Keats

John Keats Life: -His father and his mother died when he was young, he was aware of death. -He went to study Medicine to contrast death, but soon abandoned a medical career for literature, his true passion. -He write a book about searching for ideal female love...but he showed signs of tuberculosis and so he couldn't marry his love. -He has cult of beauty. -His first poems were badly reviewed by critics. -He fell in love with Fanny Brawne, but he can't marry her. -This illness and all the sad things of his life are the cause of the presence of death in his poetry. -He went to Italy, owing to the weather conditions, he died in Rome in 1821. Keats produced a series of masterpieces and the most important one was ode on a Grecian urn The cult of beauty Keats developed an early admiration for the art of ancient Greece. “Ode on a Grecian Urn” represents a glorious paradox as far as Romantic poetry goes...in fact he didn't touch none of the typical Romantic Theme(like external nature, life of ordinary people, supernatural, exotic tales of love and adventure)...but it deals with only one thing: man's longing for permanence in time, so he gave great importance to Greek art because it is the symbol of man's longing desire for permanence... art is the only way to freeze time. He describes the urn as “cold”(because obviously being of marble it is cold), but it is Keats' imagination that brings life to the vase, which makes it live again. It is only in our imagination that we can find perfection, but that perfection cannot be reached through the physical sense. Keats thought that truth and beauty are the same thing: Beauty is truth, truth beauty...so he believes in the close union of beauty and truth Style: His search for beauty finds expressions in melodic verses, and in a language which is sensuous and hypnotic. He looks at his object so closely that he seems to go away from reality, as a sense of separation from the thing, he defines this ability as “negative capability” What is negative capability? Keats thought that truth can be find only in art...and art hasn't to solving problems but to explore them. Ode to a Grecian Urn. Introduction → the ode is divided in three parts: introduction, main subject and conclusion; the urn is not described as a common object in fact, Keats is able to analyze it in its deep meaning through his imagination. He celebrates the beautiful scenes which adorn an ancient Greek urn. It describes also to the fact that it ideals with the themes of life and death, and their relation to art. Ode on a Grecian urn” is a reflection on the contrast between the perfection of the world of art and the short comings and sufferings of real life First stanza. Thou still unravished bride of quietness, Thou foster child of silence and slow time, Sylvan historian, who canst thus express

Keats says that the urn is bride of quietness(It gives sense of tranquility), foster child of silence and historian sylvan. The poet addresses the urn

as if it was alive and he calls it “Sylvan historian”This features have sense only if we consider the use of imagination. Unravish’d bride of quietness, foster-child of silence,Sylvan historian are metaphors . It talks about “slow time” because it is a different time, respect that of reality. Forster child because she is taken from the silence. foster because her mother is unravished(vergine). He also describes the urn as a “historian” that can tell a story. A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme: It tells or scenes of love which will remain What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape forever frozen in the urn. In fact, while human Of deities or mortals, or of both, beings and their PHYSICAL BEAUTY decay, these images and their beauty will remain eternal. As regards natural elements, we can find: “Sylvan” on line 3, “flowery” on line 4, “leaf” on line 5 and “dales of Arcady” on line 7. 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?

Finally Keats wonders about the place where the action is developing and then he wonders if the characters are humans or Gods. He wonders about the figures on the side of the urn and asks what legend they describes and from where they come. The poet underline the difference between a God and a man: god is not mortal. He looks at a picture that seems to describe a group of men looking a group of women and wonders what their story could be: “What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? / What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?(Wild ecstasy is an oxymoron...

Stanza 2:Some musicians are playing pipes and timbrels, and a young man is near kissing a girl. Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; Not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared, Pipe to the spirit dities of no tone.

First Keats states that unheard melodies are sweeter than the heard ones and then he says that this melody has a great effect only in the world of imagination. Keats says that the action will go on forever in fact it is curved in the stone so through imagination it will develop in thousands different ways. The action is frozen and characters will always be the same. this time of a young man playing a pipe. Imagination is more vital, more sweet than reality

Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare; Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss,

“Beneath the trees” because the young man is singing among the trees... “never canst thou kiss” refers to the sense of TOUCH

he can never kiss his lover because he is frozen in time.

