Ode on a Grecian Urn Questions and Answers
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Beauty Is Truth Truth Beauty
The famous last lines of Keats's poem have been the subject of heated critical debate for over two hundred years. As such, we're not going to be able to settle the matter of their meaning here and...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What poetic techniques are used in "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
Some poetic techniques used in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" include the following. Apostrophe: Apostrophe in poetry is the address of someone who is not present or of a personified object. In this poem,...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Why does the speaker address the urn as "Cold Pastoral" in "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
According to the Cambridge Dictionary, "A pastoral piece of art, writing, or music represents the pleasant and traditional features of the countryside." When Keats refers to the urn as a "Cold...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Why are the figures on the urn called a "leaf fringed legend"in Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
It might be helpful, too, to think about other possible meanings of the word "legend" in John Keats' poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn." The preceding lines do seem to point toward this standard meaning...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," what is the meaning of "foster-child of silence and slow time?"
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," the speaker addresses the urn itself and the images on it. First, the speaker addresses the bride on the urn. She is frozen in time. She has yet to be ravished, so she is...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What is the contrast between art and life in "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
Ah, one of my favorite controversial subjects to discuss about one of my very favorite poems EVER! The contrast Keats creates between art and life in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is precisely this: that...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn" what two words does the speaker repeat in the the third stanza?
The two words that are repeated frequently in the third stanza are "happy" and "forever." Remember that the speaker of the poem is commenting on a scene that he is seeing painted on a Grecian urn,...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
How is imagery used in Keats' poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
John Keats was an English Romantic poet. Keats highlighted the use of imagery in his poetry to speak to the follow characteristics typical to the Romantic period. He valued feeling over reasoning...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," why does Keats call the urn a "Sylvan historian?"
In this poem, Keats contemplates a scene painted on a Grecian urn. Greek art was flooding into England at this time, and people were fascinated by it. Sylvan means wooded. What Keats is sees on the...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What is the overall tone of the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
The overall tone of "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is simultaneously admiring and melancholy. The speaker is no doubt impressed by the artistry of the images adorning the sides of the urn. He admires how...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," why are "unheard melodies" sweeter to the speaker than "heard melodies"? Is there a...
In the second stanza of "Ode on a Grecian Urn," Keats writes, Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; Not to the sensual ear, but, more...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Why is the urn a “foster child of silence and slow time”?
In his poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” John Keats calls the urn a “foster child of silence and slow time.” Let's unpack this description and reflect on its meaning. First, a foster child refers to a...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What is the purpose of the rhetorical questions in the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
A rhetorical question is asked for literary effect, with no actual answer expected. In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," the speaker asks a series of rhetorical questions in stanzas 2 and 4. In both stanzas,...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
"Forever will thou love, and she be fair." Discuss the central theme of "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats with...
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," the poet gazes at the picture on an urn from ancient Greece. (If you google "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "images" you can see Keats's sketch of this urn.) The scene...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Why might Keats have chosen to vary the rhyme scheme in the last six lines "Ode on a Grecian Urn"? Support your...
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," Keats spends most of the poem describing what he sees on the Grecian urn in the title. He shows us various scenes that appear on the urn, exploring them from his own...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What does the "Attic shape" represent in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats?
The term "Attic shape" in the final stanza is a synonym for the urn itself. "Attica" is Greece, and "Attic" means relating to Greece or Athens; therefore, "Attic shape" is a parallel construction...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Sylvan Historian
The Urn is the sylvan historian because it is rather like a picture frame. It has many carvings along its sides which tell the story--and each story will never change as long as the urn itself is...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What is the meaning of the line "Why thou art desolate, can e'er return"?
In the fourth stanza, the speaker imagines the nearby town emptying as its population comes to its leafy outskirts to celebrate the religious festival depicted on the urn. What the speaker is...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
How does Keats use paradox in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "Ode to a Nightingale" to show us that through sorrow* we...
The central message of "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is the way in which the Grecian Urn represents an eternal beauty that contrasts to the ephemeral nature of man's existence. This is something of a...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
How then can a "Cold Pastoral" be called a "friend to man" in the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
Keats's poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" addresses the titular urn directly and praises its unchanging nature. The urn—upon which images have been placed, conveying a pastoral scene from Ancient...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Why does the speaker address the urn as “Cold Pastoral” in “Ode on a Grecian Urn”?
In answering this question, we first of all need to understand the meaning of the word “pastoral.” A pastoral is an idealized portrait of rural life, often populated by mythological figures such as...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What does the Grecian urn symbolize?
For Keats, the Grecian urn symbolizes a paradox: it depicts so much of what makes life worth living—music, love, youth, beauty—but in representing these things as static and unchanging, it seems to...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
How does "Ode on a Grecian Urn" depict the mutability of human life and the permanence of art?
John Keats's "Ode to a Grecian Urn" is a formal lyric poem whose metaphoric tension depends upon the dual nature of the urn: While the beautiful urn itself is a symbol of the static quality of art,...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What type of figurative language is used in "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
There are numerous examples of figurative language used in John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn." First, Keats uses metaphor when he calls the urn an "unravish'd bride of quietness" and a "foster...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, is Keats’ use of apostrophe an effective method for conveying the speaker’s emotions...
Keats's use of apostrophe in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is an effective method of conveying the speaker's deeply felt emotions. In apostrophe, a writer speaks to a person who is not there or to an...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What is a good conclusion for the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn?"
