Kayla Stinson
Elaine Knight
English 1101
10 September 2013

One of England’s greatest poets, John Keats was a key element in the Romantic Movement. Known especially for his love of the country and sensuous descriptions of the beauty of nature, his poetry also resonated with deep philosophic questions. He published only fifty-four poems, in three slim volumes and a few magazines. Keats was born on the 31 of October 1795 in Moorgate, London, England. On the night of the 15 of April 1804 Keats father was seriously injured by his horse and died the next day. Keats mother died of tuberculosis in March of 1809. Keats died of tuberculosis on the 23 of February 1821 in Rome, Italy, and now rests in the Protestant Cemetery. Romanticism is an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe toward the end of the 18th century and in most areas was at its peak from the 1800’s to the 1850’s. Keats articulates a common Romantic belief that beauty is the path to truth. He finds his beauty in his poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn” in the characters, music, and setting. One way that Keats shows his beauty is through the characters in his poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. We know from the title this is an ode about a Grecian urn. The first four lines serve to present the urn first as a bride, then as a foster-child, then as a historian. Keats calls the urn an “unravish’d bride of quietness” because it has existed for centuries without undergoing any changes as it sits quietly on a shelf or table. The urn looks new and pure although it is very old. He also calls it a “foster-child of silence and time” because it is has been adopted by silence and time, parents who have conferred on the urn eternal stillness. It no longer exists in the original circumstances in which it was created. In addition, Keats refers to the urn as a “sylvan historian” because it records a pastoral scene from long ago. The urn is silent, but it is carved with designs that depict the “flowery” story. In the other words, the beauty of the urn is made long ago but is still pure and tells a powerful story. Keats also expresses his beauty throughout the music. Keats praises the silent music coming from the pipes and timbrels as far more pleasing than the audible music of real life, for the music from the urn is for the spirit. Keats then notes that the young man playing the pipe beneath trees must always remain an etched figure on the urn. He is fixed in time like the leaves on the tree. The piper who makes music will never grow tired, and his music will always be new. By virtue of the urn's silence, his songs are more beautiful because they are left to the imagination. Keats' "happy melodist" plays songs "forever new." The figures on the vase, thus frozen, are immune from discomfort. In conclusion what Keats is saying is that nothing will get old, everything will still be forever new.
Last, but not least, he expresses beauty within the setting. This constant juxtaposition and battle between the world of art and nature reaches a climax in the last stanza. Keats accuses the urn of being a “cold pastoral” (ln. 45). Pastoral imagery concerns nature and simple country life, so it’s an appropriate word in the context of images of peaceful towns, young lovers, and bright, green trees. Never will those “trees be bare” (ln.16). This means that the tree will always have its leaves. The branches of the trees never lose their leaves because the world of the urn never changes. On the urn in a little town there’s a priest, a cow, a green altar, and a crowd of people following behind in anticipation of the sacrifice. He comes up with a few guesses as to what the town looks like. It is either by a river, by a sea-shore, or on a mountain. If it’s on a mountain, he imagines a small fortress called a "citadel" must protect it. But there isn’t a great need to be defended, so the citadel is "peaceful." In conclusion there are a variety of settings that the poem takes place in.
In conclusion, the poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn” is mainly about how the author John Keats sees the pictures on the urn. The urn tells a very unique story and shows the beauty of it through its characters, music, and setting. The urn will forever live on and tell its story even when everyone has died.

Works Cited
Study Guide Prepared by Michael J. Cummings...© 2005
Mishra, Prashant. “A Deconstructive Stylistic Reading of Keats’ Ode on a Grecian Urn.” The Southeast Asian Journal of English Language Studies 17.2: 49-58. Web. 8 Apr. 2012
2012 Harry Tuttle
2013 Shmoop University, Inc.