Time And An "Ode To A Grecian Urn"

In Keats's "Ode to a Grecian Urn" Keats's speaker reflects on the awe-inspiring beauty depicted on the Grecian Urn. At first delighting in the timelessness of the scene, Keats's speaker becomes frustrated. The frozen-in-time figures on the Grecian Urn are a big tease.

At first, the poem's speaker is enchanted by the beauty of the scenes depicted on the Grecian Urn. Here time is frozen into eternal spring and youth, unheard melodies, and passionate love, and Keats's speaker is delighted. Reflections on the "fair youth" (Keats 15) seem to draw the poem's speaker into a joyful, youthful state, with his whole life ahead of him, a surreal state that can only be fully appreciated in the later years of life. Other declarations like "bold lover" (Keats 17) seem to indicate the joy and wonder of being in love, being in an exciting and passionate relationship. "Happy boughs" (Keats 21) show growth and life in the scene; it also shows a deep connection with those around it. The phrase "little town .. / .. with peaceful citadel" (Keats 35-36) seems to recognize the ideal of comfort and joy, utter contentment without a worry. In the world of the urn, beauty cannot die, nor love wilt. The trees are never bare, and spring is eternal. On the urn, love and beauty are forever.

But after reflecting on the urn's images, Keats's speaker cools to the scene. The Grecian Urn teases him because, unlike the Urn with its pretty little town and pretty inhabitants who will never change, the poet will get old, and the world will continue to suffer "other woe" (Keats 47). It also means that the poem's speaker's unanswered questions about the "empty town" (Keats 40) will never be answered. "Piping songs for ever new" (Keats 24) suggests a piper whose joyous melody will forever be just outside the grasp of the poem's