‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’ Summary:

To every romantic poet nature and the aspects of nature are a great source of inspiration. John Keats was not an exception. Once he visited the British museum and there he came across the Grecian Urn which had been preserved for a long period of time. The paintings depicted on the external surface of the Grecian Urn inflamed the poet's poetic spirit. His creative faculty became agitated and consequently he composed the poem 'Ode on a Grecian Urn'.

Critical Analysis of ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’:

In the first stanza of the ode the poet has paid a glowing tribute to the Grecian Urn. The poet has personified it and called it `Unravished bride of quietness'. Actually the first stanza is in the nature of introduction. Here the poet has put a series of questions. He asks what the painted men and women are. The poet cannot identify whether the painted men and women are mortals or the immortals of the valley of Arcadia. The Grecian Urn is called sylvan historian because it tells the story of the rural area.

In the second stanza the poet has glorified art over life. He seems to advocate that art is everlasting and the reality is subjected to corrosiveness. Imagination is also given superiority over reality and for this reason the poet says-

“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on,”

The painted lover and beloved will never lose their passion and beauty. The lover's freshness will never fade away-

"She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss

Forever wilt thou love, and she he fair!"

In the 3rd stanza the poet has given stress on perpetuity of art. The spring season which is prevailing over the nature will never fade away and the happy melodist will never feel exhausted. Here we get a contrast also between art and reality. Our love is subjected to decay but the painted love will enjoy love forever.

In the fourth stanza the poet has again highlighted the theme of permanence of art. In the fifth stanza we are acquainted with the universality of the art. The Grecian Urn which preserves art will always provoke thoughts within us. The Grecian Urn teaches mankind that-

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty"

The poem is remarkable for Keats' Hellenism. Actually Hellenism is a term derived from `Hellene' which is the ancient name of Greece. Love for Greek culture is called Hellenism. John Keats is called a Greek by Percy Bysshe Shelley. He has a profound love for the Greek culture and art. In Ode on a Grecian Urn we find that the poet has chosen even his title from the element of Greece, that is an Urn. At the first stanza we find that the poet has mentioned the name of mount Olympus where the valley of Arcadia lies and this is the dwelling place of the gods and goddesses of the ancient Greeks. In the fourth stanza we get a picture of the ancient Greek culture when we find that a mysterious priest followed by a huge procession is going to altar to sacrifice a heifer.

Sensuousness is another remarkable aspect of John Keats's poems and it is also found in Ode on a Grecian Urn. Almost all the stanzas are packed with sensuous description. We enjoy the scene very much. What can be more sensuous than –

"Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss

Though winning near the goal."

In the 3^rd stanza we get one of the most sensuous pictures when we go through the following lines –

"More happy love! more happy, happy love!

For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,

For ever panting, and for ever young;"

Pictorial quality is conspicuous characteristic of this poem. When we recite the poem we feel, we are enjoying the sights described by Keats. The picture of the procession and the empty town depicted in the fourth stanza is picturesque. Besides, the picture of the mad pursuit of the depicted lover and beloved is very vivid. It seems Keats has used brush of an expert painter to paint. Most probably it is the aspect which attracted most the Victorian giant Tennyson. Images used in this poem are almost incomparable.

However, we may conclude our discussion with the opinion of Sahney who says, "The main idea of Ode on a Grecian Urn is the mutability of life as contrasted with the immortality of the principle of beauty as expressed in art. The poet's vision is her confessed up by his scrutiny of an old vase of the Golden age, of Greek rural life, Pan's pipe, and the passionate lover, and the ritual of sacrifice, and the little town by the sea shore are dust, but they live eternally on the Attic shape of the Urn.”