Time is an ever constant moving aspect of life. It can build one up and tear one down in an instance, for everything revolves around time. In John Keats’s ever famous poem “Ode On A Grecian Urn” Keats ponders over the immortal world painted on the structure and the changing one in which all humans live in. The structure that makes the poem is one of many characteristics, two being rhyme and meter. “Ode On A Grecian Urn” is dominantly iambic pentameter (with ten syllables per line and five feet) which gives the poem a nice flow. Each line begins with an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed. For each of the five stanzas- five feet per line with ten lines which contain ten syllables in five stanzas, what a coincidence- the first seven lines have a rhyme scheme of ababcde. The next three lines however vary with each stanza; the first stanza ends with dce, the second stanza ced, the third cde, the fourth cde, and finally the fifth dce. The second stanza seems to be the only stanza without a matching rhyme scheme; the first stanza has the fifth and the third has the fourth. This ‘lonesome’ stanza gives the poem a sense of imperfectness, just like the mortal life humans live in, whereas upon the urn life is ‘perfect’ and immortal. Along the lines of stanzas, no pun intended, the poem creates a circle. Since the first and last stanza have a matching rhyme scheme, the poem revolves and then comes back to the beginning with a whole new perspective. In the first stanza it is being accepted that the urn is beautiful yet mysterious and in the fifth stanza, after a closer look, it is realized that it is not as ‘perfect’ as Keats first believed. One possible interpretation of why Keats crafted the poem int... ... middle of paper ... ...Charles. "Passion and Permanence in Keats's Ode on a Grecian Urn." Twentieth Century Interpretations of Keats's Odes. Ed. Jack Stillinger. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. 48, 50. Print. -Wasserman, Earl. "Chapter Two: Discussions of Particular Poems "The Ode to a Grecian Urn"." Twentieth Century Views Keats A Collection of Critical Essays. Ed. Walter Jackson Bate. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1964. 119. Print. -Cummings, Michael. "Ode on a Grecian Urn: a Study Guide." Cummings Study Guides. N.p., 2012. Web. 27 Feb 2012. -zachsonn, . ""Ode on a Grecian Urn" Literary Analysis." Bookstove. N.p., October 13, 2010. Web. 27 Feb 2012. . -Hirst, Wolf. John Keats. New York: Twayne Publishers, 1981. 15, 16, 20.
John Keats’s illness caused him to write about his unfulfillment as a writer. In an analysis of Keats’s works, Cody Brotter states that Keats’s poems are “conscious of itself as the poem[s] of a poet.” The poems are written in the context of Keats tragically short and painful life. In his ...
...s fullest. The first stanza contains active imagery, while the second uses passive. The third stanza is expected to contain even more passive diction, but instead uses a mix of both active and passive. The active diction is used a little bit more. The diction in the third stanza is what makes this poem so great. If you add this proof to the first two, you get life slipping away as it progresses, with the individual being active even as he is dying. In other words, the person is enjoying his life as it slips into death?s hands, which is the theme of the poem.
”To Autumn” is an ode written by John Keats on the 19th of September 1819. While walking near Winchester along a river, Keats became inspired to write the poem. The Rest of his other odes were completed in the spring of 1819. John died on the 23rd of February 1921 at the age of 25, just a year after the release of “To Autumn”. However, throughout his life he inspired many poets, but most notably Percy Shelly. In mourning, he wrote the elegy “Adonais” for Keats.”To Autumn “is his final poem and many have said it is his best. Keats use of imagery takes the reader on an adventure through the scenes and sounds of autumn. He achieves this by his use language, imagery, tone and structure. This is also what creates the mood and consequently allows him to challenge the notion that music is usually associated with spring. Thus, in this essay I will show how he challenges this belief, by looking at his use of imagery, tone and form. In addition I will look at what his influences were and the context in which he wrote the poem.
Rovee, Christopher. "Trashing Keats." ELH: English Language History 74.4 (Winter 2008): 993-1022. Project MUSE. Web.
