Introduction

If we talk about Romantic poets, John Keats is one of the famous poets. As a critic I am going to
show, how philosophy takes part in Keats’ famous poem “Ode on a Grecian Urn”. Each and
every line of this poem tells us about Keats philosophic view, life and death, temporality and
immorality, art and life. In order to explain the Keats' philosophy in "Ode on a Grecian Urn", I
am going to present my opinion by focusing on three points:
1. Romanticism in Ode on a Grecian Urn
2. The way Keats’ philosophy in the poem influences the romantic era.
3. The way philosophy of Keats gains immortality.

Romanticism in "Ode on a Grecian Urn"

Keats is one of the most dominating figures in Romantic era. This era is especially known for
individualism. In this era, idealism was emphasized a lot. In "Ode on a Grecian Urn", Keats has
emphasized on idealism a lot. In every sector of literature we can find the individualistic thought
of poet. It talks about nature. John Keats died at the age of 25 due to tuberculosis. He had a lot of
frustration on his life due to his short life span and as a result during his last years he was always
so focused on his individualistic thoughts of trying to escape from the real world and try to go to
his ideal world where everything is immortal.

The way Keats' philosophy in the poem influence the Romantic era
Among the many literary works that has influenced the Romantic era, John Keats' "Ode on a
Grecian Urn" is one of them. In this poem, Keats has dealt with individualism and idealism.
“Ode on a Grecian Urn” basically deals with temporality and immortality, art and life, still
image and dynamism. This poem celebrates the reality of still life in art than the harsh reality of normal
life. In the painting on the Urn, everything becomes important in their lifelessness and stillness. It
seems like John Keats is developing deadness to life as an ultimate escape from life’s painful
realities. In the poem, John Keats comes to see art as many things. He glorifies it as he portrays it
as the fulfillment of that which the limitedness of life cannot achieve. The limitations of life are
various. Time and its transience are the dominant of these limitations. In Ode on a Grecian Urn,
everything is permanent. In the poem, so many questions are left unanswered. More than they
being rhetorical, one may say, just as with stillness, answers to them have also been frozen:

Who are these coming to the sacrifice?...

....And all her silken flanks with garlands drest?

John Keats’ philosophy of art can be briefly summed up as: art is that which life is not. Which
means art’s glory is manifested in the smallness of life. In this poem, John Keats’ philosophy of
life can be deduced as -Art as an ultimate preserver, Art as a protector of Beauty and Time, Art
as a True Picture of mankind and Art as a form of Escapism. For the respective mentioned points
Keats' philosophy in this poem influences Romantic era.

Art as an Ultimate Preserver

Here Keats addressed Grecian Urn which is an object. It records the various scenes and stories,
the poem talks about. At the beginning of the poem we can find that Keats is personifying the
Urn as “unravish'd bride” and saying-
Thou still unravish'd bride of quietness…

And to further portray the preserver and recorder nature of the urn, he follows the above with:
Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,

By freezing and keeping the pictures in ultimate silence, the painting on the urn preserves the
histories of man. So that nothing is rushed and nothing uttered. It is because of this feature of the
painting that an encounter with the many stories on the urn is possible with the person. Many
people, must also have witnessed this same painting on the urn and the Grecian urn must have
been in existences for years. It is in the ability of the painting as an ultimate preserver that such
stories still live on for the person to encounter and relive in the poem. Thus John Keats sees art
as the ultimate preserver.

Art as a Protector of Beauty and Time

In the second stanza, he talks about the lover. He is so advised because time is permanent and his
lover’s beauty will be remain fresh forever. There is inefficacy of pursuit to the lover's attempt.
He will never able to kiss his lady. By the art he will always his beloved and her beauty will
remain forever. In the art he is constantly subjected to eternal grieve of continued proposition.
The endless pursuit of the lover is portrayed here:
 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!

Art as a True Picture of Mankind

In “Ode on a Grecian Urn” we find, by different stories the poet tells us about different occasions
of life. Actually, different scenes on the urn tells us about humanity in all its forms – the
fantasies, wiles, beauty and religion. As humanity is made up of different happenings so also are
the paintings on the urn. In the first stanza of the poem, one encounters the wild sexual ecstasy of
men, of maidens wanting to escape this wild ecstasy, by these lines we can find it:
…What maidens loth?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?

The second stanza tells us about music and a story of love. These two subjects are of essence to
life. Music is an undeniable part of our daily existence and love is the thing that our emotions
must uniformly identify with:

Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard

Are sweeter: therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;…

Bold lover, never, never canst thou kiss,

Though winning near the goal - yet, do not grieve…
In the fourth stanza, one is confronted with religion. There is a ritual rite to be carried out. One
sees a priest approaching an altar to offer sacrifice to some gods, perhaps in appeasement
perhaps for other things. One can only assume.
Art as a Form of Escapism
By reflecting on the pictures on the urn John Keats engages in escapism. He goes into the world
portrayed on the urn to briefly forget the horrors of this world and its temporal nature. The
reason for John Keats’ escapism is understandable. It could be linked this escapism to John
Keats’ falling health as this poem was composed at a time tuberculosis was almost pulling the
last strand of his life. In exalting the still nature of the art, he is imploring the reader to turn away
from life and focus on art as the ideal form life.

The Way The Philosophy of Keats Gains Immortality

The period of a person's life is very short. However, the art illustrated on the urn remains forever.
The philosophy John Keats used to describe the art will also remain forever. People's lives are
very restless and we have to go through a lot of pain and suffering. We also lose our feelings
when we reach old age. Our feelings live forever in our memories. Every person tries to avoid all
this sadness and pain. Everyone has an inner desire to escape this mortal life and they want to
stay in this ideal world where they are immortal. This is how John Keats have connected his
philosophy with people's lives in this poem.

Conclusion
John Keats has presented his philosophy in his poem "Ode on a Grecian Urn" wonderfully. He
has connected people's lives with his philosophy having also explained his thoughts on
immortality, art and mortal life.
Reference:
http://criticalliteraturereview.blogspot.com/2015/05/exploring-john-keats-philosophy-of-art.html
http://www.sparknotes.com/poetry/keats/section4/