Ode on a Grecian Urn Essay

European Romanticism dates back to the second half of the eighteenth century. One of the finest poets of this movement is remarkably talented John Keats.

The work under consideration is his Ode on a Grecian Urn, considered to be the third of the five odes written by the author. The ideas of Romanticism are clearly rendered in the poem, Keats reflects his profound interest in the past, admires the beauty of art and touches upon the issue of mortality. The ideas of immortality are skillfully and deeply explicated into this ode. John Keats discusses things frozen in a state of perfection, such as the urn. He shows interest in the past as the urn dates back to ancient Greek times. The poem is multiplayer and one has to find out the underlying meanings of words and phrases, discover the real mood of its author. Keats tells about happy love, happy boughs, sweet melodies, lovers, etc.

The ode is a bright example of how philosophy and literature are interdependent, how one sphere can explain, clarify the other. Keats’ Ode on a Grecian Urn is famous for many of its lines and the poet is often quoted. By far the deepest lines of the poem are: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty, – that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know” (Keats 49-50). Keats shows his profound interest in art and expresses it with tangible emotion and creates bright images of the people who are no longer alive telling the legend, but art is immortal, it outlasts the creator.

John Keats’ Ode on a Grecian Urn is rather controversial and is considered to be among the most zealously discussed works in literature, possessing unique features of Romanticism such as interest in the past, art and immortality issue discussion. It continues to awake interest and surprise readers with its hidden deep philosophical sense.