Keats’ poetry explores many issues and themes, accompanied by language and technique that clearly demonstrates the romantic era. His poems ‘Ode to a Nightingale’ and ‘Bright Star’ examine themes such as mortality and idealism of love. Mortality were common themes that were presented in these poems as Keats’ has used his imagination in order to touch each of the five senses. He also explores the idea that the nightingale’s song allows Keats to travel in a world of beauty. Keats draws from mythology and christianity to further develop these ideas. Keats’ wrote ‘Ode To A Nightingale’ as an immortal bird’s song that enabled him to escape reality and live only to admire the beauty of nature around him. ‘Bright Star’ also discusses the immortal as Keats shows a sense of yearning to be like a star in it’s steadfast abilities. The visual representation reveal these ideas as each image reflects Keats’ obsession with nature and how through this mindset he was able
The images of life and death is also repesented in Keats "Ode on a Grecian
For the first two lines in each stanza there is a verb then followed by a comma. The comma is needed at the beginning of these lines because it helps to emphasize the verb. Each one of the verbs are actions that are commonly used on a day to day basis. These lines also end with a semicolon. The semicolon makes it so when reading the poem the reader pauses only for a brief amount of time, not as long as it would be if it were a period. The pause has to be shorter for these lines because what the line says is not as essential to the poem as the lines that end with periods. Those lines, lines four and eight in the first stanza, take the concepts that are in the first two lines and bring them together. The first two lines and the fifth and sixth lines in each stanza follow the same pattern. As well as the third and fourth and seventh and eighth in each stanza. These lines also have a rhyming scheme. In line three there is an internal rhyme with the third or fourth word and the last in the line. The rhyme scheme is different in the last stanza. The seventh line does not have an internal line like the others. It also does not have a comma making the line, as well as the one following, seem less important. The other rhyme scheme that the poem has is that sixth line and the eighth line rhyme. The rhyming is so crucial in the poem because it adds a lighter feel to a poem that is actually very somber and
To commence, structure is the first thing to descry while comparing Gray’s “Elegy” to other poems. Gray indites in heroic quatrains, four line stanzas with an iambic pentameter. Iambic pentameter is the designation given to a line of verse that consists of five iambs. Iambs being one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed. His poems are akin to the structures of Shakespeare’s sonnets, which are customarily divided into three quatrains followed by a couplet. Gray’s poem follows a rhythmic pattern ABAB; Shakespeare’s pattern is conventionally ABAB CDCD EFEF GG. Sir Philip Sidney’s “Astrophil and Stella” follows the iambic structure of ABBA ABBA CDCD EE. John Donne indites in four line stanzas of iambic tetrameter rhyming ABBA CDDC. A quatrain in iambic tetrameter, rhyming is found in the second and fourth lines and often in the first and third.
The similar rhyme schemes of the two sonnets allow for clear organization of the speaker’s ideas and support these ideas through comparison and connection. Both poems use or essentially use a Shakespearean rhyme scheme to provide rhythm for their sonnets, while adding extra emphasis to the topics presented throughout them. Owen uses the rhyme scheme in a way to stress his description of the enraged scene of the battlefield, and to further the dehumanization of the soldiers at war. The simile used to compare the soldiers to “cattle”, is connected to the fast “rattle” of the rifles, furthering the image of the inhumane way the soldiers we killed (1,3). Owen alters the Shakespearean rhyme scheme in the eleventh line making a switch to create two lines in a row that rhyme, rather than alternating. This allows for a smooth transition in his description of the ritual that marks a soldier’s death. To draw attention to the tears “in their eyes”, which could be in the eyes of the dead soldier or of their brothers at war, they are connected to the “glimmer of good-byes”, to represent the quick mourning for the soldiers (10-11). The connection here is furthered with the use of enjambment at the end of the tenth line; with no grammatical separation, the thought smoothly transitions from one line to the other. On the other hand, Keats uses the exact Shakespearean rhyme
Wasserman, Earl R., and John Keats. "The Eve of St. Agnes." The Finer Tone: Keats' Major Poems . Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 1953. 84-137. Print.
John Keats’ belief in the beauty of potentiality is a main theme of him great “Ode on a Grecian Urn.” This idea appears in many of his other poems that precede this ode, such as “The Eve of St. Agnes,” but perhaps none of Keats’ other works devote such great effort to showcase this idea. The beauty of the Grecian Urn (likely multiple urns), and its strength as a symbol, is a masterful mechanism. Just about all facets of this poem focus on an unfulfilled outcome: but one that seems inevitably completed. Thus, while the result seems a foregone conclusion, Keats’ static world creates a litany of possible outcomes more beautiful than if any final resolution.
The second stanza of John Keats’s “Ode on a Grecian Urn” begins with the line, “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter.” With this line Keats is saying that while spoken word is important and beautiful, a picture is worth 1000 words. The first four lines of the stanza set the stage for the story of the Urn to be told, and there is a clear separation between the first four lines of the stanza and the last six. Keats makes this separation obvious with his rhyming scheme. The first four lines of the stanza go ABAB with B being an implied rhyme, and the last six lines go CDECED. Each line of the second stanza has ten syllables except the
John Keats was one of the greatest poets of the Romantic Era. He wrote poetry of great sensual beauty and had a unique passion for details. In his lifetime he was not recognized with the senior poets. He didn’t receive the respect he deserved. He didn’t fit into the respected group because of his age, nor in the younger group because he was neither a lord nor in the upper class. He was in the middle class and at that time people were treated differently because of their social status.
Similarly, in "Ode to Autumn" he looses himself in the loveliness of autumn. He lives wholly in the present and does not look back to the past or look forward into the future. In that state of mind, he asks:
...storal” (45, p.1848). The urn’s eternity only exists artistically and does not reflect human life because only the urn “shou remain” forever (47, p.1848). Keats contrasts the ephemeral nature of human life with the longevity of the urn. In last two lines, Keats declares, “beauty is truth, truth beauty” (29, p.1848) embodying both sides of his perspective. By establishing a relationship between beauty and truth, Keats acknowledges that like truth, the beauty of the Grecian urn is unchangeable and that the ability accept reality is beautiful.