Investigate Selected poems by John Keats
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Refers to links on www.crossref-it.info
Investigating commentary on Ode
on a Grecian Urn
http://crossref-it.info/textguide/johnkeats-selected-poems/40/2975
 How does knowing about Keats’
literary/artistic background help you
understand the poem?
http://crossref-it.info/textguide/johnkeats-selected-poems/40/2975
 What impact do the nature and range
of cultural references have on you?
 After reading Keats’ other Odes,
compare this poem with them and create
a table listing:
 The similarities
 The differences.
Investigating language and tone in
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Ode on a Grecian Urn
Investigate Selected poems by John Keats
 In what way does knowledge of the
biographical context of Keats’ life help to
illuminate this poem?
©2016 crossref-it.info
 The urn was created at a specific
moment in time – but in this poem it
seems to be beyond the reach of time
and to abide in an eternity of beauty.
Note in two columns how Keats uses
language to suggest both a) the
specificity and b) the timelessness of the
urn?
 What do you notice about the verb
tenses he employs?
 What is the effect of repetition in the
poem?
 There are several invocations and
exclamations in the poem. How do they
affect its tone?
 What examples can you find of
ambiguity in the poem?
 What does the uncertainty of
meaning add to the poem’s overall
effect?
Investigating structure and
versification in Ode on a Grecian
Urn
 Central to the poem’s structure is the
contrast between life and art. Explain
how the shape of the poem helps to
shape the reader’s responses to these
two concepts.
 Do you agree that both the structure
of the poem and its versification draw
attention to themselves?
 Does Keats intend to give the
impression that his poem has been
as artfully constructed as the urn
about which he is writing?
 How do structure and versification
contribute to the poem’s formal tone?
Investigating imagery and
symbolism in Ode on a Grecian
Urn
 Some readers have suggested that the
urn symbolises both the beauty of
perfection on the one hand – and cold
sterility on the other. Do you agree
with this assessment?
 Analyse the effect of the images Keats
uses to convey the story of each scene
on the urn.
 Do the images suggest that art is good
and that life is bad – or is their effect
more complex than this?
 Investigate the opening image of the
urn as a ‘bride’. What variety of
associations does this word have?
 Is Keats exploiting both the idea of
fruitfulness and the possible
sterility of non-consummation?
Investigating themes in Ode on a
Grecian Urn
 How does the urn reflect Keats’
longing for permanence in a world of
change?
 What does this poem suggest about
the role of art?
 What evidence is there that, in Ode to
a Grecian Urn, Keats is meditating on
what happens when one creative
imagination interacts with another?
 How does the poem treat the theme of
time?
 In what ways does the urn link
Keats’ present with the classical
past?