Ode on a Grecian Urn

“La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad” by John Keats (1819)

Written in the same year as “Ode on a Grecian Urn,” Keats’ ballad provides a contrast in tone, subject, and form to the neoclassical elements of an ode written in iambic pentameter. Using more traditionally Romantic subject matter, such as a mysterious woman, a supernatural and dreamlike event, and a medieval context, “La Belle Dame sans Merci” explores more deeply the pain of unrequited love and the ideal romantic encounter by placing it in a Medieval context, rather than a Hellenic exploration of classical ideals.

“The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” by Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1834)

Written by one of the foremost English Romantic poets, “The Rime of the Ancient Mariner” transports readers into a realm where imagination, the supernatural, and the natural world combine. The poem recounts a sailor’s experiences after he returns from a long sea voyage. The sailor stops a man who is on his way to a wedding and begins telling the man his story. Though the sailor’s journey began with good fortune, a storm pushed the ship south toward the Antarctic. An albatross appeared and led the ship from the ice jam preventing the ship from moving, and even though the other sailors praised and fed the albatross, the sailor shot it.