Ode on a Grecian Urn

John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” portrays the speakers’ attempt to express his emotions about the urn’s painted images. As the poem progresses, we see his frustrations in that attempt. The narrator progresses first by asking the urn direct questions. He then tries to identify with the characters on the urn, and finally he forces his own context onto the characters. Throughout each of these three progressions, the narrator experiences personal transformations that …

…illustrate a love that is greater than any on earth. Passion that supercedes that of humans. Throughout the ode the speaker has expressed his emotions about the urn and its images, and his trials and tribulations have forced him to change and accept that he will never be part of the urn’s self-contained world. The speaker is left with an internal conflict resolved and peace of mind, which was his crisis in the beginning.