Theme Of Ode On A Grecian Urn By John Keats

The poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn," by John Keats, discusses art and the readers comprehension and understanding of the text. The theme that stands out in this work is the idea of the complex nature of art. Art is so special because while there is an image there, it is up to the audience to understand exactly what their looking at. This is why this poem is so appreciated. It is explaining one person’s interpretation of an art form from only their point of view. According to Charles Ngiewih, Keats believed classical Greek art was idealistic and successfully captured Greek values. This poem is divided into five ten-line stanzas. Each are composed of the narrator’s discussion on a series of designs on a Grecian urn. There is much emphasis on two …show more content…
If you look at a piece of art, while there is question on what it means, what you are seeing is usually what is there. When art is heard or explained there is more bias when it comes to personal interpretation. In the first stanza the urn is compared to an “unravished bride” (line 1) and this is done to establish that the urn exists in the narrator’s world, and it is presumably the real world. This world has the ability to be muted and is subject to change in time. Keats compares the urn to a “foster child” and indicates that it is abiding by “slow time,” and not the time of the narrators world. This is important because the urn’s figures, or interpretation there of, can be change although the urn itself cannot. This poem is a metaphor for the idea of art and …show more content…
Here, the poet draws from his own experiences in order to identify with life on the urn. In this stanza there is also a paradox when Keats discusses the sacrifice. This ceremony of killing is being performed on a “green altar”. (line 32) The town is desolate, silent, and he cannot pinpoint where the town is. This silence brings both pain and joy, a soul cannot tell us why the town is empty but am urn communicates this clearly. The narrator gives three possible locations for where it could be and uses “folk” (line 37) instead of people. “Folk” has connotations of original people, usually unknown origins, while people are individuals who formed a specific group. Keats is describing a permanent condition because the townsfolks “can ne’er return”. England and Keats’ surroundings are made up of many different people and this could be why he did not want to assume where these village people were from. By this point in the poem it is clear to the reader that the narrator is pulled into the world that the urn creates, and this causes the reader to be as