Ode On A Grecian Urn
Ode on a Grecian Urn
1.
In Stanza one, he talks to Urn as if it were a beautiful woman, looking youthful and pure even though it is pretty old, addressing it as “ unravish’d bride of quietness” (1). The author is saying that the urn has lived it’s life in quietness, (maybe a museum or Greek ruins), but still looks good (no major damage). When the poet says “ foster-child with silence and slow time” (2), he means that the urn has been adopted by silence and slow time, furthermore, it is really old and has been hidden away in some museum or someone’s house, but that was not it’s original circumstances. By “ Sylvan historian” (Line 3) he says that the urn tells a really good story, and by “ a flowery tale” he says the illustrations on the urn that were often bordered with patterns of flowers and leaves. In the last couples of lines “ What men or god are these? What maidens loth?” (Line 8), the women are being chased by lustful men against their will to have sex. It is further understood in “ What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?” the women are struggling to escape, but the men are set on having sex with them. In the last line we realize that the “pursuit” might just be a game, as he says “ What pipes and timbrels?” a serious chase would not have people playing instruments like “pipes and timbrels”. On a whole, it seems like everyone is happy and in a good mood.
In Stanza two, the poet has moved onto the other pictures in the urn. When he says “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard” (11) “Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;” (12), the pipe-player is playing a song, but the song is not able to be heard, because the urn does not make sounds, so the poet is left to infer how the song sounds. This song that he is imagining in his head is far better than anything he has heard with his ears. He then goes onto tell the urn to not play to his “ sensual” ear but more to the metaphorical ear of his “spirit”. The spiritual ear is more “endear’d and
1.
In Stanza one, he talks to Urn as if it were a beautiful woman, looking youthful and pure even though it is pretty old, addressing it as “ unravish’d bride of quietness” (1). The author is saying that the urn has lived it’s life in quietness, (maybe a museum or Greek ruins), but still looks good (no major damage). When the poet says “ foster-child with silence and slow time” (2), he means that the urn has been adopted by silence and slow time, furthermore, it is really old and has been hidden away in some museum or someone’s house, but that was not it’s original circumstances. By “ Sylvan historian” (Line 3) he says that the urn tells a really good story, and by “ a flowery tale” he says the illustrations on the urn that were often bordered with patterns of flowers and leaves. In the last couples of lines “ What men or god are these? What maidens loth?” (Line 8), the women are being chased by lustful men against their will to have sex. It is further understood in “ What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?” the women are struggling to escape, but the men are set on having sex with them. In the last line we realize that the “pursuit” might just be a game, as he says “ What pipes and timbrels?” a serious chase would not have people playing instruments like “pipes and timbrels”. On a whole, it seems like everyone is happy and in a good mood.
In Stanza two, the poet has moved onto the other pictures in the urn. When he says “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard” (11) “Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;” (12), the pipe-player is playing a song, but the song is not able to be heard, because the urn does not make sounds, so the poet is left to infer how the song sounds. This song that he is imagining in his head is far better than anything he has heard with his ears. He then goes onto tell the urn to not play to his “ sensual” ear but more to the metaphorical ear of his “spirit”. The spiritual ear is more “endear’d and