In the first stanza the speaker stands before an old Grecian urn and speaks to it. He is concerned with the picture frozen in time. It is the "still unravishe'd bride of quietness" the "foster child of silence and slow time". He also describes the urn as a historian that can tell a story. He wants to know about the pictures on the side of the urn and ask what legend it can tell and from where they come. He saw a picture of a group of men chasing a group of women and wonders what a mad pursuit? What struggle to run away?