This is a presentation done at St.Joseph's College, Trichy by a student of II M.A Eng. for a seminar. This is an outcome of his analysis upon an article by Stephen Hebron on KEATS' "ODE ON A GRECIAN URN"
2. One of Keats’ five greatest odes
Composed in the summer and autumn of 1819
1st published in July, in a journal called Annals of the
Fine Arts
Urns- to hold ashes in ancient Greece
Keats knew Greek art from the British Museum
Artist Benjamin Robert Haydon, his friend, took him
to see the marbles on March 1817.
Greek sculptures- admired for their formal perfection
and ideal beauty.
4. Ode to a Nightingale- immortality through the bird’s
effortless song.
Ode on a Grecian Urn- immortality in the stillness and
silence of classical sculpture.
Keats praises the urn- “Foster-child of silence and Slow
time”
5. - standing still
“Where are the places the urn depicts?”
“Who are the people?”
One scene- lover and maiden in a grove of trees & a
piper
Another scene- a crowd on its way to a ritual sacrifice
and a ‘mysterious priest’ leading a heifer to an altar
The trees- never lose their leaves
The maiden & the lover- love will never fade; he will
never reach her
6. A turning point- Keats imagine “little town by river or
sea shore”, emptied due to the sacrifice
Empty streets- silence and still
Silence- a kind of loss
Stillness- a kind of desolation but not a formal
perfection
7. Provide a relief from the feverous brain
Related with Keats letter to his friend Benjamin Bailey
in November 1817
“What the imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth”,
“whether it existed before or not…. The imagination
may be compared to Adam’s dream- he awoke and
found it truth” (Nov 22)
8. To God Almighty.
(To my dear classmates) for your patient listening.
To the respected Professor