Ode to Grecian Urn

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Ode to Grecian Urn

• By John Keats

Instructor Ms. Doris L.W. Chang
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Our Group Members

• Alice Introduction, Paraphrase
• Conclusion
• Sandy Vocabulary, Symbolism,
• Metaphor Diction
• Sally Speaker, Listener Situation
• Structure About the Ode
• Penny Imagery
• Allen Irony Conflicts

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General Idea

• It is a lyric poem based on the ironies of
• The changes in reality and the motionless art
  that lasts forever
• It is contradictory to see the stillness of the
  urn with the beautiful art lively as the reality
• The information was adapted from
  http//academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/c
  s6

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Our Main Theme

• The conflicts of eternal and the motionless ideal
  life
• The conflicts of a short and changeable reality
  life among us

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The Paraphrase Version
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The Structure of This Poem

• Five Stanzas
• Overall description of the urn
• Several features of the urns world
• The compliments on the eternity in the urns
  world (Love passion, eternal spring)
• Another different sight of the sacrifice
  desolate town
• the significance that the urn tells people

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Literary Terms

• Ode
• Lyric Poetry
• Connotation
• Paradox
• Meter
• See the adapted information at the Glossary
  section of An Introduction to Literature, 12th
  edition, Barnet, Sylvan, printed in 2001.

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About the Ode

• Started in Greek time, by Pindar
• The triad Strophe, Antistrophe Epode
• English Contemporary Version, developed by Andrew
  Cowley, follwed Roman Types
• The Roman Poet, Horace

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The Structure of Odes

• Strophe, a term in versification which properly
  means a turn, as from one foot to another, or
  from one side of a chorus to the other
• Antistrophe, the portion of an ode which is sung
  by the chorus in its returning in response the
  strophe,

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The Structure of Odes

• Epode It is of the nature of a reply, and
  balances the effect of the strophe
• Adapted from
• http//academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/c
  s6/ode.html,
• http//www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antistrophe,
• http//www.onelook.com/?wStrophelsa
• http//www.onelook.com/?wEpodelsa,

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About the Ode 2

•   The description of an outer natural scene
•   An extended meditation, which the scene begin
  to develop, focusing on a private problem or a
  universal situation or both

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About the Ode 2

•  The occurrence of an insight or vision, a
  resolution or decision, returns back to the first
  scene as described, but with a new perspective
  created

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About John Keats

• 1795-1821
• Original Study apothecary
• Poems first published 1817
• Most of works written after moving to Keats
  House
• Adapted from, http//www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibition
  s/keats.html

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Vocabulary
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The Art of This Poem--Imagery

• Urn ---Is set in wood. Is unchanged
  and lives in silence and slow time. The
  life carved on urn is ideal and permanent.
  Conflicts between
  real life and ideal life carved on urn. And
  conflicts of cold pastoral.

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The Art of the Poem--Imagery
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The Art of the Poem--Imagery

• b. Sacrifice---is hold in the green altar.
• the heifer is leading to
  sacrifice.
• c. Town---peaceful little town.
• is desolate and emptied.
• Conflicts of joy and pain/life
  and death.

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The Art of the Poem--Imagery
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Speaker, Listener and Situation

• The Speaker --- listener
• A person talking to an object (the urn)
  showing his admirations for it.
• The soliloquy that the speaker expressed his
  emotions, questions, and interpretations to the
  urns world.

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The Art of the Poem--Diction Word Pattern
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The Art of This PoemSymbolism Metaphor
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The Art of the PoemIronic Contrast

• The First stanza
• Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A
  flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme (line
  3-4)
• The fairy tales are the stories that people could
  hear all the time in the real word however, how
  a sylvan historian who is the figure carved on
  the quiet, motionless and silent urn could tell
  tales?

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The Art of the PoemIronic Contrast

• What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
  What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What
  pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?(line8-10)
• In line 8-10 of the first stanza, the speaker is
  involved in rapid and exciting activities shown
  on the urn. Paradoxically, such a passion is
  convincingly portrayed on cold, motionless stone
  instead of a person or thing existing in the
  reality.

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The Art of the PoemIronic Contrast

• The second stanza
• Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss.
  (line17)
• This is ironic because in reality, people who
  fall in love agree that kissing is a kind of
  significance showing stable relationship and
  affection among each other.
• She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,
  For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair! (line
  19-20)

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The Art of the PoemIronic Contrast

• As far as the picture on the urn is concerned,
  the time there is frozen and still which enables
  love becoming permanent ironic contrast flesh
  and blood staying sound. Nevertheless, in real
  world, every one dies one day and no one can
  avoid death.
• The third stanza
• All breathing human passion far above, That
  leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloyd, A
  burning forehead, and a parching tongue.( line
  28-30)

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The Art of the PoemIronic Contrast

• At the beginning of this stanza, the speaker
  illustrates the pictures of his ideal world
  (p666, line 21-27). Later on, in the last three
  lines, All breathing human passion far above,
  ------ is irony. The breathing humans passion
  towards love, music, love seems to be very far
  away and unfulfillable. He doubts whether his
  ideal world exists or not.

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The Art of the PoemIronic Contrast

• The fourth stanza
• And this town, thy street for evermore
  Will silent be and not a
  soul to tell
  Why thou art desolate can eer return. (line
  38-40)

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The Art of the PoemIronic Contrast

• The speaker points out three ideal locations for
  peaceful citadel-by river, sea shore and
  mountain. Then, he describes the town as emptied,
  silent and desolated which appears strong
  contrast of normal peoples perspectives because
  such these words silence, desolation and
  emptiness are not equal to joy and happiness of
  the ideal word.

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Others Comments About Keats Odes

• The experience is an intense awareness of both
  the joy and pain, the happiness and the sorrow of
  human life. It is not only a feeling, but becomes
  a thought to satisfy their desire for happiness
  in a world where joy and pain are tied together.
• It is adapted from the website of
  http//academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu./english/melani/
  cs6, written by Wright Thomas and Stuart Gerry
  Brown

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Our Reflection
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The Resources

• An Introduction to Literature, 12th edition.
  Sylvan Barnet, William Cain, William Burto and
  Mortan Berman. Printed in the United States,
  2001.
• http//www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antistrophe,
• http//www.onelook.com/?wStrophelsa
• http//www.onelook.com/?wEpodelsa,

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Other Relevant Links

• http//academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/c
  s6/rom.html
• http//academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/c
  s6/keats.htmlodes
• http//academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu.tw/english/melan
  i/cs6/ode.html
• http//academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/c
  s6/read_lyr.html
• http//www.bl.uk/whatson/exhibitions/keats.html

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Thank You for Your AttentionHope to See You
Next Time