Shelley introduces a first person speaker to convey what he has learned from a traveler to a distant land; feeling of progression ; with Keats, the speaker suggests a timelessness after the creation of the urn
both poets elevate the artist and reveal the beauty (painful beauty)
monumental and civic art versus a more personal, crafted art--the beauty is ephemeral
urn--the beauty is eternal so long as the vessel remains in tact (immortal)
Ramses II's monument reflects his mortality even though he sought immortality
Urn fixes a moment in time
 

II. Overview of Keats
III. Presentations
IV. Victorian Period

John Keats (1795-1821)

Keats was the son of a stableman, but had access to education until the age of 15, when he became a Surgeon's apprentice to Thomas Hammond.
Trained as an apothecary at Guy's Hospital in London
Became engaged to Fanny Brawne, but couldn't marry her because of his straightened economic circumstances.
Had foreboding of death and this feeling infuses his poetry.
Wrote odes and sonnets.
Feared the influences of other writers, so he composed his work in relative isolation
He died at his prime of tuberculosis at the age of 26.
 

"Ode On a Grecian Urn"
 

"La Belle Dame Sans Merci" is in ballad form (4 line stanza)
Indicates interest in medieval times--chivalry, knights, the supernatural, the threat of being captivated/paralyzed by women. The use of the dream mode to shift our attention to a distant place. Medieval hierarchy--Kings, princes, knights.  Also the appearance of the exotic--the wild eyes, manna