Name:- Vidhya Pandya Semester:-
MA -2
Roll No:- 32
Subject:-The Romantic Literature
Enrolment No:- 2069108420190031
Year:- 2018-20
E-mail id:- vidhupandya10497@gmail.com Submitted to:- Department of English Paper no:- 5 Topic:- Critical commentary on “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”
Words:- 1384
An ode is a form of poetry such as sonnet or elegy. Ode is a literary technique that is lyrical in nature, but not very lengthy. You have often read odes in which poets praise people, natural scenes, and abstract ideas. Ode is derived from a Greek word aeidein, which means to chant or sing. It is highly solemn and serious in its tone and subject matter, and usually is used with elaborate patterns of stanzas. However, the tone is often formal. A salient feature of ode is its uniform metrical feet, but poets generally do not strictly follow this rule though use highly elevated theme.
◆ ode on a grecian urn:-
Appraisal of beauty is the most important ingredient of John Keats’s poetry. All his life, he has excavated beauty, praised it and put it in front of his readers. He has tried to prove its superiority over other material things of life. “Ode to Grecian Urn” is remarkable example of it. The poet has keenly observed the urn and its sculpture; it has fascinated John Keats and forces him to write a poem. When the
poet gazes on the sculpture, he feels pleasure in watching it. He creates a story from it. It seems that an artist from ancient Greece has carved the sculpture; therefore, John Keats creates a story with the setting of Greece atmosphere. Moreover, putting different things in juxtaposition and comparing them is another technique of John Keats, due to which he is famous. While minutely observing the sculpture, he appreciates the diplomacy of the artist. He considers that art is superior to life. Unlike life, art is not bound to miseries. It always has freshness in it. Realities of life are painful, whereas imitation consoles the soul. On one hand, when life threatens the mind then on the other hand art bestows it peace and harmony. Beauty of art has been glorified and the sad realities of life have been degraded by the poet. Though the poet, talks about miseries of life yet his mood is not sad nor the poem has been written in a gloomy atmosphere. As compared to “Ode to Nightingale”, the poet, in this poem, only talks about beauty. In fact, last lines of the poem compress whole theme of the poem viz. beauty.
John Keats has visited the British Museum, where he sees an antique piece of Grecian Urn; it is necessary to clarify that an urn is the name of a vase, which is mostly used to put ashes of the deads. The poet does not talk about the importance or beauty of the urn but the beauty of art. The poem is not about the urn but on the sculpture, which has been carved by a Grecian. The poet sees figures on the urn and feels its quietness. Though it is silent yet it tells a story. Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder; therefore, story of the sculpture is dependent on the minds of visitor and watcher. The sculpture, definitely is telling a story but the subject matter depends on the person, who sees it. It seems that the sculpture is more impressing than the poetry; Sculpture is also a form of painting, therefore, the famous quote “A picture is better than thousand words”. It can express a theme, which cannot be expresses in thousand words. Thus, sculpture, in this regard is superior to poetry. The poet tries to form a story with the help of his
imagination. The pipers, the lovers and the trees confuse the poet yet he is sure that the sculpture is depicting a pastoral lifestyle.
Next stanza of the poem is very important. John Keats asserts that imagination is better than reality. We here can realize the superiority of imagination to reality. In imagination, one can do anything. Meaning thereby, a person can control his behavior in his imagination but in real life it is difficult. Mostly, people become victim of circumstances. Their actions actually are reaction to the circumstances; thus, they do not act but react. In imagination, one can do anything, whether he is capable or not. The poet, when sees pipers, he hears music though in reality, it is not being played. He hears it in his imagination. He can enjoy any type of music, dependant on his mood. The poet has rightly said:-
“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter”.
Thus, strong imagination can help a person to create music and listen it. Those melodies can also be heard, which do not exist in reality, therefore, imagination is pleasurable because wishes can be fulfilled in it. On the other hand, reality is barren and boring and it compels a person to react on a situation. Rather than action, reaction is required in real life. Hence, the poet wants to say that imagination is not bound to logic nor it has any limitations; it is limitless and can enhance the capability of doing the undoing.
