Ode to Grecian Urn Critical Summary: the poem is a wonderful piece of art gleaned from the pen of John Keats. ‘Ode to Grecian Urn’ is, probably, a homage to the permanence of beauty; especially the beauty of art in general and Hellenistic in particular. The poet observed the painting of a village ceremony on a Grecian Urn. Keats, a die heart romantic, ventures on to capture not only what the sculpture might have intended but also what the flight of poet’s fancy could produce from yonder lands. We are amazed at the artistic intrigues and fascinating power of eloquence with which the purely romantic poet gives vent to his inner emotions.
Keats seems to have journeyed, through the powerful effect of fancy, to the foreign lands of the past to discover the true attributes of the civilization he saw on the urn. For Keats the Grecian Urn’s silence is “unravished bride of quietness”; the poet takes the opportunity to express story of this bride, the Grecian Urn. He reminds us that the Grecian Urn and the story sculptured onto it is the one such that cannot be narrated by any historian with the charm and captivation that poetry has in store for us. Therefore, he wants us to expect “flowery tale” from ancient times.
The romantic poet has a powerful fancy to bring out fascinating stories out of the engravings of the Grecian Urn. He can visualize the legendary figure. He imagines it to be of a human. Then he thinks it might be of some deity. Then counting on the Hellenistic allusions, he terms it a demigod; a legendary figure both human and godly. From the imagery in the stone, the poet crafts a romantic scene where the lovers are chasing their beloveds.
Then he adds minute details of how they must be “panting” with the “burning foreheads” and “dried tongues” in their “mad” and playful “pursuit” of love making. However, the poet feels that their happy lot of chasing would ever remain unchanged. Their love can never be complete for the chase is on forever. With the music added to the pleasures of the youth, Keats considers it a “wild ecstasy” because the height of this joy could neither be limited nor could have an end to it. It’s the permanency of this very pleasure which forces the poet consider an “ecstasy”.
It is the same “ecstasy” the poet wishes to join by plunging into the time and age of the people in this urn; he wishes to celebrate and rejoice with them. He wishes to enjoy the melodies of the Grecian Urn. Keats declares:
“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
“Are sweeter”…
He styles the urn “fair attitude” and a civilization of marble men. The poet can see that the trees’ branches and weeds have quite surrounded the urn. The urn is “cold pastoral” because it has rural scenery and a silent race that cannot speak. The poet “may cease to be” but the urn shall remain in the world, in the midst of human woes and agony. The urn and its civilization is a happy lot and it convinces the poet that art, in the form of beauty, is capable of enduring the damages of time and age. The poet is happy to have seen the beauty of the Grecian Urn.
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty, – that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”