The Urn
The urn is the star of the show, and it is described in several different ways. In the beginning of the poem, it’s a married bride (but still virginal). Then the speaker looks more closely at...
The First Scene: Men and Maidens
Of all the scenes on the pot, the speaker gets most jazzed about this one. And we can’t really blame him. It looks like a wild party with attractive young people. He contrasts the perpetual e...
The Second Scene: A Young Musician
The speaker and the beautiful young musician have a lot in common. They are both solitary artists trying to produce melodic lines. Their music is directed not at the ears but to the inner "spirit."...
The Third Scene: A Sacrifice
The scene of the priest leading a young female cow to be sacrificed seems to come out of nowhere after the steamy, agitated third stanza. What purpose does the scene serve? Is it necessary to the p...
Plants and Trees
It’s practically a jungle in this poem. There are trees, flowers, weeds, and branches all around. It’s a pastoral poem, so we might expect to see a lot of vegetation. By the end, howeve...