This is a presentation done at St.Joseph's College, Trichy by a student of II M.A Eng. for a seminar. This is an outcome of his analysis upon an article by Stephen Hebron on KEATS' "ODE ON A GRECIAN URN"

1. by
S. Blesswin,
M.A Eng. [Shift-II],
St. Joseph’s College, Trichy.

2.  One of Keats’ five greatest odes
 Composed in the summer and autumn of 1819
 1st published in July, in a journal called Annals of the
Fine Arts
 Urns- to hold ashes in ancient Greece
 Keats knew Greek art from the British Museum
 Artist Benjamin Robert Haydon, his friend, took him
to see the marbles on March 1817.
 Greek sculptures- admired for their formal perfection
and ideal beauty.

3. Ode on a
Grecian
Urn
Foster-
child of
Silence and
slow time
Stasis
Desolation
Beauty is
Truth,
Truth
Beauty

4.  Ode to a Nightingale- immortality through the bird’s
effortless song.
 Ode on a Grecian Urn- immortality in the stillness and
silence of classical sculpture.
 Keats praises the urn- “Foster-child of silence and Slow
time”

5.  - standing still
 “Where are the places the urn depicts?”
 “Who are the people?”
 One scene- lover and maiden in a grove of trees & a
piper
 Another scene- a crowd on its way to a ritual sacrifice
and a ‘mysterious priest’ leading a heifer to an altar
 The trees- never lose their leaves
 The maiden & the lover- love will never fade; he will
never reach her

6.  A turning point- Keats imagine “little town by river or
sea shore”, emptied due to the sacrifice
 Empty streets- silence and still
 Silence- a kind of loss
 Stillness- a kind of desolation but not a formal
perfection

7.  Provide a relief from the feverous brain
 Related with Keats letter to his friend Benjamin Bailey
in November 1817
 “What the imagination seizes as Beauty must be truth”,
“whether it existed before or not…. The imagination
may be compared to Adam’s dream- he awoke and
found it truth” (Nov 22)

8.  To God Almighty.
 (To my dear classmates) for your patient listening.
 To the respected Professor