Written in 1819, 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' was the third of the five 'great odes' of 1819, which are generally believed to have been written in the following order - Psyche, Nightingale, Grecian Urn, Melancholy, and Autumn.  Of the five, Grecian Urn and Melancholy are merely dated '1819'.  Critics have used vague references in Keats's letters as well as thematic progression to assign order.  ('Ode on Indolence', though written in March 1819, perhaps before Grecian Urn, is not considered one of the 'great odes'.)

This ode contains the most discussed two lines in all of Keats's poetry - '"Beauty is truth, truth beauty," - that is all/Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'  The exact meaning of those lines is disputed by everyone; no less a critic than TS Eliot considered them a blight upon an otherwise beautiful poem.  Scholars have been unable to agree to whom the last thirteen lines of the poem are addressed.  Arguments can be made for any of the four most obvious possibilities, -poet to reader, urn to reader, poet to urn, poet to figures on the urn.  The issue is further confused by the change in quotation marks between the original manuscript copy of the ode and the 1820 published edition.  (This issue is further discussed at the bottom of this page.)

You can view part of the earliest known manuscript at this website.  Please note that it is a transcription in George Keats's handwriting; Keats's original manuscript / first draft is lost.

<http://englishhistory.net/keats/poetry/odeonagrecianurn.html>