Question

emes in the poetry of keats
ode on a grecian urn
by john keats
1.
thou still unravishd 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 - fringd legend haunts about thy shape
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)
2.
heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on;
not to the sensual ear, but, more endeard,
pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone:
fair youth, beneath the trees, thou canst not leave
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)
3.
ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed
your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu;
the first step a reader should take to determine a theme in \ode on a grecian urn\ is to
identify an important topic in the poem.
state the poems message in a single sentence.
determine what the poem says about the topic.
summarize the poem in his or her own words.

Explanation:

To find a poem's theme, the foundational first step is pinpointing a core, recurring topic (like immortality of art, timelessness in this poem) before analyzing the message about it, stating the theme, or summarizing.

Answer:

identify an important topic in the poem.