Themes in the Poetry of Keats Answers

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.

Read the excerpt from the poem "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles" by John Keats.Such dim-conceived glories of the brainBring round the heart an indescribable feud;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."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

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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!

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

Read the statement from a paper comparing Keats's poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" and "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles."While the message in "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is that art is an eternal and unchanging truth, the message in "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles" is that art changes over time.

Read the passage from "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.Now, read the passage from "Ozymandias," another poem from the Romantic period.And on the pedestal these words appear:"My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!"Nothing beside remains. Round the decayOf that colossal wreck, boundless and bareThe lone and level sands stretch far away.