Final answer:
The urn in poetry symbolizes a container holding art's meaning and beauty, representing the New Critics' view of literature as a structured and meaningful entity. Through metaphor, poets liken literature to well-crafted urns, signifying the intricate and enduring nature of poetic expression.
Step-by-step explanation:
The urn mentioned in the context of poetry serves as a metaphor for the enduring nature of art and its capacity to convey deep meanings and beauty. Poets like John Donne and Thomas Gray have employed the imagery of an urn poetically to suggest that a poem can act as a container of artistic expression, much like an urn holds the ashes of the deceased. Moreover, John Keats, in his “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” emphasizes the timeless quality of art, suggesting that beauty and truth are eternal and can outlast generations. The urn thus becomes a potent symbol for the New Critics, representing art’s role as a vessel filled with layered meanings and the capacity for conveying poetic beauty and truth. In Donne’s “The Canonization,” the metaphorical ‘well-wrought urn’ suggests beautifully crafted poems are akin to fine art. This concept was later expanded upon by Cleanth Brooks in his seminal work on New Criticism, underlining the idea that literary works should be examined as intricately designed artifacts, rich with interpretive possibilities.