A Scratch Beneath the Surface: The Pastoral Disguise of "An Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats

Through John Keats masterful use of ode and pastoral forms, he is able to create a mask of beauty and happiness. The pleasant imagery, characteristic of the pastoral, paints a thin layer of life and beauty over what really is a dark and violent poem. Beneath the disguise of beauty, irony creates an aura of conflict between idealism and realism throughout the poem. What strikes chords within the reader of the mask is the wavering tone of the speaker. Though the pastoral and ode are generally the majesty and the grandeur of the physical world, Keats is able to manipulate the forms into a con…