¶ … Ode on a Grecian Urn" by John Keats; "The Convergence of the Twain" by Thomas Hardy; and "Fern Hill" by Dylan Thomas. Specifically, it will identify the common theme in these three poems, which is time. Time stops in all three poems for various reasons, and adds to the impact of each poem in a special way. COMMON THEME

In "Ode on a Grecian Urn," Keats is celebrating the past, stopped in time for a moment on an ancient Grecian urn. Time stands still on the urn, and all the people depicted on it are caught in a fleeting moment of time. Nothing around them can ever change, from the trees, to their love, to their age. "Thy song, nor ever can those trees be bare; / Bold Lover, never, never canst thou kiss, / Though winning near the goal yet, do not grieve; / She cannot fade, though thou hast not thy bliss, / For ever wilt thou love, and she be fair!" (Keats 16-20).

The Grecian urn is ancient, and we can only guess at the lives of the people depicted on it, but their lives have been stopped so we can enjoy them for just a moment, and Keats is celebrating their lives as much as their depiction in his poem. History is a look back in time. Learning about history is looking back at what happened through a magnifying glass. However, looking back at something tangible, like an ancient Grecian urn, it more like looking back at a snapshot in time. By looking at the urn, historians know how people dressed, what they ate, what type of plants were common, and what people did to amuse themselves. Keats description of a fictional urn amounts to the same thing. Whether...

"As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral! / When old age shall this generation waste, / Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe" (Keats 45-47). Many generations have passed since Keats wrote this poem, and many more have passed since the urn was created, but it is caught in a moment in time, just as the poem captures a moment in time. The poem is so vivid; the reader can almost see the people depicted on the urn, keeping them alive even though they are frozen in time. Time is the ultimate theme in this poem, and it makes it all the stronger by tying in the present to the past. The reader can see the great gap, and yet realize these people were not so different than we are, and the gap is not really that large at all.
Similarly, in "The Convergence of the Twain," Hardy is also delving into the past, in a moment stopped in time. Everyone knows the story of the "Titanic" and her tragic sinking. This poem is an ode to the ship, and the people who died on that cold night in 1915. Time literally stopped for them that night, and Hardy illustrates just how permanent and unforgiving time can be. "Jewels in joy designed / To ravish the sensuous mind / Lie lightless, all their sparkles bleared and black and blind" (Hardy 10-12).

The "Titanic" disaster was a tragedy, just as the tone of Hardy's poem is tragic. The ocean is merciless, and only a few of the luckier passengers escaped fate. "And as the smart ship grew / In stature, grace, and hue, / In shadowy silent distance grew…