Review of “Ode on a Grecian Urn” (1819)

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John Keats (writer).

Whatever you think of his borderline-obscurantist Romantic poetics, Keats nails the enchantment of seeing well-preserved ancient art. In this case, the art is a fictional amalgamation based on objects Keats had seen, in contrast to “Ozymandias” (1818), which was inspired by a specific statue, but one that Shelley had not seen.

References here: “I Died for Beauty, but Was Scarce” (1862), “Further in Summer Than the Birds” (1865), “The Silver Key” (1929).

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