John Keats also asserts on the permanence of art. Uptil now, the poet has affirmed that art is superior but why is it superior? This question would be answered by the poet in the upcoming lines. In order to explain the superiority of
art he refers the lovers, painted on the Grecian urn, who are trying to kiss each other. The poet says that their love is permanent and unending. People may die, old generations will be replaced by new generations, centuries can be passed but passion of love will never fade. Indeed, their love is permanent and everlasting. Similarly, the musician will permanently blow the pipe and the music will be listened forever; Grecian urn will continue telling this story to every person, who will visit the museum even after death of the poet. Art of the urn was felt by the Grecians; it is being felt by the poet. Likewise, beautiful girl on the urn will never grow old. If she is happy, she will remain happy forever. Thus, art, as compared to life, is permanent and everlasting. However, John Keats has cleared that the sculpture is mum. It is steady. It cannot be moved nor is it changeable, whereas life is flexible. Change is the law of nature and so as the life. It is the hotchpotch of pleasures and pains. Sometimes it gives us joys and sometimes sorrows.
The poet then enhances his story when he sees people, who are going for a sacred purpose. Keats creates a town for them in his imagination. He fancies that perhaps the town, in which people are living, is empty now. He creates a fancy tale from this imagination and feels that the people are fixed on the urn and no one will return to the streets of town. No one, will tell people of the town about the folks, who are on the urn. These lines are evident that John Keats is bestowed with God gifted quality of imagination.
Last stanza of the poem is about the beauty of art. The poet emphasizes on its importance and advices people to take shelter under it. Art is beautiful in his eyes. Its beauty lies in its eternity. People may fade and die but art will remain the same. It will forever comfort humanity. In order to express the beauty of art, John Keats ends the poem in the following lines:-
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty’, –that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know”
This poem is best piece of literature, which stresses on the importance of beauty and art. The sculpture, carved on the Grecian urn has influenced the poet to write an ode. The poet is very much impressed by the pastoral life of this sculptured. No one can sum up the poem better than Downer. He has rightly adjudged the philosophical idea of John Keats; he says:-
“This verse, the last two lines of which contain its real interest, possesses two philosophical ideas – (1) The incomprehensibility of the Infinite in Art and Nature and (2) The Ethics of Beauty.”.
◆ Reference:- http://www.askliterature.com/poetry/criticalanalysis-of-ode-to-grecian-urn-by-john-keats/
MA -2
Roll No:- 32
Subject:-The Romantic Literature
Enrolment No:- 2069108420190031
Year:- 2018-20
E-mail id:- vidhupandya10497@gmail.com Submitted to:- Department of English Paper no:- 5 Topic:- Critical commentary on “Ode on a Grecian Urn.”
Words:- 1384
An ode is a form of poetry such as sonnet or elegy. Ode is a literary technique that is lyrical in nature, but not very lengthy. You have often read odes in which poets praise people, natural scenes, and abstract ideas. Ode is derived from a Greek word aeidein, which means to chant or sing. It is highly solemn and serious in its tone and subject matter, and usually is used with elaborate patterns of stanzas. However, the tone is often formal. A salient feature of ode is its uniform metrical feet, but poets generally do not strictly follow this rule though use highly elevated theme.
◆ ode on a grecian urn:-
Appraisal of beauty is the most important ingredient of John Keats’s poetry. All his life, he has excavated beauty, praised it and put it in front of his readers. He has tried to prove its superiority over other material things of life. “Ode to Grecian Urn” is remarkable example of it. The poet has keenly observed the urn and its sculpture; it has fascinated John Keats and forces him to write a poem. When the
poet gazes on the sculpture, he feels pleasure in watching it. He creates a story from it. It seems that an artist from ancient Greece has carved the sculpture; therefore, John Keats creates a story with the setting of Greece atmosphere. Moreover, putting different things in juxtaposition and comparing them is another technique of John Keats, due to which he is famous. While minutely observing the sculpture, he appreciates the diplomacy of the artist. He considers that art is superior to life. Unlike life, art is not bound to miseries. It always has freshness in it. Realities of life are painful, whereas imitation consoles the soul. On one hand, when life threatens the mind then on the other hand art bestows it peace and harmony. Beauty of art has been glorified and the sad realities of life have been degraded by the poet. Though the poet, talks about miseries of life yet his mood is not sad nor the poem has been written in a gloomy atmosphere. As compared to “Ode to Nightingale”, the poet, in this poem, only talks about beauty. In fact, last lines of the poem compress whole theme of the poem viz. beauty.
