh( -___-)] 1st Period 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. Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, Who are these coming to the sacrifice? To Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time, Sylvan what green altar, O mysterious priest, Lead'st thou that historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more heifer lowing at the skies, And all her silken flanks with sweetly than our rhyme: What leaf-fringed legend garlands drest? What little town by river or sea shore, haunts about thy shape Of deities or mortals, or of both, Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel, Is emptied of In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? What men or gods are this folk, this pious morn? And, little town, thy streets these? what maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What for evermore Will silent be; and not a soul to tell Why struggle to escape? What pipes and timbrels? What thou art desolate, can e'er return. wild ecstasy? O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede Of Heard melodies are sweet, but those marble men and maidens overwrought, With forest unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; branches and the trodden weed; Thou, silent form, dost Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd, Pipe to the tease us out of thought As doth eternity: Cold pastoral! spirit ditties of no tone: Fair youth, beneath the trees, When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt thou canst not leave Thy song, nor ever can those trees remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to be bare; Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss, man, to whom thou say'st, 'Beauty is truth, truth Though winning near the goal--yet, do not grieve; She beauty'--that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever know. wilt thou love, and she be fair! What is the literal sense of the poem? Stanza One: The urn is sitting quietly as time slowly passes by. Keats compares it to a “sylvan historian” because it has a long history and a story to tell. Stanza Two: Now the speaker is asking himself what might be going on in the picture on the urn. Stanza Three: The speaker is looking at a second picture on the urn and sees a young man playing a pipe. He believes that the imaginary music being played by the musician on the urn is sweeter than any music played in reality. He also refers to the previous picture. Stanza Four: In this stanza, the poet sees a third scene on the urn. A priest is coming towards the altar covered in leaves where a cow will be sacrificed. The cow knows what is about to happen. That is why the cow is “lowing”. All the towns people are crowding to see the sacrifice. Stanza Five: The speaker believes the urn will teach future generations its lesson, that “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” What is the diction of the poem? The diction of the poem is formal and uses vivid language to paint a picture for the reader. What are the tone and mood of the poem? Tone: The tone is serious, as he is admiring the images on the urn. Mood: There are a few “mood swings” throughout the poem, starting with This poem is bi-polar. What is the rhetorical situation implied by the poem? Two things may be going on here: 1) The reader is overhearing Keats speak about the urn aloud. and/or 2) This is Keat’s inner thought about the urn while he looks at it. Does the poem use figurative language? Similies?: None Metaphors?: “Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme” Personification?: “ye soft pipes, play on” Does the poem use figurative language? Cont.… Other? • Paradox: • “What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?” • Assonance: • “bride of quietness, / Thou foster-child of silence and slow time“ • Oxymoron: • “peaceful citadel“ • Alliteration: • “Thou foster-child of silence and slow time, / Sylvan historian, who canst thus express” • Anaphora • “What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?” What kind of imagery does the poem use? • Keats uses imagery throughout the poem by talking about three pictures, or scenes, on the urn using vivid language to describe them. Examples: - “A burning forehead, and a parching tongue” - Stanza 4 “:The Sacrifice Scene” Symbolism?: • The Urn: “Bride of Silence” How does sound contribute to the effect of the poem? Assonance: “Ah, happy, happy boughs” -emphasizes the mood How is the poem structured? It’s a lyric poem that contains five 10-lined stanzas in Iambic Pentameter with 10 syllables in each line (5 stressed/5 unstressed).