Ode on A Grecian Urn-John Keats-Long Answer-type Questions

   Ode On A Grecian Urn

 Long answer-type Questions (Word-limit:100-150) 

 Q1. Discuss the development of the theme of transience and permanence as discussed in the poem ‘Ode on the Grecian Urn’.

   Ans. In this poem, John Keats contrasts life to a work of art. Towards the end of the poem, the poet asserts the superiority of art over real life.

   The poet advocates the idea that life is always transient while the life depicted in a work of art is perfect and permanent.

   The poet happened to visit the British Museum, where he looked at the urn that is being discussed in the present poem. He was greatly excited to see the freshness and perfection in the carved images taken from the pastoral life of the people living in Tempe or the valleys of Arcady.

He saw some men or gods pursuing some maidens who were trying to escape from them. The poet calls it a mad pursuit. Then, the poet’s eyes fall on the musicians, who play upon their pipes and tumbrels. The poet is not able to hear the music. But he can imagine that they were lost in a wild ecstasy while playing upon their instruments.

All the images are so perfectly carved on the urn that the poet also enters into the state of imagination. He feels as if he were there one among the lovers and the pipers. We may say that the poet achieves the state of negative capability here. He has forgotten his own self and started enjoying the music and the passion of the lovers’ ‘mad pursuit’.

Thus the whole poem revolves around the theme of transience of life and permanence of a work of art.

The poet says that the passion of the lovers will never diminish. It will remain the same for centuries together till the urn remains undamaged in the British Museum. The trees on the urn will remain green forever and their leaves will never get dry due to the ravaging effect of time. The musicians will never get tired of playing upon their instruments like pipes and tumbrels. The lovers will never be able to kiss their beloveds. But the poet tries to console them by saying that their beloved will always remain young.

In this way, human generations will come and go. But the artistic carvings on the urn shall always be the source of joy and solace. They will always provide relief to us from the bitter realities of life.

But in real life, everything is in a state of flux. So nothing is constant and permanent. All the physical world on the earth is subject to decay and death. The urn is also a physical object. But its life is longer than that of human beings if it is kept safe and sound.

Finally, the poet gives a great message to all human beings. He advises us that the Truth is always a Beauty and Beauty is always Truth.

Q2. Keats is preoccupied with the imperfection of ordinary human experience and the perfection of art. Elaborate.

Ans. John Keats is really preoccupied with the theme of the imperfection of ordinary human experience and the perfection in a work of art in this poem.

The opening of this poem shows how Keats’ imagination was stirred (moved) to see the beautiful images carved on the outer sides of the urn. He was so much excited that he called the urn by different names in one breath.

But in reality, there were several images of ordinary human experiences were carved on the urn. To an ordinary human being, those carvings on the urn were just beautiful images. But John Keats was not an ordinary human being. He was endowed with the power of great romantic imagination that could transport him in the world of the work of art carved on the urn.

He found himself standing at a distance watching all the human experiences carved there on the urn. Now they were not just images. They became alive all of a sudden for the poet. He watched that the passionate lovers were pursuing the reluctant maidens. The musicians were playing upon their instruments. A lover was singing under a tree. A priest was leading a calf to the place of the altar to perform its sacrifice to please some deity. The people of the town were also going to watch the sacrifice.

All these scenes of ordinary human experiences carved on the urn were still fresh and young. The poet’s imagination made all these images look so true and beautiful that they were a source of great joy and relief to the poet’s heart.

A great work of art is always a source of joy for human beings. Human generations will come and go. Through the power of imagination, human beings would enter the world of art and get some relief from the bitter realities of life. After having some relaxation from their dull routine of life, they would resume their routine of life.

Thus a work of art if truly and perfectly depicted is always beautiful and permanent source of joy for human beings. But human experiences are never perfect. There always remains scope for more improvement. Human passions and human life do not continue for long. Everything on this earth is subject to decay and death.

Thus we may conclude that perfection can only be achieved in a work of art. Life experiences remain imperfect.