Ode on a Grecian Urn Sex Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (stanza.line)

Quote #4

More happy love! more happy, happy love!
For ever warm and still to be enjoy'd,
For ever panting, and for ever young; (lines 25-27)

You might notice that the speaker starts getting really excited and repetitive in the stanza that also happens to be the steamiest. Coincidence? We think not. These lines provide some justification for treating the references to "love" as sexual in nature. Words and phrases like, "warm," "panting," and "still to be enjoy’d" show that he’s not talking about a chaste, Platonic love.

Quote #5

All breathing human passion far above,
That leaves a heart high-sorrowful and cloy'd,
A burning forehead, and a parching tongue. (lines 28-30)

Love hurts. This is the ugly side of sex and love, the one that leaves you feeling sad and oppressed ("cloy’d") by thoughts of the object of your affection. But the people on the urn don’t need to deal with this downside. The guys on the urn don’t have to worry about whether or not their desires will be satisfied, because they can remain in the same state forever. But in the real world, someone longing for love could end up feeling like a person who is dying of thirst in the desert.