When analyzing the poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn," I wondered what was trying to be said about the urn. The poem uses many of the elements. It uses a very formal diction, has a closed form, and it uses the images that are on the urn to describe what the urn looks like. The author, John Keats, uses formal diction when writing the poem. He uses many of the words from the old english language. Some examples are using "thou" instead of "the" or using "ye" instead of "you." The use of the old english makes the poem sound formal.
The poem is a fixed form. An ode is a long lyrical poem that is formal and serious. When writing about the urn it is a serious item because at one point someone's remains were inside it. When I read the poem I found there was a stanziac pattern. Each of the stanzas has a rhyme scheme. The author was trying to describe the urn. He was writing about the art that was on the urn. In the first stanza, he is wondering who these people are. Keats wrote, "What men or gods are these? What maidens loth" (8). He sees pipes being used, but no one can hear them. He writes, "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on" (11-12). In the last stanza he writes, "beauty is truth, truth beauty that is all ye know on earth, and all ye need to know" (49-50). The author perhaps believed that art is beautiful and that truth comes from the arts. This is one of the most talked about lines in the whole poem. This is what makes it special. We all have speculations about what it means, but the only one that does know is Keats himself.
The author uses some elements better than others. After I broke down the elements of the poem and tried to piece it back together and understand it, I thought that the images on the urn were trying to tell a story. The author was trying to show that even though you may not be here anymore as a person, you may be here by your choice of decoration that was on your urn.
