Ode on a Grecian Urn - John Keats - Escaping the realities of time through immortality

Extract

[...] While a figure on an urn can never fully achieve and follow through with his or her actions, there is beauty and romance in the idea of being forever trapped in time. The depictions described by Keats do not fall victim to human ills and must never suffer—they have achieved immortality and will never be frustrated by human affairs. Works Cited Keats, John. "Ode on a Grecian Urn." Poetical Works Ed. Steven van Leeuwen. Dec.1995. Columbia U Jan. 1997. [...]

[...] Because these figures are forever frozen in time, he can never know the answer to these questions with any certainty. Despite this obvious difficulty, the depictions will exist outside of time, and people from all generations will be able to elicit the urn's meaning on their own terms. Unlike these generations that will perish one after the next, the urn and its mysterious depictions will live on forever frozen in time. In the next two stanzas, the speakers probes more deeply and asks questions regarding the scene in which a piper and a beautiful woman are represented. [...]

[...] Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats and Escaping the Realities of Time through Immortality When we analyze human affairs and relationships, there is a constraint that we understand all too well: time. Regardless of the significance of the action that is taking place, without a doubt, it all eventually comes to an end. In his poem on a Grecian John Keats escapes this constraint and analyzes the depictions on a Grecian urn outside the parameters of time. As the speaker in the poem moves from one scene to the next, he cannot resolve the apparent paradoxes that arise, and he is somewhat frustrated by the inability of the images to move forward in time. [...]

[...] For this reason, the speaker states: “Though winning near the goal—yet, do not grieve;/She cannot fade, though thou hast not they bliss,/For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair (Keats 18-20). The speaker tells the figure not to grieve because, although he has not yet achieved his and has not been able to fully take advantage of the beauty in front of him, the fact that he can see her beauty and the fact that his positive emotions will last forever should be more than enough to satisfy him. In on a Grecian Keats discusses the advantages of living as an immortal, forever trapped outside of the realities of time. [...]