The Eternal Truth

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Recommended: In ode on a gracian urn keats as an escapist

The dictionary defines eternity as something lasting forever; with no beginning and no ending. John Keats’ poem, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” juxtaposes the mind boggling idea of eternity and the urn, where everything remains unchanged, frozen in perpetuity. Through poetic devices, Keats is able to effectively draw attention to a desire to escape reality and seek repose in the ideal (Wigod 58). The poet makes effective use of metaphors, repetition, imagery and point of view in order to draw parallels to the urn, presenting it as a motif for aestheticism and the eternal beauty of art.
The first stanza is full of vivid imagery; descriptions of the urn itself. Comparing the urn to a “still unravish’d bride of quietness” serves two purposes; the scenery inscribed on the urn is forever unchanging, unravished, like a bride before consummation of her wedding (Patterson 48). The word “still” also suggests the motionless, silent nature of the urn; it is pure, untouched, perfection, similar to a bride (Bai). Keats crafted his poem in an articulate manner, using point of view to further deepen the poem’s meaning; in the first stanza, the speaker is standing apart from the urn, they are physically only gazing at it, connected only by what they see; a “sylvan historian” speaks from the past, telling of the “leaf-fring’d legend” of gods and mortals. The urn itself is silent, an inanimate object, however, it conveys a detailed account of life and beauty to the speaker. As would anyone, the speaker questions the urn’s depictions and thus Keats introduces the second stanza, where the point of view changes. Now, the speaker is not gazing at the urn from afar, rather engulfed in its beauty, imaginatively encompassed into the scene itself.
In the second...

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... most enjoy in life; warm, youthful, amorous love. These things must stay ever-changing and spontaneous, in order to retain their exclusive exuberance (Wigod 61). Passionate, youthful love belongs to real life, not art; although art can show “marble men and maidens”, life on the urn is still cold, motionless; art can only represent life, it merely scratches the surface when it comes to depicting warm, fluid life, filled with fervor.
Keats poem, “Ode on a Grecian Urn” reveals a flaw in the human condition; just like the speaker, humans want two impossible things; life, in its always changing, fullest form and the ability to permanently hold on to these special moments. However, after the speaker has viewed the urn from afar and at a more personal level, they subsequently realize that this seemingly ideal world is implicitly free of all imperfections (Paterson 53).

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