An analysis of Keats’ ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn
In 1819, as part of a series of Odes, John Keats wrote the poem ‘Ode to a Grecian Urn’. It has sparked debate ever since about the true meaning and intentions of the poem, particular the line where the Urn appears to speak to the narrator, which states:
"'Beauty is truth: truth beauty,'—that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
One of his contempories at the time stated: "Until [Keats] knows much more than this, he will never write verses fit to live. T.S. Eliot called it a " serious blemish on a beautiful poem." Others, however, have rallied to the defense of Keats. So what is going on here? Is this just a vague statement, or is there a much deeper meaning to it all. Lets look at the poem line by line, to see how we get to such a contentious conundrum:
"Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:"
The first line has the speaker address the Urn as an "unravished bride," a reference to its shape, and its completeness. It is as if the speaker would like to set their hands on the Urn, but can't. There is a desire in their voice. Unperturbed, they try another line of attack on the next line: "foster-child of silence and slow time" They notice the Urn exists in the present because it has escaped violence or damage for a long period of time. Notice the use of 'quietness' and 'silence.' So far it is clear that the narrator would like to control this inanimate object, to probe the object to reveal more about its contents in the next two lines. The narrator descibes the Urn as a Sylvan historian. The word Sylvan has the meaning 'of nature,' meaning that it is detached from the bias of human history telling. The apostrophising allows Keats to build up a picture of both the Urn and the speaker. The speaker concedes for a moment that the Urn's ability to tell its story through pictures may give it an advantage over mere words. They then start to question the Urn:
"What leaf-fring‘d legend haunts about thy shape Of deities or mortals, or of both, In Tempe or the dales of Arcady? What men or gods are these? What maidens loth? What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?"
The first line depicts the ornate border to the images on the Urn. What stories does it hold? The setting in 'Tempe or the dales of Arcady' refer to places within ancient Greece. But these people, and their gods, are new to the speaker. The speaker is looking to understand what can be gleaned about their culture, their art, their life from the piece. There is some hunting chase perhaps on the Urn, a piper playing, and a love scene. This inquisition in the first stanza takes in the Urn as a whole: an expert casting an overview of this exquisite piece of art, how well preserved it is, how beautifully made; and wondering what stories it has to tell on its surface.
"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d, Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:"
The narrator zooms in on the image of a piper. Here again, Keats accentuates the silence of the piece: refering to the 'unheard melodies' and 'spirit ditties of no tone'. Being 'sweeter,' these are teasing the narrator as to the nature of the sound—of more interest to the narrator than the sound itself.
"Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare; Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss, Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve, She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!
The narrator describes the rest of the image: the piper seems to be courting a lady for love. The speaker addresses the lover, realising that he will never reach her, but not to worry, for 'she cannot fade' and he will forever love 'and she be fair'. Even the leaves on the tree shall remain forever. This suspension of a moment of joy or 'wild ecstacy' perhaps, is to the speaker more than compensation for attaining the goal. This is a key part of Keats' message, these lovers are effectively suspended in perpetual thrill of the chase for all time:
"Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu; and, happy melodist, unwearied, for ever piping songs for ever new; more happy love! more happy, happy love! for ever warm and still to be enjoy’d, for ever panting, and for ever young; all breathing human passion far above, that leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy’d, a burning forehead, and a parching tongue."
The word 'happy' here is repeated no less than 6 times, as is the word 'ever' (5 times as for ever). The repetition represents the narrator's bewitchment at the joy of the scene. The narrator begins to lament the fact that their own passion, youth, and happiness will diminish while this couple's has effectively been immortalised by the urn. There is also a reference I believe here to the repetitive nature of this scene being viewed many times over the years it has remained untouched, and all the other people who would have been affected by it as well; the narrator is far from the first person to view this piece. Next up he moves to another scene:
"Who are these coming to the sacrifice? To what green altar, O mysterious priest, lead’st thou that heifer lowing at the skies, and all her silken flanks with garlands drest?"
The narrator now zooms in on another scene depicted on the urn. Here a ceremony seems to be about to take place. A procession is being led to the sacrifice of a cow. The speaker wants to know more. Who are these people, lead by a 'mysterious priest. Keats focuses again on that suspension in time. 'To what green altar' wonders the narrator, are these people going to. This theme is followed up in the second half of the stanza:
"What little town by river or sea shore, or mountain-built with peaceful citadel, is emptied of this folk, this pious morn? And, little town, thy streets for evermore will silent be; and not a soul to tell why thou art desolate, can e’er return."
'What little town' have these people come from, asks the narrator. Keats then plays a trick with the next lines, with the speaker noting that the town is "emptied of this folk" "evermore". Not only are the villagers suspended between the village and the altar, but of course the civilisation has long gone, without us knowing 'why thou art desolate'. Notice again the 'silent' streets here. The speaker is beginning to realise the limit of what this piece can tell him. These are 'happy' scenes, worthy of being celebrated in art, but where is the mundane village life, and the unfortunate circumstances that led to their downfall?
