Ode on a grecian urn
Ode on a Grecian Urn Although John Keats lived only a short “literary life,” the poems, odes, and sonnets he wrote were impressive and had great meaning. "Perhaps the most exquisite specimen of Keats poetry is the Ode to a Grecian Urn; it breathes the very spirit of antiquity, - eternal beauty and eternal purpose" (Matthews 367). Ode on a Grecian Urn is among those famous odes in which his love of poetry is evident. By describing legendary scenes inscribed on an old urn, he divides his ode into three sections describing three different scenes from the urn. Not only are Keats’ feelings shown in this ode, but also his style of writing may bring questions to the reader. By dividing the ode into three sections he allows the reader to visualize the urn, not as one legend but as three legends combined. In the first section, the first two lines of the ode have repetitive words dealing with silence: “Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time…” (McMahan 500). ... In this first stanza Keats is expressing questions of the legends inscribed on the urn. ... Is it to give a sense of mystery or excitement in which the reader will become enticed with figuring out what the pictures on the urn mean or are about?