Ode on a Grecian Urn Group at eNotes

This quote also deals with the complicated argument of where truth comes...

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 13:36:25 PST

This quote also deals with the complicated argument of where truth comes from. The argument of John Locke, for instance, claims that all knowledge comes through the sense; there is nothing in our knowledge that does not come from sensual experience. The idealists/romantics believe that in addition to "tuition" we had a built in "intuition" that gave each of us direct access to knowledge. Thus, instead of arriving at truth through the...

Keats' concluding line to "Ode on a Grecian Urn" represents much of his...

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:28:49 PST

Keats' concluding line to "Ode on a Grecian Urn" represents much of his thinking and the ideas behind Romanticism. As he is staring at this urn, the speaker (presumably Keats) is engaged in a quest to understand the ideas of truth, beauty, love, and identity. As he has stared at this urn, he understands that there is no set of higher principles or dogma to determine what truth is. For Keats, there is no concrete and singular set of...

What does "Truth is beauty and beauty is truth" signify?

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 04:16:49 PST

What does "Truth is beauty and beauty is truth" signify?

"Ode on a Grecian Urn" is quite confusing as far as it's theme is...

Tue, 2 Jun 2009 19:57:48 PST

"Ode on a Grecian Urn" is quite confusing as far as it's theme is concerned. THere are diffrernt threds of theme. 1. Inncocence 2. Wisdom and knowlede 3. Beauty and art 4. Art and culture and life 5. Sex 6. Transience All these themes can be well explained as the core of the poem at diffrent times with solid reference to the poem. People say that beauty and art is the central theme as in the last stanza the speaker infers from the urn that...

In reply to #1:he wa not an escapist, every poet has his own tendecies....

Fri, 22 May 2009 05:15:49 PST

In reply to #1:he wa not an escapist, every poet has his own tendecies. though we do not see any revolutionary thought in his poetry but we can not call him escapist on the basis of this because he was a pure poet and his subject matter was beauty.

There is nothing wrong if you want to escape from a degenerate &...

Mon, 18 May 2009 08:52:23 PST

There is nothing wrong if you want to escape from a degenerate & suffocating condition into a world of imagination & beauty. In so far as 'escapism'/'escapist' is a pejorative term, Keats's poetry is no poetry of 'escapism', and Keats is not an 'escapist'. When we talk about an escape, it is not enough to talk about what/where we escape from; it is important to consider what/where we escape to/into. The ancient Greek urn in Keats's ode...

I would like to have detailed notes on Keats as an escapist

Sat, 7 Mar 2009 20:52:12 PST

I would like to have detailed notes on Keats as an escapist

Stanza 4 of the poem describes another scene on the Grecian Urn. It is a...

Fri, 9 Jan 2009 18:05:49 PST

Stanza 4 of the poem describes another scene on the Grecian Urn. It is a scene where people are on their way to present a heifer [cow] as a sacrifice to one of their Gods. A priest leads the animal to be killed as a sacrifice. In lines 35-30, the speaker imagines the town from where the people came as being quiet and empty. He says: "And little town thy streets forevermore/Will silent be; why thou art desolate". In other words, we will never...

Could I have a detailed explanation of sections 4 and 5 of "Ode on...

Fri, 9 Jan 2009 14:25:26 PST

Could I have a detailed explanation of sections 4 and 5 of "Ode on a Grecian Urn?

The central theme is :beauty is evident, or truthful in art. Both of...

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 08:19:12 PST

The central theme is :beauty is evident, or truthful in art. Both of these things last forever, or at least as long as the art in which they are embodied exists--for example, the urn or jar/vase on which these pictures are carved and painted. In the first few lines, the speaker is marveling at the pictures on the urn and asking questions as to the nature of the urn, the keeper of the secrets of the characters on its sides--who are they? ...

Could I have an explanation of the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn"...

Wed, 7 Jan 2009 07:11:57 PST

Could I have an explanation of the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and what is the central theme of the poem?

No, I do not think Keats is an escapist. Many writers used their craft...

Sun, 7 Sep 2008 20:07:24 PST

No, I do not think Keats is an escapist. Many writers used their craft to delve into worlds they only dreamed of or wished they could be living in, for example. Also, many wrote of fantasy worlds and places that did not exist, except in their own minds. Because they had great dreams or aspirations or because they wrote of these subjects does not mean these authors were escapists.

I think it will be a gross injustice to consider Keats an escapist only...

Sun, 7 Sep 2008 09:31:55 PST

I think it will be a gross injustice to consider Keats an escapist only on the basis of a single poem. Even if we take ode on a grecian urn only in consideration, it will soon be realised by us after a careful study of the ode that the poet is trying to objectify his primary idea regarding the difference between Nature and Work of Art, much like the greek philosophers who always thought that an Work of art cannot supersede Nature as it is a...

It would certainly be unfair to label Keats an escapist based solely on...

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 23:05:59 PST

It would certainly be unfair to label Keats an escapist based solely on a single poem. Looking at Ode on a Grecian Urn, however, we can see that he certainly plays with some escapist ideals. As he expounds in his own mind upon the love affair depicted upon the Grecian urn, the laments. "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on"In other words, the world that he imagines...

Do you think Keats is an escapist?

Mon, 11 Aug 2008 20:54:14 PST

...

The poem begins with "thou" which means "you" and so...

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 12:58:55 PST

The poem begins with "thou" which means "you" and so you can assume that the narrator is talking to someone or something. In this case, the "you" is the Grecian Urn. He is talking to the urn itself as he observes the carvings on it. He has a variety of metaphors that he uses to describe the urn, one is an "unravished bride" and another is a "foster child" and another is a "sylvan...

i have to agree with you.i have friends majoring in metaphysics know...

Sat, 26 Jul 2008 00:53:39 PST

i have to agree with you.i have friends majoring in metaphysics know this line for debates. but yeah, most people wouldn't know keat's odes. most people wouldn't know how to enjoy it.In reply to #7:

Absolutely not! Only English majors and people who are well read even...

Tue, 8 Jul 2008 21:48:11 PST

Absolutely not! Only English majors and people who are well read even know this line from Keats's poem. Many, many more are better known:To thine own self be true.Neither a borrower nor a lender be.Time will tell (from the KJV Bible)Seize the dayThese are just a few.

Think about it from an average person's point of view...someone who...

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 13:38:53 PST

Think about it from an average person's point of view...someone who hasn't recently taken a literature class, and someone who doesn't pick up the classics just for the fun of it. If you were to present them with each of the following quotes, which do you think they would choose as having heard before, or consider to be the most famous:1. "To be or not to be, that is the question"2. "Beauty is truth, truth is...

Also, the different pictures on the urn represent time. By this, I...

Sun, 6 Jul 2008 01:16:15 PST

Also, the different pictures on the urn represent time. By this, I mean that the picture of the lovers, for example, is a moment frozen in time. This beautiful moment is one that is captured for all time. It is timeless and cannot be changed.