Question

themes 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;
and, happy melodist, unwearied,
read the statement from a paper comparing keatss poem \ode on a grecian urn\ and \on seeing the elgin marbles.\
while the message in \ode on a grecian urn\ is that art is an eternal and unchanging truth, the message in \on seeing the elgin marbles\ is that art changes over time.
the paper is stating the poems

summaries.

topics.

transitions.

themes.

Explanation:

The statement identifies the core, central messages of each poem: the eternal nature of art in Ode on a Grecian Urn and art's changing nature over time in On Seeing the Elgin Marbles. Core messages of literary works are their themes. Summaries recap plot/content, topics are broad subjects, and transitions are structural text shifts, none of which match this description.

Answer:

themes.