Question

In this excerpt from “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats, which four parts reflect the theme that art is immortal?

Answer 1

This poem with 5 strophes underlines in 4th of them (1,2,3,5) that art is immortal. The théme of the poem is the immortality of art.

The speaker of the poem is a man who observes a Grecian urn and describes the frozen moment painted on it.

He describes it on the first moment, then he concludes time will never pass for the painted persons, finally, he remembers his generation and assumes they´ll be forgotten.

• The frozen scene:

Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave

      Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;

She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss,

              Forever wilt thou love, and she is fair!

• Time will never pass:

Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed

Forever warm and still to be enjoyed,

               Forever panting, and forever young;

• The conclusion:

When old age shall this generation waste,

               Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woes

Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,

        "Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all

               Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know."