On Seeing the Elgin Marbles by John Keats

While reading Keat's poem, I was somewhat confused. What are the "Elgin Marbles?" After reading the poem, I googled "Elgin Marbles" and found out that they were friezes/statues originally in the Parthenon. Their history, however, intrigued me. These friezes were not originally called the "Elgin Marbles;" they are essentially the Parthenon Marbles, but they were taken by Lord Elgin to stay in Britain. This acquisition was extremely controversial, some saw it as an act of vandalism, while others saw it as a contribution to Britain's museums. But why did Keats write about this? Some would say Keats related to the art; most of it is battle scenes. However, I think Keats saw Elgin's act as a crime; a robbery of out of this world art, which should rightfully stay in its home.

The poem itself is depressing; Keats talks about how he is in pain and going to die. But I think he feels this way because he knows these works were stolen from their homeland, almost like they are dying a slow and painful death by being in a foreign place. The lines, "So do these wonders a most dizzy pain, That mingles Grecian grandeur with the rude, Wasting of old time--with a billowy main--A sun--a shadow of magnitude" emphasize this death. The art works are sitting in a foreign land dying slowly, like a the sun dying out and becoming a shadow. Also, Keats provides clues to how the art works would have been, as in "And each imagined pinnacle and steep," or, "So do these wonders a most dizzy pain." Had the Elgin Marbles been in their rightful home of Greece, the imagined continuity of all the art in the Parthenon is unimaginable. But, since they are in Britain, no one can truly appreciate their beauty without their appropriate context. Had Elgin not stolen this art, it would have been in its homeland, alive, with everyone seeing the supernatural power of art in its original context.

For more information, see wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elgin_Marbles