Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats - Brief Interpretation

Brief Introduction about the poet:

John Keats 

John Keats was born in London on 31 October 1795. Although he died at the age of twenty-five, Keats had perhaps the most remarkable career of any English poet. He published only fifty-four poems, in three slim volumes and a few magazines. But over his short development, he took on the challenges of a wide range of poetic forms from the sonnet, to the Spenserian romance, to the Miltonic epic, defining anew their possibilities with his distinctive fusion of earnest energy, control of conflicting perspectives and forces, poetic self-consciousness, and, occasionally, dry ironic wit. Keats belonged to the second generation of the romantic poet along with Lord Byron and PB Shelly. He was greatly influenced by Edmund Spencer, Leigh Hunt, John Milton and William Hazlitt. Keats died of tuberculosis. Keats was regarded as the sensuous poet, as his poem arouses the senses of the readers. Mathew Arnold regarded Keats as 'Abundauntly and enchantingly sensuous.' Keats was known for 'Hellenism' - he spreads greek culture through his poetry. Throughout his life, he was criticized and gained his reputation only after death. he wrote his epitaph: "Here lies the one whose name was writ in water." The year 1819 was the best in Keats' life. During this period he published great works like Lamia, The Eve of St Agnes and The Great Odes.

Brief Interpretation of the poem:

Ode on a Grecian Urn was written by one of the most predominant writers of the Romantic era of English literature John Keats in 1819 and published in 1820. An ode is a song of celebration - a poem about something to celebrate., traditional ode can be a little boring/little formal, but a bit more like a limerick than a poem. It is a complex mysterious poem with disarmingly simple set up. An undefined speaker looks at the Grecian Urn, which is decorated with evocative images of rustic and rural life in ancient Greece. These scenes fascinate, mystify and excite the speaker in equal measure who seemed to have captured life in its fullness, yet are frozen in time. The speaker's response shifts through different moods and ultimately the urn provokes questions more than it provides answers. The poem's ending has been and remains the subject of varied interpretations. The Urn seems to tell the speaker and in turn the reader that truth and beauty are the same. Keats wrote several poems but he played with the form a bit. He did something different with the idea of an ode. It is believed that the poem Ode on a Grecian Urn is inspired by seeing the Elgin Marbles. This poem by Keats inspires Cliff Brooks theory of the Well -  Wrought Urn and the poem itself celebrates the paradoxes/ opposing forces. The rhyme scheme of the poem is formal - much like a sonnet and the meter seems formal too - five pairs of words which are Iambic Pentameter. Keats wrote this poem in a great burst of creativity which also helped him to produce his other famous odes Eg: Ode to a Nightingale.

The historical context of the poem

Keats wrote this poem not long after the American Revolution of 1776 and the French Revolution in 1789, which promoted Napoleon's rise to power. The early 19th century can be considered a period of reconsideration in terms of the way the individual relates to society. The influential poet/critic William Wordsworth was particularly interested in the idea of civil liberties, though became more old-fashioned as he grew older. Perhaps what's most interesting about this poem historically speaking is the very deliberate attempt by the poet to reconnect with the ancient past in the hope of learning from it. This was part of an overall renewal in interest in the history and artifacts from classical antiquity (ancient Greece and Rome). Keats's poem was notably written less than a century after the opening of the British Museum. The observation and contemplation of objects from other cultures were becoming an increasingly popular activity and was founded on the far-reaching power of the British Empire. The ethical debate about the practice of institutions like the British Museum continues today, with the Greek government still trying to find a way to return the Elgin Marbles—a collection of classical sculptures—to their country of origin.