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‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’

The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature | 2003 | 468 words | Copyright

‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, a poem by Keats, written 1819, published 1820. While he describes the various pastoral scenes of love, beauty, and joy illustrated on the urn, the poet reflects on the eternal quality of art and the fleeting nature of human love and happiness. The last two lines are particularly well known and their meaning much debated:‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,’—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know
.

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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-OdeonaGrecianUrn.html

MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-OdeonaGrecianUrn.html

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