irenegiacopello
Sapiens Sapiens
6 min. di lettura
Vota

Concetti Chiave

  • The poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" by Keats is composed of five stanzas, each depicting parts of an imaginary Grecian urn as a perfect art piece.
  • Keats personifies the urn, using metaphors like "unravished bride of quietness" and "Sylvian historian" to explore themes of timelessness and tranquility.
  • The second stanza contrasts real and imagined pleasure, suggesting that anticipation is superior and eternal, exemplified by lovers eternally on the verge of a kiss.
  • The third stanza highlights a contrast between fleeting physical passion and the eternal happiness portrayed by the urn, emphasizing the word "forever."
  • In the fifth stanza, the poet shifts from viewing the urn as perfect to recognizing it as a cold object, yet acknowledges its eternal beauty and truth.

Ode on a Grecian Urn is a poem made up by five stanzas. The whole poem deals with a Grecian Urn and its description as a perfect work of art. Every stanza describes a part of the Urn, its themes can be found in several urns in museum, but all of the themes together in one urn seem to exist only in Keats' imagination.

Indice

  1. Personificazione dell'urna
  2. Aspettative e realtà
  3. Passione e immortalità
  4. Melanconia e desolazione
  5. Dichotomia finale
  6. Stile e invocazioni

Personificazione dell'urna

In the whole poem, the author addresses personified elements of the urn: in the first stanza he addresses a natural landscape in spring, which symbolizes the rebirth of nature, which is now alive. The poet addresses the urn, which is personified, he is looking at it and naming the images carved on it. The poet uses three metaphors to address the urn: “unravished bride of quietness” in line 1, “foster child of silence and slow time” in line 2, which both belong to the semantic area of quietness, then “Sylvian historian” in line 3, which belongs to the semantic area of timelessness. From line 5 to 10 the poem introduces a world where men and Gods lived together, and the key words are “wild ecstasy”, which imply the passage to irrationality, feelings and imagination and also imply the feeling of sublime.

Aspettative e realtà

In the second stanza's first line the poet underlines the fact that the expectation of pleasure is far superior to pleasure itself, indeed he states “heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter”, he introduces men playing the bagpipe, and since the urn is still they will never stop, although the music is not perceived through the sense of hearing, but it goes directly into the spirit, as the poet claims “not to sensual ear, but, more endear'd, pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone”, indeed he imagines any music, since he doesn't hear it. The expectations are much better than the fulfilment, because the former are imaginary, and therefore not consumed, while the latter is real, and accordingly fleeting and ephemeral. The theme introduced is the difference between reality and imagination, which is also conveyed through the image of the lovers: the poet addresses a lover, who is immortalized before kissing a girl. This is symbolical, because in this way pleasure will never be fulfilled since the initial pleasure is lost once experienced, therefore being immortalized before kissing makes the moment perfect. Since they are immortalized at that time, they will love each other forever and she will remain beautiful.

Passione e immortalità

At the beginning of the third stanza the poet praises spring, seen as the perfect season, while at the end the poem deals with the physical passion experienced by the two lovers: human passion leaves men with an empty heart, because when one fulfills these passions, nothing stays to them. On the contrary the the unfulfilled passion of the Bold Lover's passion will stay forever. Physical sensation are indeed enjoyed only temporarily. In this stanza the words “happy” and “forever” are repeated six times, which emphasizes that the urn is eternal and provides prositivity.

Melanconia e desolazione

Everything seems to be perfect, but the fourth stanza introduces a sense of melancholy in order to prepare the reader for the final dichotomy. The setting is an empty town, because all of his citizens have gone to a religious celebration, everyone has gone to a pious mourning sacrifice, so the town is no longer inhabited and its desolation cannot provide any answer to the poet's questions.

Dichotomia finale

In the fifth stanza the poet's attitude towards the urn changes suddenly: at first it was perfect, it provided inspiration and sharpened the poet's imagination, while now he remembers that it is only a cold object, therefore the poem introduces a dichotomy, which will never find its solution. This is given through the statement “Cold Pastoral!” , which is also an example of negative capability, indeed the poet denies what he said before. Notwithstanding the poet states that when other generations will suffer, the urn will be a friend to them, because it doesn't matter if it's cold, since it is art, eternal and beautiful, immortal and divine. This is conveyed through the lines “When old age shall this generation waste, Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe”. The dichotomy is not solved even though the poet states that Beauty is truth and truth is beauty, because art is the only source of knowledge.

Stile e invocazioni

Stylistically speaking this poem is full of invocations to personified elements, archaisms, elevated and urging tone, repetitions and run on lines.

Domande da interrogazione

  1. Qual è il tema principale dell'"Ode on a Grecian Urn"?
  2. Il tema principale è la descrizione di un'urna greca come opera d'arte perfetta, esplorando la dicotomia tra realtà e immaginazione, e l'eternità dell'arte rispetto alla fugacità della vita.

  3. Come viene personificata l'urna nella prima strofa?
  4. L'urna è personificata attraverso metafore come "sposa intatta della quiete" e "figlia adottiva del silenzio e del tempo lento", che appartengono all'area semantica della quiete e della atemporalità.

  5. Qual è il significato della musica non udita nella seconda strofa?
  6. La musica non udita rappresenta l'idea che l'aspettativa del piacere è superiore al piacere stesso, poiché l'immaginazione non è consumata e rimane eterna, a differenza della realtà che è effimera.

  7. Quale contrasto viene introdotto nella quarta strofa?
  8. Nella quarta strofa viene introdotto un senso di malinconia con la descrizione di una città vuota, preparando il lettore alla dicotomia finale tra la perfezione dell'arte e la sua natura fredda e inanimata.

  9. Come si risolve la dicotomia tra bellezza e verità nella quinta strofa?
  10. La dicotomia non trova una soluzione definitiva, ma il poeta afferma che la bellezza è verità e la verità è bellezza, suggerendo che l'arte, eterna e divina, è l'unica fonte di conoscenza.

Domande e risposte

Hai bisogno di aiuto?
Chiedi alla community