O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede of marble men and maidens overwrought, with forest branches and the trodden weed; Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!"
The next stanza see the speaker zoom out again to the urn overall. The reference to shape is perhaps the speaker looking around the urn for those questions he could not get the answers to in the last stanza. They start to see that they have been overthinking what this urn could tell them. The reference to 'overwrought' maidens aludes to this. Then he peels back the veneer of these decorations—seeing the 'forest branches and the trodden weed' The narrator snaps out of his flow, as he realises that the Urn can never answer these questions: it is silent. He realises the Urn can "tease out of thought," then adds on the next line "as eternity: cold pastoral." By calling the Urn cold pastoral, he is referencing the fact that all of the society depicted are long dead. The Urn itself is cold (and distant in time to the narrator). There is also a reference to eternity here as a cold pastoral. What can he mean by this? Over the expanse of time, does much really change? We are alive for just a fraction of time; like space, could we consider the majority of time to be cold and dark?
"When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st, "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."
He then starts to conclude the poem by saying that the Urn will stand "in the midst of some other woe" long after he and his contemporaries are dead, as a "friend to man." This is key, as he already fixes the 'woe' of life: perhaps death, disease, war; these are constants in all societies. Even with our advancements in medicine, and a relatively stable western society, we have recently had the effects from COVID, and the war in Ukraine. There has been death, and normal life has suffered. Worldwide, there is always conflict, disease, suffering, poverty, and death. Keats understood this, he witnessed death and tragedy in both his own family, and within the wider society. So what does the Urn say? The next line is the most famous (and controversial) line of the Ode: "beauty is truth: truth beauty". Keats holds up a mirror to the Urn and in doing so I believe breaks the fourth wall. The Urn becomes a metaphor for the poem, and for Keats speaking himself. If we assume that woe is fixed in all generations, then what separates us, what makes us unique? The beauty of our art, that is the truth. This art can only be made by the living, so it speaks for a small fraction of time when there is hope and happiness (we already know that there is a lot of pain and tragedy) in the living world. The Urn speaks here for some distant society, and becomes all that we know of that society other than when they lived and died. Think of the tombs of Egypt, or pottery finds at archaeological digs: it is the art that tells us about the society, it becomes the 'truth' that they had wanted us to see. And as Keats concludes, it wants us to see "that is all ye know on Earth, and all ye need to know." We know about the pain of living, but what is preserved in art is the beauty of living within a particular society. In the poem this is what the creator of the sculpture wants the narrator to see. And while those depicted are long gone, we are able to reflect on the beauty of living: both to appreciate the art, but also to appreciate the transience of life and the fact that our time in the present is when we get to enjoy those fleeting moments of true beauty. So what does this have to do with the lottery? Well, I believe that there is a second truth alluded to in this piece. When we purchase a ticket to the lottery, we know the chances of winning are infinitesimally small. However, what we are really buying is the dream of winning. The possibility that we can pay off our debts, buy a house outright, or a yacht, or a plane—or all of them. We can go on a vacation around the world, tick everything off our bucket list, money is no object… It is a dream that may or may not be achieved, but the thrill is in the fact it may happen. This of course, is temporary: the draw passes and you either lose or, if you are really lucky, you can win a free ticket! But if you were to continue to be in the draw, then this feeling can be sustained. Of course, what I am describing here is what gambling houses have known for centuries; and is why gambling is so dangerously addictive. But let's think, is this not the same feeling as the man chasing the lady on the Urn? Maybe they will work out together, maybe not. Or the sacrifice being made, perhaps it will bring good luck? And what of art or written work? Does this not transport us to some other world, to 'tease us out of thought'. Many of his contemporaries at the time felt that the purpose of life was to suffer, so this distraction from life's misery, if you were to permanently involve yourself within it, would create another truth, one that in Keats' case is more beautiful than the reality surrounding it. This is an argument that I believe some of his critics took exception to. But it can be true, though the 'truth' may not only be beauty, but whatever world you surround yourself in. You only need to look at the perils of echo chambers on social media, or within a nation with strictly controlled media exposure, to realise how the 'truth' that people experience can be manipulated by their surroundings. But Keats' truth is a self-perpetuated one. He chose to focus on the beauty of things. He chose to write, giving up a gruelling, but financially secure career to focus on his work. In doing so, he ended up broke—perhaps contributing to his early death. But in this piece, which speaks about the near-immortality of art, Keats' has used his mindset to create a truth that symbolises his name with the beauty of art (and in others, of nature). His poems stand like a beautiful Urn that will ensure he is remembered 'in the midst of some other woe' long after the rest of us have departed. But, unlike the Urn, his words are alive with us. They are discussed, argued over; they live within us. He has proved that a driven mindset can create a truth, a self-fulfilling prophecy, and that is an incredibly powerful statement. It is a mindset that perhaps we would all benefit from employing.
Prontobard - 2023
The full poem can be found here.