Need help in scanning the poem, i.e marking syllables,plz?

Question

scanning is so difficult so plz help me out scanning this lines from poem " Ode on Grecian Urn" by Jhon Keats. THX

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.

Answer 1

I can't improve on the advice above, but since these lines are a bit tricky, I'll just give you my interpretation.  You should agree with me for all but the first and fourth lines-- i.e., the perfect iambic pentameter ones.  There is room for dispute on the others and I've given two interpretations; the primary ones are more naturalistic, but it is important that the second, more formal, options are possible, because the poet does not want to violate the fundamentally iambic backbone too much.

-```-`-`-` (-`-`-`-`-`)

-`-`-`-`-`

-`-`-`-`-`

`--```---` (`--`-`-`-`)

-`-`-`-`-`

(inverted apostrophes (`) are accented syllables; dashes (-) are unaccented)

The way I scanned lines 1 and 4 was to start with the ending syllables, which were easy: `shall this generation waste:' (`-`-`-`), and `...truth beauty, that is all' (-`-`-`).  Then I worked out the beginnings.  I like your guillemets, by the way.

Answer 2

Skip the first line because it's a dozy.  

It's written in iambic pentameter.  Just in case you don't know, that means that you have five (penta) sets of feet that are iambs (short syllable then long syllable).  

The easiest line to see this in is line 3.  If you were speaking naturally, you would never stress the word a more than friend.  Friend is the more important word so it gets the stress.  

When you are trying to scan, make sure you read the poem aloud and put your hands under your jaw because you can sometimes feel the syllable you're emphasizing.  If you are still unsure, play around with the syllables; try stressing different syllables until you figure out which combination sounds natural.  

Keep trying!  This sometimes takes time to learn.