The Pursuit of Beauty and Truth 

Abstract： John Keats is a great romantic poet in England in the 19th century. He expresses the acuteness of his senses. Sight， sound， scent， taste and feeling are all taken in to give an entire understanding of experience. Keats delights to dwell on beautiful words and phrases， which sound musical. With vivid and rich images， he paints poetry， characterized by exact and closely knit construction， sensual descriptions and by physical beauty of the world. In this thesis， I pay attention on one of his most famous odes， namely， Ode on a Grecian Urn . In this ode， Keats gave his commentary on a Greek vase， which， as a relic of ancient culture， caught his imagination and at the end of the poem， the poet emphasized the relationship between beauty and truth， declaring his worship of beauty， especially in the field of art.

Key Words： Keats； Ode on a Grecian Urn； beauty； truth

Introduction

Beauty， perhaps， is the only thing that can not be lost， and numerous poets. In Ode on a Grecian Urn， Keats gave his commentary on a Greek vase， which， as a relic of ancient culture， caught his imagination and at the end of the poem， the poet emphasized the relationship between beauty and truth， declaring his worship of beauty， especially in the field of art. An old vase buried underground for thousands of years becomes the most beautiful bride in Keats' eyes. Moreover， the stories described by the urn is far more sweetly than our rhyme， which is not merely a "flowery tale" but also the fair shape fringed with green leaves. However， the beauty in the real life is not permanent， just like the blossom which fells wilted after summer and just like the beauties who gets older after youth.

1.Analysis of the poem

Keats is a poet who loves life and art and always pursues beauty. The worship of beauty is often evident in his poem. Worship of beauty is throughout Keats' life， and he just like a voice， by which， the beauty expresses itself. With regards romantic love， great mind as well as sweet life. So long as it is beautiful， artists are sparing their efforts to transmit it from generation to another. So from the very beginning of the second stanza Keats says"Herd melodies are sweet， but those unheard/Are sweeter". Because" Pipe to the spirit ditties of no tone"； Then he persuade the people in love not to feel sad for not owning each other for"She cannot fade， though thou hast not thy bliss，/ For ever wilt thou love， and she be fair！" The poet resorts beauty to art， and think that in the artistic works， can beauty be everlasting.

1.1 The rhyme and images of the poem

There are five stanzas in this poem， and ten lines in each stanza， ten syllables in each line. This delicate design or structure presents Keats’s great writing skill， it is also the perfect way in which shows us the theme that the union of beauty and art. As we all know， in ode the former four lines in every stanza are adopted the rhyme abab， the latter six lines in the first and the last stanza are rhymed at cdedce， while the following are rhymed at cdecde. That is a very complicated form. Besides this， Keats also applied the “classical balance” in Ode on a Grecian Urn. Such as “What men or gods are these？What maidens loth/What mad pursuit？What struggle to escape/What pipes and timbrels？What wild ecstasy？”（line 8-10）， “For ever piping songs for ever new”（25）/”For ever panting， and for ever young”（28）. This same sentence structure and parallelism not only add the continuity of the poem， but also emphasize the eternal meaning of the poem. Then， the poem are flowing according to the three changes of rhythm in the following six lines of each stanza with the changing of author's mood from time to time. The whole poem reached a harmony in the aspects of content， feelings and rhythm.

Besides the rhyme， images in the ode are worthy to be mentioned. Because the contrasts between the images make the poetry more thought-provoking. At the very beginning， the image of the Grecian urn is connected with "quietness"，" silence"， and "slow time". On the contrary， the picture inscribed on the urn is full of vitality like "mad pursuit"， and "struggle to escape".But at the end of the poem， the hilarious scene of the ancient ritual has reverted to quiet contemplation again. Quiet art and the zealous life form two poles of the ode， perhaps wandering between the equally beautiful pole， the poet can not make a choose easily. Just as Nietzsche supposes， contemplation of art is the spirit represented by Apollo which is quiet and beautiful as well as immortal while warm life is the portrayal of Dionysus who is passionate and impulsive， hearty and zealous. This conflict is also the manifestation of poet's hesitance. On one hand， the poet is longing for the eternal art because he thinks that only in the eternal art can feel the real happiness； on the other hand， the eternal art is lack of the warm and enthusiasm of life. With the lapse of time， what can accompany her forever is solitude.

