What is the first word that pops into your head when you hear the word Urn? Some might think of death, pottery or some people just might not know what an urn is. For John Keats an urn is a beautiful piece of art and love, and just a pinch of loneliness mixed all mixed together. "Ode on a Grecian Urn" is one Keats' masterpieces. Keats' poem encompasses three main themes of the Romantic period, imagination and fantasy; personal expression, the person is often the author; and the uses of symbolism and imagery where objects are endowed with significance beyond their obvious appearance, function or meaning.
             Keats starts the poem with references to a woodland scene. He uses this image to begin a series of questions that begin to unravel the mysteries of the urn.
             A flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:
             What leaf-fring'd legend haunts about thy shape
             What men or gods ore these? What maidens loth?
             What mad pursuit? What struggle to escape?
             What pipes and timbrels? What wild ecstasy?
             In these lines Keats is looking at the urn and asking, "what tales do you have to offer to me? What kind of tales are these? What are you all about?" Keats uses these questions to grasp the readers' attention and to get a mental picture or idea of the urn and it's beauty. The Tempe is valley in Greece and has now come to represent supreme rural beauty. The dales of Arcady are a set of valleys in the state of Arcady of ancient Greece they are often used to represent the pastoral ideal. The reference to pipes and timbrels, is a reference to musical instruments of ancient Greece. Keats is describing through question; letting the reader create his or her own picture of the images on the urn. This creates more of a fantastic view of the images.
             Keats had a very hard childhood and is reflected in this poem. Keats lost his mother and brother to tuberculosis, h
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