What Does Ode On A Grecian Urn Mean
Love and Lust Lust will never be love. “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats and “To His Coy Mistress” by Andrew Marvell are both stories about being with a partner over some length of period of time. Marvell writes more along the lines of persuading his lover to sleep with him because time is running out. Keats, on the other hand, writes a description of lovers on a Grecian urn who have surpassed time in an ultimate way. In “To His Coy Mistress” there are three-parts to the poem; where an unknown man is trying to get his lover to actually have sex with him. At first he tells her that her “coyness” would be okay if they had all the time in the world. He is constantly telling her all these sweet things they would do in order to butter her
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He explains to his mistress that “time’s wing’ed chariot hurrying near, and yonder all before us lie / deserts of vast eternity” (2.22-23.652-653). Then he gets bolder and describes her in a grave, having her virginity taken away by worms. This is a process in which he is trying to push an exaggerated reality on her; in hopes that she will concede to his desires. He lets her know that she denies them both this chance at sex, “your quaint honor turn to dust, and into ashes all my lust” …show more content…
Keats asserts, "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter" (2.11-12.587-589). This implies that the urn contains a sweet unheard music inside the picture. On the urn in the first stanza Keats describe a couple together; they are silent and unmoving forward in time as Keats asserts “that’s the foster-child of Silence and slow Time” (1.2.587-589). In the second stanza, Keats moves to show that the two lovers are stuck in this cycle of un-fulfillment. Keats states, “Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss, / Though winning near the goal-yet, do not grieve; / She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, / For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair” (2.17-20.587-589). He is saying that the two are frozen together forever, but at the cost of never being able to kiss each other or make love. They are stuck in the positions they have been placed in. So while they remain young and ageless on this urn, they are unable to do more for one
He explains to his mistress that “time’s wing’ed chariot hurrying near, and yonder all before us lie / deserts of vast eternity” (2.22-23.652-653). Then he gets bolder and describes her in a grave, having her virginity taken away by worms. This is a process in which he is trying to push an exaggerated reality on her; in hopes that she will concede to his desires. He lets her know that she denies them both this chance at sex, “your quaint honor turn to dust, and into ashes all my lust” …show more content…
Keats asserts, "Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter" (2.11-12.587-589). This implies that the urn contains a sweet unheard music inside the picture. On the urn in the first stanza Keats describe a couple together; they are silent and unmoving forward in time as Keats asserts “that’s the foster-child of Silence and slow Time” (1.2.587-589). In the second stanza, Keats moves to show that the two lovers are stuck in this cycle of un-fulfillment. Keats states, “Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss, / Though winning near the goal-yet, do not grieve; / She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, / For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair” (2.17-20.587-589). He is saying that the two are frozen together forever, but at the cost of never being able to kiss each other or make love. They are stuck in the positions they have been placed in. So while they remain young and ageless on this urn, they are unable to do more for one