Question

Poem 1

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 –"Ode on a Grecian Urn,” John Keats

poem 2
Such dim-conceived glories of the brain
Bring round the heart an indescribable feud;
So do these wonders a most dizzy pain,
That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rude
Wasting of old Time—with a billowy main—
A sun—a shadow of a magnitude.
–"On Seeing the Elgin Marbles,”
John Keats

Write two to four sentences comparing the themes of the two poems. Use evidence from the texts to support your answer.

Answer 1

Sample Response: The theme of “Ode on a Grecian Urn” is that art is eternal and unchanging. Keats repeats the words “for ever” to show that the image on the vase never changes. By contrast, “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” suggests that nothing lasts forever; according to the poem, even art is subject to the “rude / Wasting of old Time.”

Step-by-step explanation:

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Answer 2

The theme of “Ode on a Grecian Urn” is that art is eternal and unchanging. Keats repeats the words “for ever” to show that the image on the vase never changes. By contrast, “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” suggests that nothing lasts forever; according to the poem, even art is subject to the “rude / Wasting of old Time.”