Ode on a Grecian Urn

The poet reverently approaches the urn, describing it as a “still unravish’d bride of quietness” (Line 1) and a “foster-child of silence and slow time” (Line 2), recognizing the urn’s now timeless existence after centuries of silent testimony to the past. The urn, a “Sylvan historian, who canst thus express” (Line 3), possesses an ability to express the past more than humanity can understand it. Of the timeless and universal experience of human life captured on the urn, it first depicts romance, which the poet describes as “mad pursuit” (Line 9) and “wild ecstasy” (Line 10), two adjectives that focus on the hurried and passionate nature of romance. The urn also depicts a religious ceremony, specifically a sacrifice. Participating in the sacrifice is a “mysterious priest” (Line 32) leading “that heifer lowing at the skies” (Line 33), as the image portrays the religious rituals that punctuate life and survive across generations. The poet also observes “marble men and maidens overwrought” (Line 42), noting that “When old age shall this generation waste” (Line 46), the urn, and the images it bears, “shalt remain, in midst of other woe” (Line 47). The romance and the sacrifice are forever etched on the urn, and their depiction freezes them for future generations—who will similarly love, mourn, celebrate, and die.