"Ode to a Grecian Urn" Summary and Explanation

625. Ode on a Grecian Urn

THOU still unravish'd bride of quietness,
Thou foster-child of Silence and slow Time,
Sylvan historian, who canst thus express
A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
What leaf-fringed legend haunts about thy shape	5
Of deities or mortals, or of both,
In Tempe or the dales of Arcady?
What men or gods are these? What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?	10
Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
Not to the sensual ear, but, more endear'd,
Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
Fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave	15
Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare;
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!	20
Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
Your leaves, nor ever bid the Spring adieu;
And, happy melodist, unwearièd,
For ever piping songs for ever new;
More happy love! more happy, happy love!	25
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
For ever panting, and for ever young;
All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.	30
Who are these coming to the sacrifice?
To what green altar, O mysterious priest,
Lead'st thou that heifer lowing at the skies,
And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?
What little town by river or sea-shore,	35
Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel,
Is emptied of its folk, this pious morn?
And, little town, thy streets for evermore
Will silent be; and not a soul, to tell
Why thou art desolate, can e'er return.	40
O Attic shape! fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form! dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!	45
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
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.'	50

Summary in simpler words:

First of all, here is a picture of a grecian urn for reference.

Grecian Urns 

"Ode to a Grecian Urn" means a song which the author is dedicating to an old Greek vase, which has pictures drawn upon it. Many verses in this poem hint that the poem is set in Greece. In one line, “in Tempe or the dales of Arcady,” the author makes an allusion (reference) to Arcadia, the birthplace of the god Zeus and “Tempe,” a beautiful valley in Greece that was sacred to Apollo, the god of poetry and music. Since the urn is old, it carries along with it stories of the past and hence is referred to as a "foster-child" of Silence and slow Time as it seems to have been moulded by these two things. It is interesting to note that it is not referred to as a direct child - maybe because it does not directly inherit qualities of Silence and slow Time, rather it is brought into shape by them (after all, the vase could have been blank as well).

The pictures on the vase are of stories of the past - warriors, lovers, kings, deities (gods in mythical scripture). Because of this, the urn is referred to as a "Sylvan historian" (this is another example of personification), where Sylvan means belonging to the woods. The author further questions the vivid details of the drawings. He wants to know what is going on within it - he wants to know the objective and the feelings/unwillingness (loth means unwillingness) of the mortals (living people) and maidens (women). There are all kinds of feelings; fear, anger, anxiety, sorrow, happiness. But seemingly, the most important feeling is the author's own curiosity.

Moving on from the visuals, the author turns to the aural (related to sound) qualities of the vase. But since the vase is obviously silent and the author cannot hear any sound, the author requests the vase to not play to his "sensual" or physical ear, but to the metaphorical ear of his "spirit," or imagination (ditty means a short, simple song). The author then draws attention to a drawing of a male lover who is reaching out to his love (maiden). He grieves for the lover because the lover is so close to his goal (the maiden) but he will never be able to reach his love, as he is frozen in time. On the other hand, the author also relieves the lover by telling him that it's all okay, his love is also frozen in time and shall always remain young and beautiful, and shall never die!

Next, the author moves on to the painting of the boughs (main branches of trees) and tells them that as they are painted, they will forever be green and forever ripe. "Spring" will never end for them. Similarly he also addresses the painting of the melodist (musician) and tells him he can play his happy songs forever. In the next lines (28-30), the author expresses his desire to attain a higher realm (dimension) of consciousness so he can truly understand what mystical things are going on in the urn's world. But since he cannot do that, he feels sad and hurt (cloy means to "disgust or sicken someone with an excess of sweetness, richness, or sentiment"), and the pain of this human world (a burning forehead and a parching tongue) reminds him of how he cannot reach the spiritual world of the urn. 

Moving on, the author refers to the painting of the priest who is about to perform a sacrifice. The priest is shown to be leading a heifer (Red heifer, in Christianity or Judaism, was a cow who has not given birth or only given birth once, that was sacrificed and whose ashes were used for the ritual purification) with beautiful silky flanks (sides of an animal). Normally priests are called to "cleanse" an area of evil spirits, so the author asks what area the priest is headed to? He then relieves the priest and the townspeople that they will be forever silent as they are engraved in the painting forever.

References:

- https://www.coursehero.com/file/p7v5809/In-this-line-in-Tempe-or-the-dales-of-Arcady-Keats-makes-an-allusion-to-Arcadia/

- https://www.bartleby.com/101/625.html
- amarang9. "Give a stanza by stanza explanation of Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn." " eNotes, 11 June 2013, https://www.enotes.com/homework-help/give-stanza-by-stanza-explaination-keatsode-439233. Accessed 11 Nov. 2018.