Ode on a Grecian Urn

Part 1: I am not quite sure why I chose this poem, considering Kubla Khan is just as interesting. However, I thoroughly enjoyed Keats' poem, and I loved the way it was divided into chunks, which were different parts of the story that both he and (I suppose) the urn told. Something that I found interesting was the title itself, and that the speaker considers the story on the urn to be an “ode”, or a story to be sung. It is even mentioned early on in the poem that, “heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard/Are sweeter”. I liked the way that was written, and the idea that the pictures tell more than words would, (if I am translating it correctly).

Part 2: The speaker of this poem is unraveling the story painted or etched into a Grecian urn, and the story itself gives a brief history of the time. It takes place in ancient Greece, most likely in “Tempe or the dales of Arcady”, which is mentioned in the first segment of the poem. In the very beginning, the speaker expresses his love for the urn and its beauty and history: “A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme./What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape…”. Although the illustrations are ancient, the story they tell will never grow old and always remains beautiful, as it tells of humans, gods, and events.
In the second part of the poem, our speaker addresses a number of ideas as he asks about the people and deities depicted on the urn. The first part of the history on the urn discusses love, which although makes the characters appear joyous, they are also doomed. The “Bold Lover” cannot be with the one he loves, and it seems as though he is at a distance when Keats says, “She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,/For ever wilt though love, and she be fair.” Even though he has happy thoughts of her beauty, he is yet passionate and melancholy because his love goes unrequited. After the story of doomed love, the speaker then goes on to address the religious aspects of the time period and the people. The scene takes place at a “green alter”, where the townspeople are about to sacrifice a cow to the gods. The town below has emptied, and it is a peaceful atmosphere as the people go to worship. He also adds more description of the town and the general area around it. Clearly, this particular location means a great deal to the speaker, and he seems to worship the place just by itself. It seems as though he wants to be a part of this ancient world.
In the very last segment of Keats’ poem, he adds a few more comments on the pictures represented on the urn, and once again mentions its beauty. But more important than the beauty of the illustrations is the age of the illustrations and the things depicted. The scenes he described are timeless and perfect. The speaker says in the last stanza, “Beauty is truth, truth beauty,--that is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.” He is looking into the basic aspects of this place and the stories it tells. Perhaps we can find the most meaning and beauty in the simplest of things.