Tim Turnbull's "Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn" first appeared in his 2009 collection Caligula on Ice and Other Poems. Parodying John Keats's famous "Ode on a Grecian Urn," this poem's speaker casts an amused eye over a vase by contemporary British artist Grayson Perry, its sides decorated with images of rowdy kids making a ruckus in the street at night. This artwork, the speaker suggests, preserves and celebrates a part of British working-class culture that might just form the basis of a pearl-clutching newspaper "exposé" in its own time. Art immortalizes fleeting moments, this poem suggests, and it also transforms and perhaps glorifies the everyday.

• Read the full text of “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn”

• “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn” Summary

• “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn” Themes

  • 

    The Power of Art

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-50
  • 

    British Culture and Class

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-7
    • Line 10
    • Lines 11-40
  • 

    Art, Time, and Interpretation

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 41-50
  • 

    The Thrill of Youth

    Where this theme appears in the poem:

    • Lines 3-7
    • Lines 16-30
    • Lines 31-50

• Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn”

  • Lines 1-2

    Hello! What's all ...
    ... has knocked out

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 3-10

    delineating tales of ...
    ... Daily Express exposé,

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 11-20

    can bring to ...
    ... befall these children.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 20-30

    They will stay ...
    ... of chlamydia roulette.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 31-40

    Now see who ...
    ... for the rich.

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 41-46

    And so, millennia ...
    ... free and bountiful

    

    

    

    

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  • Lines 47-50

    and there, beneath ...
    ... .

    

    

    

    

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• “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn” Symbols

  • 

    The Grayson Perry Vase

    Where this symbol appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “A kitschy vase / some Shirley Temple manqué has knocked out”
    • Lines 41-46: “And so, millennia hence, you garish crock, / when all context is lost, galleries razed / to level dust and we're long in the box, / will future poets look on you amazed, / speculate how children might have lived when / you were fired, lives so free and bountiful”

• “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language

  • Allusion

    

    

    

    

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    Where allusion appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “A kitschy vase / some Shirley Temple manqué has knocked out”
    • Lines 3-4: “kids in cars / on crap estates, the Burberry clad louts”
    • Line 10: “a Daily Express exposé”
    • Lines 13-14: “the joyful throb of UK garage or / of house imported from the continent”
    • Line 28: “every pair of Calvin’s and each thong”
    • Line 32: “Buckfast and Diamond White”
    • Line 33: “rat-boys and corn-rowed cheerleaders”
    • Lines 48-50: “How happy were those creatures then, / who knew the truth was all negotiable / and beauty in the gift of the beholder / .”

  • Apostrophe

    

    

    

    

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    Where apostrophe appears in the poem:

    • Lines 8-9: “Your gaudy evocation can, somehow, / conjure the scene without inducing fright,”
    • Lines 41-46: “And so, millennia hence, you garish crock, / when all context is lost, galleries razed / to level dust and we're long in the box, / will future poets look on you amazed, / speculate how children might have lived when / you were fired, lives so free and bountiful”

  • Imagery

    

    

    

    

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    Where imagery appears in the poem:

    • Lines 4-5: “the Burberry clad louts / who flail their motors through the smoky night”
    • Lines 11-13: “the throaty turbo roar / of hatchbacks tuned almost to breaking point, / the joyful throb of UK garage or”
    • Lines 16-17: “the screech of tyres and the nervous squeals / of girls”
    • Line 24: “the wide motorways”
    • Lines 34-36: “write / their donut Os, as signature, upon / the bleached tarmac of dead suburban streets”
    • Line 41: “you garish crock”

  • Enjambment

    

    

    

    

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    Where enjambment appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-2: “vase / some”
    • Lines 2-3: “out / delineating”
    • Lines 3-4: “cars / on”
    • Lines 4-5: “louts / who”
    • Lines 5-6: “night / from”
    • Lines 11-12: “roar / of”
    • Lines 13-14: “or / of”
    • Lines 14-15: “continent / and”
    • Lines 16-17: “squeals / of”
    • Lines 17-18: “appreciate / the”
    • Lines 18-19: “wheels / will”
    • Lines 19-20: “harm / befall”
    • Lines 20-21: “late / forever”
    • Lines 22-23: “speed / the”
    • Lines 24-25: “need / to”
    • Lines 29-30: “head / in”
    • Lines 33-34: “urge / them”
    • Lines 34-35: “write / their”
    • Lines 35-36: “upon / the”
    • Lines 37-38: “twitch / as”
    • Lines 38-39: “telephone / the”
    • Lines 42-43: “razed / to”
    • Lines 45-46: “when / you”
    • Lines 46-47: “bountiful / and”
    • Lines 49-50: “negotiable / and”

  • Colloquialism

    

    

    

    

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    Where colloquialism appears in the poem:

    • Line 1: “Hello! What's all this here?”
    • Line 4: “crap estates”
    • Line 26: “Each girl is buff, each geezer toned and strong”
    • Line 28: “every pair of Calvin’s and each thong”
    • Line 34: “more burn-outs”
    • Lines 34-35: “write / their donut Os”
    • Line 37: “dogs set up a row”

  • Irony

    

    

    

    

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    Where irony appears in the poem:

    • Lines 1-10: “Hello! What's all this here? A kitschy vase / some Shirley Temple manqué has knocked out / delineating tales of kids in cars / on crap estates, the Burberry clad louts / who flail their motors through the smoky night / from Manchester to Motherwell or Slough, / creating bedlam on the Queen's highway. / Your gaudy evocation can, somehow, / conjure the scene without inducing fright, / as would a Daily Express exposé,”
    • Lines 41-50: “And so, millennia hence, you garish crock, / when all context is lost, galleries razed / to level dust and we're long in the box, / will future poets look on you amazed, / speculate how children might have lived when / you were fired, lives so free and bountiful / and there, beneath a sun a little colder, / declare  / How happy were those creatures then, / who knew the truth was all negotiable / and beauty in the gift of the beholder / .”

• “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn” 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.

  • Kitschy
  • Shirley Temple manqué
  • Knocked out
  • Delineating
  • Estates
  • Burberry
  • Louts
  • Bedlam
  • Gaudy
  • Evocation
  • Inducing
  • Daily Express
  • Garage, House
  • The continent
  • Educe
  • Gyratory
  • Buff
  • Geezer
  • Each pair of Calvin's
  • Chlamydia
  • The sparse grass verge
  • Buckfast and Diamond White
  • Tarmac
  • Row
  • Pensioners
  • Garish crock
  • Razed
  • (Location in poem: Line 1: “A kitschy vase”)

• Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn”

  • Form

  • Meter

  • Rhyme Scheme

• “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn” Speaker

• “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn” Setting

• Literary and Historical Context of “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn”

• More “Ode on a Grayson Perry Urn” Resources

  • External Resources

    • Turnbull's Website — Visit Turnbull's website to learn more about his work.

    • The Poem Aloud — Listen to Turnbull performing the poem.

    • A Brief Biography — Learn more about Turnbull's life.

    • The Poem in its Time — Read an article about this poem's place in the British curriculum.

    • Ode on a Grecian Urn — Read the great poem that Turnbull parodies here.

    • Grayson Perry's Urns — See images of some of Grayson Perry's artwork.

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