Keats' pursuit of beauty is reflected in his poetry， but first reflected on his attitude to poetry. He regards the poetry as his own life. In the letters to his friends， he said： "I find that if there is no poetry - the eternal poetry， I can not live， even a half-day." He also said before his death： "Poetry is my concern， and the sole objective of living. " His pursuit of the beauty mainly expressed in the poems describing and at the same time it also engaged in the struggle against the sordid Church， the war of aggression and the reactionary authorities. There are two realms in his pursuit of beauty. One is the pure and beautiful world created in art， the other is the performance of social life， reflecting the woe of people， which endows a more profound content to the poem.

1.2 The whole appreciation of the poem

Keats' lyric poetry is fresh， beautiful， harmonious and sweet. But it also constitutes the tone of his poetry to flog the ugly side of the society as well as to pursue the beauty. In the third stanza， the hopeful feeling become intenser， "for ever" in this verse appeared five times， and "happy" appeared six times. The trust on art， expectations and rejoicings for the eternal excitement is vivid and colorful. But the poet did not fully immersed in joy， At the end of this stanza， there still is sadness of "That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd/ A burning forehead， and a parching tongue". As Rubinstein said， "Keats never belonged to the school of "Art for art's sake'"， because Keats is not completely immersed in eternal happiness brought by art， but to start thinking further and deeply.

The fourth stanza begins with the lively scene of an ancient ritual painted on the urn： the townsfolk walk towards the "green alter"， and the sacrifice is a calf with "silken flanks"and "garlands driest"... ...， but in the front of such a lively picture， the poet's thoughts are flying to the cold Acropolis which is behind the people. "And， little town， thy streets for evermore / Will silent be： and not a soul to tell/ Why thou art desolate， can e'er return." Why it is impossible to come back？ Why this lonely little town is built by the river or on the coast ， or built in the mountains？ Why the poet did not give us an exact location？ Perhaps Keats' mind has diverted from ancient sacrificial scene to reality. As a quiet observer， he was immersed in artistic contemplation： the beauty of art， though eternal， eternal beauty is so lonely， comparing with the life of leaving the artist of the Grecian Urn and the active life ， which is more worthwhile to pursue？

Actually， Keats' pursuit of reality reflects his dissatisfaction with the reality and by the description of beautiful things to express his yearning for an ideal life. And the bridge which links the two aspects is art. At the same time， it is also the difference between Keats and the other two Romantic poets——Byron and Shelley. The latter attempt to remind the contemporary society with both poetry and political action while the former restricts his application of the principle of liberty to the sphere of Art.

Conclusion

John Keats wrote a lot of remarkable works which continue to intrigue and challenge the readers. He resorted himself to the beautiful world with the help of art to escape from the sordid reality under capitalism. And we have understood his style from the most famous ode in the above parts. With a keen eye for the particularities of nature and a skillful metrical technique as well as splendid imagination， his poetry give us an enjoyable feeling both visually and auditorily And Keats' leading aesthetic principle is" Beauty in truth， truth in beauty"， which also influences a lot of poets in the following Victorian age.

References

[1]Gittings， Robert. John Keats：A Biography. Oxford University Press， 1992。

[2]Margaret， Drabble ed. The Oxford Companion to English Literature. Beijing： Foreign Language Teaching and Research Press， 2005。

[3]苏煜，英国诗歌赏析[M].北京：新华出版社，2006。

[4]吴伟仁，英国文学史及选读[M].北京：外语教学与研究出版社，2007。

（作者单位：曲阜师范大学 外国语学院，山东 曲阜 273165）