John Keats has visited the British Museum, where he sees an antique piece of Grecian Urn; it is necessary to clarify that an urn is the name of a vase, which is mostly used to put ashes of the deads. The poet does not talk about the importance or beauty of the urn but the beauty of art. The poem is not about the urn but on the sculpture, which has been carved by a Grecian. The poet sees figures on the urn and feels its quietness. Though it is silent yet it tells a story. Beauty lies in the eyes of beholder; therefore, story of the sculpture is dependent on the minds of visitor and watcher. The sculpture, definitely is telling a story but the subject matter depends on the person, who sees it. It seems that the sculpture is more impressing than the poetry; Sculpture is also a form of painting, therefore, the famous quote “A picture is better than thousand words”. It can express a theme, which cannot be expresses in thousand words. Thus, sculpture, in this regard is superior to poetry. The poet tries to form a story with the help of his
imagination. The pipers, the lovers and the trees confuse the poet yet he is sure that the sculpture is depicting a pastoral lifestyle.
Next stanza of the poem is very important. John Keats asserts that imagination is better than reality. We here can realize the superiority of imagination to reality. In imagination, one can do anything. Meaning thereby, a person can control his behavior in his imagination but in real life it is difficult. Mostly, people become victim of circumstances. Their actions actually are reaction to the circumstances; thus, they do not act but react. In imagination, one can do anything, whether he is capable or not. The poet, when sees pipers, he hears music though in reality, it is not being played. He hears it in his imagination. He can enjoy any type of music, dependant on his mood. The poet has rightly said:-
“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter”.
Thus, strong imagination can help a person to create music and listen it. Those melodies can also be heard, which do not exist in reality, therefore, imagination is pleasurable because wishes can be fulfilled in it. On the other hand, reality is barren and boring and it compels a person to react on a situation. Rather than action, reaction is required in real life. Hence, the poet wants to say that imagination is not bound to logic nor it has any limitations; it is limitless and can enhance the capability of doing the undoing.
John Keats also asserts on the permanence of art. Uptil now, the poet has affirmed that art is superior but why is it superior? This question would be answered by the poet in the upcoming lines. In order to explain the superiority of
art he refers the lovers, painted on the Grecian urn, who are trying to kiss each other. The poet says that their love is permanent and unending. People may die, old generations will be replaced by new generations, centuries can be passed but passion of love will never fade. Indeed, their love is permanent and everlasting. Similarly, the musician will permanently blow the pipe and the music will be listened forever; Grecian urn will continue telling this story to every person, who will visit the museum even after death of the poet. Art of the urn was felt by the Grecians; it is being felt by the poet. Likewise, beautiful girl on the urn will never grow old. If she is happy, she will remain happy forever. Thus, art, as compared to life, is permanent and everlasting. However, John Keats has cleared that the sculpture is mum. It is steady. It cannot be moved nor is it changeable, whereas life is flexible. Change is the law of nature and so as the life. It is the hotchpotch of pleasures and pains. Sometimes it gives us joys and sometimes sorrows.
The poet then enhances his story when he sees people, who are going for a sacred purpose. Keats creates a town for them in his imagination. He fancies that perhaps the town, in which people are living, is empty now. He creates a fancy tale from this imagination and feels that the people are fixed on the urn and no one will return to the streets of town. No one, will tell people of the town about the folks, who are on the urn. These lines are evident that John Keats is bestowed with God gifted quality of imagination.
Last stanza of the poem is about the beauty of art. The poet emphasizes on its importance and advices people to take shelter under it. Art is beautiful in his eyes. Its beauty lies in its eternity. People may fade and die but art will remain the same. It will forever comfort humanity. In order to express the beauty of art, John Keats ends the poem in the following lines:-
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty’, –that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know”
This poem is best piece of literature, which stresses on the importance of beauty and art. The sculpture, carved on the Grecian urn has influenced the poet to write an ode. The poet is very much impressed by the pastoral life of this sculptured. No one can sum up the poem better than Downer. He has rightly adjudged the philosophical idea of John Keats; he says:-
“This verse, the last two lines of which contain its real interest, possesses two philosophical ideas – (1) The incomprehensibility of the Infinite in Art and Nature and (2) The Ethics of Beauty.”.
◆ Reference:- http://www.askliterature.com/poetry/criticalanalysis-of-ode-to-grecian-urn-by-john-keats/
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