John Keats

Paper Summary:

This paper explains that one of the central aspects of the Romantic poets, particularly John Keats, is the belief in the supreme power of the imagination, which is important not only to "Ode on a Grecian Urn" but also to all of his work. The author points out that "Ode on a Grecian Urn" represents and emphasizes a sense of both permanency, the mutability and the changing nature of ordinary human life and the inevitable march towards certain death. The paper relates that the last two lines of the poem are famous in their succinct summation of the entire meaning of the poem: All we know or need to know, they suggest, is the beauty of art. Many quotations.

From the Paper:

"The "Urn" became a symbol of eternity and an ideal reality, which "teases us" and creates an inner tension as we compare the ideal world of the "Urn" to the pain and suffering of ordinary life. The "Urn" then becomes a "Cold Pastoral"; an object that awakens us sharply to the tragedy of our own mortality. The third stanza emphasizes the happiness and joy in the never-ending activity of the figures on the "Urn". The poem emphasizes the main theme again in that the "Urn" figures act as a direct comparison to the change and mutability of ordinary life."

More papers on John Keats:

• Book Review # 69111 : "John Keats' Poems"
• Descriptive Essay # 115057 : "John Keats: The Contradictory Forces of Love"
• Poem Review # 107301 : "John Keats' "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer"
• Analytical Essay # 52827 : "John Keats"

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