Upon Seeing The Elgin Marbles

γλυπτά του παρθενώνα also known as the elgin marbles ˈɛlɡɪn are a collection of classical greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of the architect and sculptor phidias and his assistants.

Upon seeing the elgin marbles.

The classic collection of marble sculptures from parthenon at the british museum commonly known as the elgin marbles has been a vexed source of doubt appreciation enthusiasm disapproval and. Themes in on seeing the elgin marbles the worth of human artistry the poem is a reflection on the pleasures and the pains of human creativity. Elgin marbles collection of ancient greek sculptures and architectural details in the british museum london where they are now called the parthenon sculptures. When he caught tuberculosis in july of 1820 many of the sonnets he wrote contained his recognition of mortality.

The parthenon marbles greek. On seeing the elgin marbles john keats 1795 1821 my spirit is too weak mortality weighs heavily on me like unwilling sleep and each imagined pinnacle and steep of godlike hardship tells me i must die like a sick eagle looking at the sky. His thoughts of mortality upon seeing the elgin marbles as well of the greatness of the elgin marbles themselves are so overwhelming therefore making his spirit too weak. Now the sculptures are in fragments and in london no longer a living part of religion but exhibits in a museum.

Forgive me that i cannot speak the academy of american poets is the largest membership based nonprofit organization fostering an appreciation for contemporary poetry and supporting american poets. The longman anthology of poetry palgrave 2006. The marbles have immense beauty and grandeur but they used to be part of the frieze on the parthenon in athens. Lord elgin made an expedition to the parthenon in greece returning with a significant number of marble statues and friezes which he subsequently sold to the british museum in 1816.

The sonnet on seeing the elgin marbles tells the reader how john keats struggles with mortality and that struggle brought this sonnet to express that accepting fate exceeds denying an inevitable death. The marbles represent the best of human imagination. Forgive me that i cannot speak. Synopsis of on seeing the elgin marbles upon seeing the elgin marbles keats is overcome by a sense of his own mortality.

To haydon with a sonnet written on seeing the elgin marbles haydon. For the book see the elgin marbles book.