Ode on Iambs
Keats was not only a big fan of odes, he was a fan of writing them in a pretty specific form.
Just take a gander at how the poem spreads out on the page. We have six ten-line stanzas, and the lines look roughly the same length.If we look a little closer at Keats' form and meter, though, we'll start to see even more patterns.
First, there are definitely quite a few end rhymes going on here. Each stanza follows the same rhyme scheme, with the first four lines rhyming every other last word. For example:
One morn before me were three figures seen,
With bowèd necks, and joinèd hands, side-faced;
And one behind the other stepp'd serene,
In placid sandals, and in white robes graced; (1-4)
"Seen" and "serene" rhyme, as do "faced" and "graced." Pretty standard stuff, huh? This is called an ABAB rhyme scheme, and the first four lines of every stanza are written in this pattern.
It doesn't stay that simple for long, though. Keats likes to change it up a little with the next six lines; check out the final word in each:
They pass'd, like figures on a marble urn,
When shifted round to see the other side;
They came again; as when the urn once more
Is shifted round, the first seen shades return;
And they were strange to me, as may betide
With vases, to one deep in Phidian lore. (5-10)
The final six lines are written in CDECDE. And what's more: Keats changes it up in each stanza, just to keep us on our toes. (By the by: end rhyme isn't the only type of rhyme Keats uses. Check out "Sound Check" for more of his sonic tricks.)
There's something else going on within the lines: meter. Try reading to following line aloud, paying attention to the number of syllables in the line and the way they sound:
So, ye three Ghosts, adieu! Ye cannot raise (51)
Chances are, you heard the line like this:
So, ye three Ghosts, adieu! Ye cannot raise
There are ten syllables in the line, arranged in consecutive pairs of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable. These pairs of syllables are called feet, and a pair that consists of one unstressed syllable followed by one stressed syllable is called an iamb.
And since there are five pairs of iambs in every line, the poem is therefore written in iambic pentameter (penta- just means five).
Sound familiar? It should. Rhymed iambic pentameter appears in a ton of stuff, from Chaucer's Canterbury Tales to a certain play involving doomed lovers and lots of swordfights.
Maybe that's why Keats used it again and again in his Great Odes.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?