Ode on a Grecian Urn

Ode on a Grecian Urn is a poem by John Keats, first published in January 1820. It is thought not to be based on any specific Greek vase. The poem captures aspects of Keats's idea of "negative capability": we do not know who the figures are on the urn, what they are doing and where they are going. The uncertainty, doubt, and mystery continues: readers are divided whether the poem advocates the beauty and truth of the urn, or if in reality Keats believes that anything of any real worth is, paradoxically, to be found in the transient world. The ode deals with the complexity of art's relationship with real life.

External links

• Full text of poem