Assignment #4

1. Percy Bysshe Shelley is criticizing the British monarchy in lines three and six. In line three, he talks about the prince as “mud from a muddy spring.” Thus, he believes that the prince will fail England as a ruler because he is very similar to his father. Also, in line six, Shelley suggests that the monarchy is a leech that feeds of the people of England. The monarchy has no emotions and takes advantage of the labor of the poor in order to sustain the ruling class.

2. At the end of the poem, Shelley states that “unrepealed” laws “are graves, from which a glorious Phantom may Burst” in order to suggest the start of a revolution. The “glorious Phantom” is a new start that will help England rise up from the tyranny of the monarchy. The fact that the “glorious Phantom” comes from “graves” is to instill hope in the people of England. Shelley ends his poem on an optimistic tone in order to emphasize that, even in the worst situations, something beautiful will appear.

3. According to the poem “Ozymandias,” the remains of the statue of Ozymandias is abandoned and alone with nothing but “level sands” that stretch around it. The present, dilapidated condition of the statue is used by Shelley to highlight the fact that even the most powerful rulers can be forgotten. The king originally wanted the statue to be a statement of his legacy because he declared that he was “king of kings: Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!” However, in the present day, the king is forgotten in the sand, thus, demonstrating that, no one has absolute power and control forever. Thus, Shelley uses Ozymandias to show that everyone is insignificant to the passage of time.

4. The sculptor’s hands “mocked” the ruler by carving his likeness into stone. The sculptor used “hands” to create an image of the king that contained all his “passions” even though he is “stamped on these lifeless things.” Thus, the sculptor preserved the king through the use of art.

5. Shelley sees part of himself in the sculptor because he, too, is creating art for later generations to see. In the poem, Shelley writes that the sculptor captured the “wrinkled lip and sneer of cold command” of the king even though he “stamped on these lifeless things.” Thus, Shelley, like the sculptor, is giving life to his art that will survive even after his death.

6. John Keats deliberately celebrates Chapman over Pope in such a public manner as a way to celebrate the common language. Keats praised Chapman for speaking “loud and bold” because the clear languages allows him to experience Homer in a different way. He even goes as far as to say that reading Chapman made him feel like a “watcher of the skies” who has discovered “a new planet. Thus, Keats is praising the common language for making Homer exciting and addicting.

7. Keats likes reading Chapman’s translation of Homer because it is exciting and invigorating. Keats compares discovering Chapman’s Homer to discovering a new planet as an astronomer. Also, Keats compares himself to Cortez and suggests that reading Chapman’s version is akin to discovering the Pacific Ocean. Thus, the discovery of Chapman’s Homer allowed Keats to appreciate the work like never before.

8. The title “Ode on a Grecian Urn” can be interpreted as a literal song about a Grecian Urn. In this ode, the author praises the craftsmanship of a Grecian Urn. However, another way to interpret the title can be as a song that is actually found on a Grecian Urn. Therefore, the poem is about some work of art that comes from the urn.

9. In the first four lines of the first stanza of “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” the mood is a combination of joy, excitement, and wonder. First, Keats compares the Grecian Urn to an “unravish’d bride of quietness,” thus, meaning all its beauty is still intact and awe-inspiring. Then, he marvels on how well-persevered the urn is by stating that it is a “foster-child of silence and slow time.” Thus, the urn has been hidden away safe and sound for the past years. Finally, he compares himself to a “Sylvan historian” who discovers the urn which has the most beautiful “flowery tale.” Thus, Keats uses beautiful language to create a mood of awe and joy in order to highlight how beautiful the urn truly is.

10. Several different images can be inferred through the series of questions Keats posed at the end of the first stanza. First of all, Keats suggests the urn contains images of gods and men in “Tempe”, a beautiful valley in Greece known for rural beauty, or in “dales of Arcady,” valleys also known for ideal scenery. Thus, Keats creates an image of beautiful green landscape in the readers’ minds. Also, the vase contains maidens who are trying to escape from the pursuing men. Finally, the urn is carved with a lot of musical instruments and gives an air of extreme happiness and joy.

11. “Unheard melodies” are sweeter than ones already heard because they are mysterious and unknown. “Heard melodies are sweet” but they have already been experienced. Melodies that are unheard remain a mystery so that the listener is constantly trying to imagine what they would sound like. Thus, “unheard melodies” are sweeter because they are enigmatic.

12. The main image on the urn is of a youth who is playing an instrument in order to woo his beloved. The image of the besotted young man and his lover indicate that the person whose ashes were once held inside the urn died without requiting his love. Thus, whoever made the urn tried to immortalize the lovers and give them a beautiful ending where they live happily ever after.

13. Keats tries to convince the dead youth that unrequited love is the best to have. Although the youth can never receive a kiss, his lover “cannot fade” so that she will always be beautiful and youthful. He emphasizes that even though “never canst though kiss,” the youth’s lover will be “fair!” Thus, even though the youth cannot be with his beloved, he will be able to see her forever youthful and beautiful.

14. In the third stanza, Keats declares that requited love is the best kind of love. He says that the lovers will have “for ever piping songs for ever new” and will “never bid the spring adieu.” Therefore, because of the young man’s early death, the requited love becomes “More happy love! More happy, happy love!” Keats’s argument begins to fall apart with the repetition of the word “happy” and the use of exclamation marks because he seems to try, almost too hard, to convince the audience that this kind of love equals happiness. His stance becomes increasingly unbelievable as he declares that requited love “leaves a heart-sorrowful and cloy’d, A burning forehead, and a parching tongue.” With such strong, negative opinions of love, Keats seems to be basing love off his own, perhaps troubled, experiences.

15. “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” is used by Keats to demonstrate that, even after death, happiness and beauty exists. Keats uses the motto to comfort himself because the beauty of the urn gives him confidence that happiness exists even after death. In the last line of the poem, Keats declares “that is all Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know” to convince himself and the audience that there is an existence after earth, or after death.

16. Autumn is a season of change; it is the calm before the winter. When autumn comes, students have to go to school again; it signals the end of play and the beginning of work. Also, autumn is the season where Thanksgiving occurs which gives the season a warm, happy aura.