Themes in the Poetry of Keats Answers

The first step a reader should take to determine a theme in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is to

Read the passage from "Ode on a Grecian Urn."Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheardAre sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone

dictionodetonetopic

dictionlyricodetopic

Read the passage from "Ode on a Grecian Urn."And, happy melodist, unwearied,For ever piping songs for ever new; More happy love! more happy, happy love!For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,For ever panting, and for ever young

Read the passage from "Ode on a Grecian Urn."Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leaveThy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve;She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Read the passage from "Ode on a Grecian Urn."What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Read the passage from "Ode on a Grecian Urn."Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheardAre sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leaveThy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve;She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

Read the analysis of a theme from "Ode on a Grecian Urn."One theme in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is that art is an eternal and unchanging truth.Now, read the passage from Keats's poem "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles."So do these wonders a most dizzy pain,That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rudeWasting of old Time—with a billowy main—A sun—a shadow of a magnitude.

Read the passage from "Ode on a Grecian Urn."Who are these coming to the sacrifice?To what green altar, O mysterious priest,Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?What little town by river or sea shore,Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,Is emptied of this folk, this pious morn?And, little town, thy streets for evermoreWill silent be; and not a soul to tellWhy thou art desolate, can e'er return.