Question

Poem - Ode on a Grecian Urn

by John Keats

1.PART A: Which statement identifies the central theme of the poem?
Young love is the most powerful form of love.
Life is about making sacrifices for the greater good.
While life is fleeting, art has the ability to live on. T
he simple pleasures of life are the most important.

2.PART B: Which detail from the text best supports the answer to Part A?
What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape? / What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?” (Lines 9-10)
“Who are these coming to the sacrifice? / To what green altar, O mysterious priest” (Lines 31-32)
“Of marble men and maidens overwrought, / With forest branches and the trodden weed” (Lines 42-43)
“When old age shall this generation waste, / Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe” (Lines 46-47)

Answer 1

1. While life is fleeting, art has the ability to live on.

2. “When old age shall this generation waste, / Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe” (Lines 46-47)

Step-by-step explanation:

The ode written by John Keats "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is a Horatian ode that the author used to present the theme of art as permanent in contrast to the temporary nature of human life. In this poem, the author talks about a "Grecian urn" that has a picture depicting man's daily life.

In the poem, Keats proclaims how art, as depicted in the urn, can be permanent and not fade like the love, life, and pleasures of humanity. He presents that while art has the ability to live on even after the death of a person, the "life" of man will pass with time. This claim can be best supported by the lines "When old age shall this generation waste, / Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe", suggesting that after old age destroys a man's life, the art on the urn will remain immortal, never affected by aging or time.