Composition
When analysing a poem like “Ode on a Grecian Urn” by John Keats, it is always a good idea to look at both outer composition (stanzas, verses, graphical expression) and inner composition (beginning, subdivision, course).
Outer composition
“Ode on a Grecian Urn” is a five stanza poem with ten lines in each stanza. The text falls into the category of odes, a poetry genre developed in ancient Greece.
Rhyme
Each stanza follows a rhyme pattern ABAB for the first four lines:
Here is an example of ABAB rhyme:
“Thou still unravish'd 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:” (ll. 1-4)
However, the last six lines in each stanza are jinglier, as the poet plays with variations of CED. Here are the patterns for these last six lines in each stanza:
- Stanza 1: CEDECD
- Stanza 2: CEDCDE
- Stanza 3: CEDCED
- Stanza 4: CEDCED
- Stanza 5: CEDECD
Apart from this rhyme scheme, the poet also employs alliterations and assonance, the repetition of same letters and sounds. Some examples are: “leaf-fring'd legend” (l. 5), “pipes, play” (l. 12), “though thou” (l. 19).
Rhythm
The rhythm is iambic pentameter, meaning that each line has 10 syllables out o...