Savannah Gilman
Jernigan
English IV AP Literature AP
March 6, 2011
Ode to a Grecian Urn
In Keats’s poem, he uses the paintings across a Grecian Urn to illustrate how fleeting and yet how beautiful, mysterious, and yet sad life is for all. He begins by addressing the lovely bride of the picture whose story is essentially unfinished as she is perpetually silent, unable to escape her fate or share it. Yet, he states that the music frozen on their lips is more beautiful than any that has been realized, as theirs remains ever a mystery. But there is the fate that they will never be able to kiss, embrace, or enjoy the scene, as they are to be ever beautiful but never together. Keats believes that in this state of eternal beauty, happiness can be obtained as their love is always at its height. The events that surround the lovers will ever remain a mystery for they cannot let known their predicament. He concludes stating that the urn mocks humanity as it will outlast all mankind yet preserves the admirable attributes of the human race.
Keats uses the depictions upon the urn to reveal to humanity that while there is a certain grace in eternity, there is true beauty in the moments we live fully and take full advantage of. While the unspoken, the unknown, and the evergreen hold not only majesty but is unattainable, it need not be envied, but appreciated. Keats is trying to show that despite all of the beauty that this symbol of a Romanticized civilization encompasses, the more he studies it the more apparent it becomes that in life we should be fully conscious of our potential.
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