Stanza 1 Summary

Lines 1-4

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;

• One morning, the speaker recounts, he awoke to see three figures. This sounds like the start of a good scary story.
• He continues his story of the spooky-sounding vision.
• The figures were holding hands and bowing their necks, and standing so that he could only see their sides.
• Um, what?
• Stay with us. These figures seemed calm, walking one-behind-the-other with their hands clasped.
• He then describes their apparel: they were wearing sandals and robes, kind of like they were figures from Greek myth or something.
• Hmm. They don't sound like something from a nightmare. This is a pretty peaceful vision.
• The figures aren't the only thing quickly visible in the poem, though. Each line is written in a very particular meter and rhyme.
• The rhyme seems easy enough for now and the meter is one considered standard for much of classic poetry: iambic pentameter.
• Sound like we're speaking a foreign language? Head over to "Form and Meter" for the full scoop.

Line 5-8

  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;

• Ah, that explains it. Using a simile, the speaker compares the strange figures to paintings on a big vase; when you turn the vase, they rotate in an endless dance.
• At least, that's how they appeared to the speaker.
• They aren't the only thing repeating, though. Check out the rhyme scheme happening in these first eight lines.
• The first four lines have a particular rhyme scheme. The final word of every other line rhymes.
• That's called an "ABAB" rhyme scheme, where each letter stands for a line's end rhyme.
• But these four lines change it up a little: "urn" rhymes with "return," and "side" and "more" don't rhyme at all.
• These four lines are therefore written in "CDEC" rhyme scheme. Let's keep an eye on that pattern as we go.
• Hit up "Form and Meter" for more on how this poem is put together.

Lines 9-10

 And they were strange to me, as may betide
With vases, to one deep in Phidian lore.

• Keats references Phidias here, a sculpture and religious icon artist who lived in Ancient Greece and is pretty much totally responsible for classical Greek-god imagery.
• The speaker thinks that these vase-like visions are strange ones, that they would be for anyone, even someone who knew a lot about ancient Greek sculpture.
• Notice the tense? The speaker says that they were strange to him.
• Maybe he has since gotten used to these visions, or at least figured out their origins.
• Let's read on…