John Keats and Stanza 1 of “Ode on a Grecian Urn” Elliott (Too Tall) Long

John Keats His dad died at age 8 and mom died at 14 of TB and was then taken out of school to be a surgeon apprentice. He began writing poetry at age 18. In 1817, Keats qualified to be a surgeon but quit so he could write poetry, which did not gain him instant success.

Keats cont’d In 1818, Keats began having health problems (TB), which killed his brother that same year. After his brother died, he moved in with his friend and got engaged to the neighbor, Fanny Brawne, but he died in Rome before they could get married.

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” stanza 1 1)Thou still unravish’d bride of quietness, 2)thou forster-child of silence and slow time, 3)Sylvian historian, who canst thus express 4)a flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: 5)What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape 6)of deities or mortals, or of both, 7)in Tempe or the dales of Arcady? 8)What men or gods are these? What maidens loath? 9)What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? 10)What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

Meaning The author is talking to a urn, which is a vase that holds ashes of cremated dead people. He refers to this urn as the “unravish’d bride of quietness” in line one, the “foster-child of silence and slow time” in line two, and as a “Sylvan historian” in line three. Sylvan in line 3 pertains to trees or woods. He is saying that, like a historian, the vase has a story to tell in line four when he says, “A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme.” In lines 5-7, he asks the vase what kind of “legend” it is trying to tell depicted by its shape. In line 7, the reference to Tempe and Arcady refers to two places in Greece, Tempe being a beautiful valley and Arcady being a mountainous region. In lines 8-10, he addresses the men on the vase, asking “what men or gods are these?” He sees they are chasing women in line 8, and asks in line 9 “What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape.” He is saying why are these men chasing these women?

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