Analysis Of 'Ode On A Grecian Urn'

The Passage of Time

The passage of time preserves the past while altering the present and defining the future. In the poem ““Ode on a Grecian Urn”, John Keats analyzes the theme of the passage of time in by comparing the theme with the art depicted on the Grecian urn. Time is defined by what it is, what Time is in the Present, how it flows from one moment to the next, and how it alters the conditions of the environment, and how it alters the human body. Time is an omnipresent element, and, although it cannot be physically seen nor held, its influence is certainly noticed by humans today.

Time is an interesting element to many people. It can be defined simply, as a method to keep track of events, and it can be defined complexly. However,

Through its process of linking events together, especially in the system of past, present, and future, these events accumulatively form the whole as a whole. According to Callender, time is much more than a silent figure or process in the background. It is a system and a structure that collects events, groups them together, and holds together the world. When it comes to these two versions of the definition of time, I will start with Keats’s version in “Ode on a Grecian Urn .” Keats’s definition provides a touch of mystery to the element of time. David Collings states that the “poem thus introduces another thematic, at once parallel to consumer desire and distinct from it: the suspension of particular meaning, historical reference, or mythic import .” This signifies that Collings feels that Keats’s uses a desire or interest commonly known; the passage of time, eternity, and combines it with a mythical element gleamed from the urn. [T]he urn [defers] satisfaction precisely because it emerges from an aesthetic domain without specific content. It solicits, but does not answer, our inquiries; it excites us to knowledge but withholds what it promises . This was done in order to