O Attic shape! Fair attitude! with brede
Of marble men and maidens overwrought,
With forest branches and the trodden weed;
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st,
"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.
-- Actually I think the last two lines are my favorite of the poem, but
I felt like it needed at least some context. I've read that there is a
debate about who or what (the urn?) is speaking and whom the audience is,
but regardless I think it's cool.
