The The Analysis of Ode on A Grecian Urn is provided below by first giving a brief description on the background followed by the poem structure and its meaning.
The Background
Ode on a Grecian Urn was written by John Keats in May 1819. It was published a year after, precisely in January, 1820. The poet also wrote other Odes within the same year. Among them include Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on Indolence, Ode to Psyche and Ode on Melancholy. Keats drew his inspiration from articles written by Benjamin Haydon, the great English artist and writer. He also got further inspiration from classical Greek art before penning down his Odes. He quitted his job as a house surgeon in 1819 and devoted the rest of his life to poetry.
The Structure
The famous poem Ode on a Grecian Urn is divided into 5 stanzas of 10 lines each. The writing technique used in the poem is known as "ekphrasis" which signifies the representation of sculpture or paining in words. The poem has a rhyme scheme that started with the Shakespearian quatrain and also ended with a Miltonic sestet. Keats also used the same pattern in most of his other odes.
The Meaning
The words "ode" is a Greek term that means "sung". Hence, "Ode on a Grecian Urn" could be interpreted as "Sung on a Grecian Urn". It describes the writer’s discourse on a series of designs associated with a Grecian urn. There are two major scenes in the poem. The first one is the scene where a lover pursues his beloved eternally without getting the required fulfillment. The second scene is on a group of villagers who are set to carry out a sacrifice. The final lines of the poem portray a notion which holds that "beauty" is truth while "truth" is also beauty.
In the poem, a certain man is seen whispering to the Grecian urn which is actually an old Greek pot that has several drawings on its body. The young man thinks that the urn is married to "Quietness". The marriage is not yet consummated. He also thinks that the pot is an adopted child of "Slow Time" and "Silence". In any case, the speaker in the poem goes ahead to disclose the profession of the urn. He calls it a historian who tells stories. He takes a closer look at the pot and tries to decode the images painted on its body. He discovers that the illustrated story refers to either men or gods. It also refers to a group of young men chasing beautiful ladies across the bush. The entire seen in the poem is chaotic and the speaker seems to be confused about the situation. The speaker goes ahead to address one of the young men as he chases a young lady. He tries to advice him to desist from the chase.
Meanwhile, there’s a particular theme portrayed in the poem. Keats focused on the Greek art particularly, the representational type of art. He portrays how the urn is capable of relating to the idea of truth. He uses the images of the urn in the poem to depict common human activities such as courtship, religious rites and music production.
In any case, there’s an apparent lack of definite voice of the urn in the poem. This causes the reader to wonder about who is speaking the words and to whom the words are addressed. The reader also wonders about the meaning of the words.
In all, John Keats uses "Ode on a Grecian Urn" to describe the relationship between art and humanity. The images of the urn provoke questions in the mind of the narrator as well as the reader. The poem has continued to generate lots of literary debates and commentaries across the ages.
