Comparison Essay

The speakers of Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn” and Larkin’s “An Arundel Tomb” both attempt to extrapolate the historical inspiration of a work of art that is inherently unknowable due to the passage of time; however, despite these similarities, their methods of interaction with the objects of their ekphrastic works could not be more different, as Keats’s speaker chooses to attempt to immerse himself in the pastoral scenes depicted and question their occupants, which inevitably ends badly due to their static nature, while in contrast the speaker of Larkin’s poem, far from viewing the subjects as static, instead reflects on the changes the tomb encountered and its inevitable transformation both physically and in viewer’s perceptions of it on its

The speaker in Keats’ ode makes it clear that not only are the objects of the scenes depicted on the urn unchanging, but that this unchangeability is in fact a desirable characteristic, far superior to the fleeting nature of living beings. This is accomplished mainly through the use of repetition, most clearly seen in the repetition of the word “happy” throughout stanza three such as “Ah, happy, happy boughs! that cannot shed / Your leaves,” “And happy melodist, unwearied,” and “More happy love! more happy, happy love!” (Keats 21, 23, 25). This repetition serves to highlight the point made in the previous stanza that happiness and fulfillment is found, not in attaining an object of desire such as the the bold lover’s pursuit in line 17, but in preservation from the ravages of time, because even perpetually unfulfilled joy is better than joy attained and then lost. This is succinctly summarized in the phrase “Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard / Are sweeter” (Keats 11) as the reality of the living relationship or situation which inspired the work of art Keats’ speaker is examining can never live up to the romanticized ideal fantasies of the subjects which the viewer

Keats’ speaker, unlike Larkin’s, carefully removes himself and his preconceived notions as to the motivations of the subjects from the majority of the poem because they would affect his attempts to discover meaning on his own, and when he finds no answer in the “silent form” (Keats 44) of the static “cold pastoral” (Keats 45) urn, he personifies the urn and concludes that it attempts to share its own version of truth with its observer: namely that “Beauty is truth, truth beauty, — that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know” (Keats 49-50). By personifying the urn in the final stanza and allowing the urn to have a voice and speak for itself, Keats’ speaker unites the urn’s audiences throughout the ages in a moment of quiet contemplation. The urn’s static nature does not only create a barrier blocking any attempts of the present observer to interpret the past, but also acts as a unifying cosmic force as it stands unchanged, speaking the same message to its viewer, regardless of the passing of