希腊古瓮颂 赏析

The fourth stanza





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, Or mountain-built with peaceful citadel; Is emptied of this 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.
(每一种艺术的卓越都在于它的强烈性，它能够消 除一切不愉快的事情，因为它们都与美和真有密 切关系）

Ode on a Grecian Urn John Keats
The first stanza





Thou still unravished 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 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?
The third stanza





Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed Your leaves, nor ever bid the spring adieu; And , happy melodist, unwearied, For ever piping songs for ever new; More happy love! more happy, happy love! For ever warm and still to be enjoyed, For ever panting, and for ever young; All breathing human passion far above, That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloyed, A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.
John Keats (1795-1821)
Life and Literary Career

Life in poverty and poor health Premature death （aged 26） “Here lies one whose name was writ in water” ---inscription on his tombstone
Question 2

Indentify details of the scene that is described in stanzas 2 and 3.

In the second stanza, the speaker looks at another picture on the urn, this time of a young man playing a pipe, lying with his lover beneath a glade of trees. The speaker says that the piper’s “unheard” melodies are sweeter than mortal melodies because they are unaffected by time. He tells the youth that, though he can never kiss his lover because he is frozen in time, he should not grieve, because her beauty will never fade.
Characteristics of Keats’ Poetry



Love of nature, romantic love Glorification of beauty Exquisite sensibility and keen observation Sensuous description and rich imagery Love for classics

Major Works

Long poems:


“Endymion”《恩底弥瓮》 “Isabella”《伊萨贝拉》 “The Eve of St. Agnes”《圣爱格尼斯之夜》 “Lamia” 《莱米亚》
To Autumn”《秋颂》

“Hyperion” 《赫披里昂》 “On the Grasshopper and the Cricket” a sonnet
Notes



Sensual: pertaining to the physical senses, in this case, hearing. Nor ever bid the spring adieu: spring will forever stay with them; “adieu” means good bye. All breathing human passion far above…and a parching tongue: the young lovers on the urn and their love are far above the agony of human passion. “cloyed” （腻烦）in Line 29 means to annoy somebody because there is too much of it.
The second stanza





Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard Are sweeter; therefore, ye soft pipes, play on; Not to the sensual ear, but, more endeared, 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, don not grieve; She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!

He wonders about the figures on the side of the urn and asks what legend they depict and from where they come. He looks at a picture that seems to depict a group of men pursuing a group of women and wonders what their story could be.
ils of the scene that is described in stanzas 1.

In the first stanza, the speaker stands before an ancient Grecian urn and addresses it. He is preoccupied with its depiction of pictures frozen in time. He also describes the urn as a “historian” that can tell a story.

“…excellence of every Art is its intensity, capable of making all disagreeables evaporate, from their being in close relationship with Beauty and Truth”
Notes





Sylvan（森林的） historian: Sylvan means rustic, representing a woodland scene. Here “Sylvan historian” refers to the urn telling a pastoral tale. Tempe（溪谷）: a beautiful valley in Greece, regarded as sacred to Apollo, the God of poetry. Arcady（世外桃源）: an ancient place in Greece, often used as a symbol of the pastoral ideal. loth:=loath unwilling. timbrels: tambourines(手鼓) or similar instruments