Keats’ Style in “Ode on a Grecian Urn”
Divided into five ten-line stanzas, Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” begins with an introduction of an urn. The narrator in the poem describes the moments of emotions and experience captured and frozen on the urn. Keats’ style in “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” the rhyme scheme, the structure, and the figures of speech used, effectively reflects the emotional swings of the narrator and the contents of the poem.
The first stanza of "Ode on a Grecian Urn" begins with "Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness, / Thou foster-child of silence and slow time." (Lines 1-2) Words with a long syllable in these lines, such as the word "thou," creates a slow and steady rhythm. This steady rhythm reflects the initial calmness of the narrator as he begins to address the urn. The alliteration and assonance that appears in "Thou foster-child of silence and slow time" (Line 2) as well as other lines in the poem, helps bind the verses together and creates a lyrical tone. The rhythm then speeds up in lines 8-10, where the narrator asked a series of questions:
What leaf-fring’d legend haunts about thy shape
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loath?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
(Lines 5-10)
The anaphora used in these lines helps speed up the rhythm and reflect the heightening emotions of the narrator. One modification can be made to the poem by turning the questions into statements and removing the anaphora.
What men or gods are these? The maidens loath.
A mad pursuit. They struggle to escape.
The pipes and timbrels. A wild ecstasy.
However, with the questions turned into statements and the anaphora removed, the heightened emotions disappear. Without the questions and the anaphora, the passion of the narrator cannot be reflected.
The second stanza of the poem, like the first, begins slow and steady. The paradox in "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter" (Lines 11-12) emphasizes the power of the urn to freeze moments of experience, here the musical melodies, in time. Line 13 also begins with a stressed syllable: “Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear’d.” This is an instance in which the lines break away from its usual iambic pentameter. The stressed syllable on ‘not’ emphasized how the melodies on the urn appeals not to the ear but to emotions of the viewer. This stanza, like the first, also ends with a fast pace and heightened emotions created by the repetition of the word "never" and the exclamation in the end of line 20.
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
Thy song, no 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!
(Lines 15-20)
These lines are also an instance in which the lines break away from the usual rhyme scheme. The usual rhyme scheme of this poem is typical of the Keatsian Ode. Each ten-line stanza begins with one ABAB quatrain and ended with one CDECDE sestet. However, the rhyme scheme in these lines ended with a CDECED, rather than the usual CDECDE. These instances where the lines break free from the usual structure gives the poem a free and lyrical rhythm that reflects the emotions in the poem.
The heightened emotional state in the second stanza spills over into the third stanza; the repetition of the word "happy" reflects the intense emotions the narrator senses as he observes the images on the urn.
Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!
(Lines 21-25)
This repetition also emphasized the ability of the urn to immobilize the emotions in the images and allow its viewer to sense and experience these emotions. This emphasis would weaken if the repetition of “happy” was removed.
Ah, glad, delightful boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu;
And, joyful melodist, unwearied,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More delightful love! more good, happy love!
The emotional effect and the emphasis disappear, and the lyrical rhythm is disrupted.
The fourth stanza, in contrast to the third, use words and phrases such as "mysterious," "lowing," "peaceful," "emptied," "silent," and "desolate" to create a silent and calm atmosphere. The rhythm slows down, reflecting the narrator's emotional calmness as he wanders about the people and the imaginary town. The silence of the stanza reflects the silence the narrator felt upon his imagination of the desolated town.
Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead'st though that heifer lowing at the skiesw,
And all her silken flanks with gardlands drest?
What little town by river or sea shore,
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is empited of this folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy street for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.
(Lines 31-40)
The villagers of the town are frozen on their trip to the sacrifice and can never return to the town the narrator imagined that they came from. The town would remain desolated and silent as its citizens can never return.
Yet, this slow and silent tone disappears with the two exclamations that begin the fifth stanza: “O Attic shape! Fair attitude!” (Line 41) The rhythm speeds up, but not for long; the pace slows down again later in the stanza, where the lines are punctuated in a way that creates a series of pauses.
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say’st,
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,”—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
(Lines 44-50)
This slowing down in rhythm once again reflects the emotions of the narrator; the narrator calms down emotionally as the urn assures him of the unchanging future: the urn and its images will remain long after the narrator's death.
In conclusion, the poem is closely interwoven and carefully developed rhyme scheme creates a lyrical melody; its rhythm reflects the emotional swings of the narrator and the content of the poem; the figures of speech used contribute to the rhythm and the emphasis. Any changes to the syntax and the diction will only disrupt the rhythm and the emphasis carefully created by the poem's author, John Keats.
Jenny Chung