The speaker in the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is fascinated and teased by the figures on the urn. All the figures are frozen in time and therefore they exist in an eternal state. But, in being...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Why is the bride "still unravished" in "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," the speaker begins by describing the urn itself as a "still unravish'd bride of quietness." Essentially, the speaker is referring to how the images decorating the sides...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What is the significance of the fourth stanza?
In the earlier stanzas, the speaker has described the scenes of beauty on the urn, the young lovers and beautiful natural features. He assures the young man on the urn that, though he will never...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
If the urn of Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn" could "tease us out of thought" (line 44), in what state would we be?
In this excellent poem we are presented with the effects of contemplating Grecian urns on the speaker. In the line you have identified, the speaker talks of how contemplating this Grecian urn has a...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn," describe the decoration on the urn.
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," the urn was likely a product of Keats' mind, based on images of vases, sculptures and paintings. The scenes depicted are a Dionysian celebration, lovers about to...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn" what does the speaker seem to admire most about the urn?
In my opinion, the speaker of "Ode on a Grecian Urn" admires the immortality of the urn's subjects (and of the urn itself) even more than its beauty. With the same idea that a poem can make its...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
How do the scenes depicted on the urn differ from real life?
A great question that should be asked more often. If you read the poem in romantic terms, you might arrive at the following interpretation. The speaker in this poem is tired and bored with his...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What is hellenism? Discuss Keats as a hellenist with reference to "Ode To a Grecian Urn."
Since Hellenism refers to the height of Greek culture, especially in regard to its influence and colonization, Keats is a Hellenist in the sense that he continues to spread Greek culture through...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In stanza 1 of "Ode on a Grecian Urn", what literary device does the speaker use to speak directly to the urn?...
The first word in the poem 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' by John Keats is 'Thou.' This tells us as readers that the poet is talking to someone or something, but at first we are not sure what it is - the...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
How does Keats compare perfection with imperfection?
One of Keats' themes is the contrast between people and situations frozen in perfect representations and living people and evolving situations that are imperfect. On the urn, the bride and groom...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Who can never kiss his beloved? Why?
John Keats’s legendary “Ode on a Grecian Urn” (1819) is inspired by a work of ancient Greek pottery. Its second stanza mentions a picture of two lovers about to kiss but unable to—frozen in time...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," if the urn could "tease us out of thought" (line 44), what state would be in?
As always with any question that asks you to examine the meaning of a particular text, it is important to look at the line in context so that you are aware of how it relates to the poem as a whole....
Ode on a Grecian Urn
How does "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats reflect the theme that art is immortal?
John Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn" features a speaker reflecting on the nature of art as he looks at the figures painted on an urn. Throughout the poem, the speaker observes the static figures and...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" - closing lines? In the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" - the closing lines, 'Beauty...
I wonder if there are any other two lines that are debated so much. The closing couplet to the poem is really profound. There will be no easy answers here and I strongly advise you to take what...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
In "Ode on a Grecian Urn" how do you interpret lines 28-30?
It is always important to look at the context of the lines you need to focus on to see what they mean and to try and understand what clues the rest of the poem before and after can give in order to...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What final message does the urn hold for mankind in "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
The last two lines of Keats's “Ode on a Grecian Urn” have puzzled successive generations of literary critics and scholars ever since the poem was first published. Not only has it been impossible to...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
How are the themes and plot of "Ode on a Grecian Urn" intertwined with the speaker's feelings?
The plot that Keats develops as he muses in this lyric poem is intertwined with the suggestion of his feelings and themes. The central feelings the Grecian urn inspires in Keats are wonder, "dost...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What does "universal bride" refer to in "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
The narrator of the poem speaks directly to the Grecian urn, using a poetic device called apostrophe, which is when a speaker talks to something that is not alive and cannot respond or someone that...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Describe the historical and social context of "Ode on a Grecian Urn."
Early 19th century Romanticism, characterized by passionate attachment to nature’s wild purity, were balanced with Neoclassicism, a reasoned appreciation of the themes and proportions of...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
How is "Ode on a Grecian Urn" a Romantic poem?
A Grecian urn is a classical object, and it is easy to imagine such an object being the subject of contemplation for many poets. To pinpoint the Romantic qualities of Keats's "Ode on a Grecian...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What does the last stanza of “Ode on a Grecian urn” tell the reader about art?
According to John Keats in “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” art is the only way for humans to grapple with suffering and mortality. In the poem’s last stanza, the poet spells out this relationship...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What archaic forms are present in "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
“Ode on a Grecian Urn” is written in a deliberately archaic style. Primarily, this is because Keats wants to draw attention to the age of the eponymous artifact, an urn from ancient Greece that is...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Voice and Audience in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" Explore who the voice of the poem is and whom it is addressed...
The speaker in the poem directly addresses the Grecian urn he is gazing at, calling the urn you "bride of quietness" and "foster-child of silence." The speaker also calls it a historian, because it...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Give a stanza-by-stanza explanation of Keats's "Ode on a Grecian Urn."
The poem consists of five stanzas that reach an emotional crescendo in stanza three then fall back again to a calmer state. In stanza one, the speaker addresses a Grecian urn, noting its quietness...
Ode on a Grecian Urn
What is the wedding theme in "Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
While different critics take varying views of the overall unity of Keats' text, the textually logical explanation of the different scenes that he describes is that all are different parts of the...
Showing 1-50 of 161