“On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” Introduction

• Read the full text of “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles”

“On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” Summary

“On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” Themes

• 

  Time and Mortality

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.
• 

  The Power and Limitations of Art

  • See where this theme is active in the poem.

Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles”

• Lines 1-2

  My spirit is too weak—mortality
     Weighs heavily on me like unwilling sleep,

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 3-5

     And each imagined pinnacle and steep
  Of godlike hardship, tells me I must die
  Like a sick eagle looking at the sky.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 6-8

     Yet ’tis a gentle luxury to weep
     That I have not the cloudy winds to keep,
  Fresh for the opening of the morning’s eye.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 9-10

  Such dim-conceived glories of the brain
     Bring round the heart an undescribable feud;

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 11-13

  So do these wonders a most dizzy pain,
     That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rude
  Wasting of old time

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

• Lines 13-14

  with a billowy main—
     A sun—a shadow of a magnitude.

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺

“On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” Symbols

• 

  The Elgin Marbles

  • See where this symbol appears in the poem.

“On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

• Allusion

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Paradox

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Simile

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Caesura

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Enjambment

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Assonance

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

• Alliteration

  

  

  

  

  Unlock with LitCharts A⁺
  • See where this poetic device appears in the poem.

“On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” Vocabulary

Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.

• Mortality
• Pinnacle
• Steep
• Dim-conceived
• Glories
• Feud
• Mingles
• Rude
• Wasting
• A billowy main
• Magnitude

• • See where this vocabulary word appears in the poem.

Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles”

• Form

• Meter

• Rhyme Scheme

“On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” Speaker

“On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” Setting

Literary and Historical Context of “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles”

More “On Seeing the Elgin Marbles” Resources

• External Resources

  • Keats and the Marbles — Read about Keats's personal experiences with the Parthenon Marbles.

  • More on the Parthenon Marbles — Visit the British Museum's website to learn more about the history of (and controversies around) the Parthenon Marbles.

  • Keats's Influence — Read a recent reflection on Keats's enduring importance; 2021 marked 200 years since his death, and he remains a deeply beloved and influential poet.

  • The Debate Over the Marbles — Read a letter to the editor of The Guardian newspaper that discusses Keats's role in the ongoing debate over where the Parthenon Marbles should be housed.

  • The Poem Aloud — Listen to a reading of the poem.

  • A Short Biography — Learn more about Keats's life and work via the British Library's website.

• LitCharts on Other Poems by John Keats

  • A thing of beauty is a joy for ever (from Endymion)

  • Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art

  • In drear nighted December

  • La Belle Dame sans Merci

  • Lamia

  • Ode on a Grecian Urn

  • Ode on Indolence

  • Ode on Melancholy

  • Ode to a Nightingale

  • Ode to Psyche

  • On First Looking into Chapman's Homer

  • On Sitting Down to Read King Lear Once Again

  • On the Grasshopper and Cricket

  • On the Sea

  • The Eve of St. Agnes

  • The Human Seasons

  • This living hand, now warm and capable

  • To Autumn

  • To Sleep

  • When I have Fears That I May Cease to Be