"Ode on a Grecian Urn"

Poetry | John Keats

Do you think Keats is an escapist?

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Do you think Keats is an escapist Give reasons John Keats - often seems like an escapist in his poems This is because he tries to run away from pain and find comfort in beauty art or imagination But he also knows that escaping does not solve real problems Keats Wants to Escape Harsh Reality In Ode to a Nightingale Keats feels sad about life s struggles sickness aging and death He knows this world is full of The weariness the fever and the fret Here people grows pale and spectre-thin and dies The nightingale s happy song makes him want to leave these worries behind He imagines flying away with the bird to a magical world where joy never ends He says to the nightingale Away away for I will fly to thee Similarly in Ode on a Grecian Urn he admires the urn s frozen pictures The lovers

on the urn never grow old the trees never lose their leaves and the music never stops These scenes let him forget about time and death For a moment he pretends art can replace real life Escaping Does Not Work Keats soon realizes that escaping is just a temporary fix In Ode to a Nightingale the bird flies away leaving him alone again The happiness he felt disappears and he is back to his sad reality In Ode on a Grecian Urn Keats admits the urn s beauty is cold and silent Though the lover will love her forever and she will be fair forever they can never kiss Bold Lover never never canst thou kiss The urn s world is perfect but lifeless Keats learns that art cannot replace real human experiences like love or joy For these reasons Keats is not a full escapist because he does not lie to himself He knows art and imagination cannot fix life s problems They only give short breaks from pain His poems show both his desire to escape and his acceptance that he cannot

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