Here is the first key point of Keats vision of art: it is the only way to freeze time and emotions can be contemplated every time we want, in fact the boy is unable to reach and kiss the girl. Though winning near the goal---yet, do not “she cannot fade” “she be fair” and “fair” refer grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not to SIGHT. All these actions, however, are related thy bliss Forever wilt thou love, and she be fair! to ETERNITY, since they will never be completed.

Third stanza:An eternal spring. Keats talks about the positive side of the urn: the images, the characters and the leaves of the tree too will always be happy in fact they'll never change and it will always be Spring ( there will be no bad moment for everything that is carved in the marble). Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed happy’ and ‘for ever’ are repeated several times Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu; in order to highlight the eternal positive And, happy melodist, unweari-ed, character of the urn. Forever piping songs forever new; he looks at the trees surrounding the lovers and feels happy that they will never lose their leaves. He is happy for More happy love! more happy, happy love! the piper because his songs will be “for ever new,” More happy love! more happy, happy love! Forever warm and still to be enjoyed, Forever panting, and forever young; All breathing human passion far above,

happy that the love of the boy and the girl will last forever, unlike mortal love, which lapses into “breathing human passion” and eventually vanishes

That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloyed, In this two lines, the poet loses his “negative A burning forehead, and a parching tongue. capability” and he explains his feelings: he fells sadness for his own life and passionate love.But in the last two lines, Keats focuses on REAL love and he states that it isn't always a good emotion in fact it may cause sorrow, headache and a parching tongue. → here there is a contrast between the young lover on the urn and Keats. Forth stanza: Here Keats is observing the scene of the sacrifice in the wood: there is a priest and everybody is following him into the forest on that religious day...it is a sacred moment. 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 dressed?

the speaker examines another picture on the urn, this one of a group of villagers leading a heifer to be sacrificed. He wonders where they are going (“To what green altar, O mysterious priest...”) and from where they have come.

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 evermore Will silent be; and not a soul to tell Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.

Everyone has left his town silent and desolate. Which town? We don't know. The small town if far away and we can only image its silence. The source of vitality is the pious procession. The silent urn has given endless life to a trasitory event. There is the contrast between city and

wood: in wood there is a lot of people...and also the contrast between silence and talking. Then the poet wonders about how is the city of the scene: we don't know its name but the poet states that it will always be empty in fact everybody is in the wood and the city is carved during the religious moment. Fifth stanza: The poet addresses directly the urn which is perceived as an eternal object irst the poet states that the urn comes from the Greek world of art; then he states that the struggle for immortality and eternity is an obsession for men...we get crazy because we know we are subjected to the passing of time and because we can't avoid dying. O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede Of marble men and maidens overwrought, With forest branches and the trodden weed; Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought As doth eternity. Cold Pastoral!

the poet returns from his journey of imagination to real life; now he considers the urn as an object and not as a witness from the past; its beauty can help man to accept his difficult life.

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 the poet sums up the result of his experience Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know. with an aesthetic consideration; it starts with the contrast between the urn and mankind and ends with the poet’s concept of art and imagination. Finally Keats states that beauty is truth, truth beauty ….Keats is a realist and he states that we don't know from where beauty comes..we can only accept it as a divine gift. Beauty is truth, truth beauty.” The speaker says that that is the only thing the urn knows and the only thing it needs to know. This is the secondo key point...i.e his conception of “beauty”

The sentence about beauty is related to the Greek world that identified beauty with truth and source of knowledge. This sentence has various interpretations: 1. art brings serenity as truth → art is truth 2. truth and beauty bring to knowledge 3. only through beauty we can achieve truth 4. beauty and truth will last for ever 5. beauty and truth are everlasting and they give consolation to mankind

la visione di bellezza di keats è abbastanza complessa, infatti pensa che sia l'equivalente della verità: tutte e due portano alla vera conoscenza e essendo sempre le stesse ( sia la verità sia la bellezza non sono sottoposte allo scorrere del tempo ) sono un punto di riferimento per l'uomo...sono fonte di stabilità, sicurezza e serenità. On the surface of the urn 1st stanza An Arcadian landscape. unravish’d bride of quietness. 2nd stanza Some musicians are playing pipes and timbrels, and a young man is near kissing a girl. 3rd stanza An eternal spring. 4th stanza A priest is leading a heifer to the sacrifice, and is followed by a religious procession taking place in the countryside since the poet imagines a town emptied of its people. 5th stanza The poet addresses directly the urn which is perceived as an eternal object.