# III: Camma explained — Poetry > Chapter companion for Poetry by Oscar Wilde. ## What happens The speaker compares the act of studying a Grecian urn to the experience of beholding Ellen Terry as Camma, standing stern and antique-limbed in the shrine of Artemis. Yet he expresses a desire to see her play Cleopatra, the serpent of old Nile, whose witchery could make emperors drunk, and calls for her to make the world her Actium and him her Anthony, rejecting unreal passions for a grander, more real drama. ## Themes in this chapter ### Beauty and Aesthetics The speaker pores over a Grecian urn, captivated by the beauty of its sculpted forms, and compares this aesthetic rapture to seeing Ellen Terry as Camma. ### Classical Mythology and Antiquity References to Grecian urn, Artemis, Cleopatra, and Actium evoke classical and ancient settings. ## Character check-ins ### Ellen Terry Addressed as Camma, standing in the shrine of Artemis, and later imagined as Cleopatra. ### Artemis Mentioned as the goddess in whose midmost shrine Camma stands. ### Anthony Referenced as the speaker's desired role in relation to Cleopatra's Actium. ## Key lines > As one who poring on a Grecian urn Scans the fair shapes some Attic hand hath made, God with slim goddess, goodly man with maid, And for their beauty’s sake is loth to turn And face the obvious day, must I not yearn For many a secret moon of indolent bliss, When in midmost shrine of Artemis I see thee standing, antique-limbed, and stern? Just as someone studying a Greek vase is reluctant to look away from its beautiful figures of gods and mortals, I cannot help but long for those secret, lazy nights when I see you standing in Artemis's temple, looking ancient and severe. _The speaker compares his fixation on Ellen Terry's performance as Camma to the aesthetic absorption of a classical art lover._ > And yet⁠—methinks I’d rather see thee play That serpent of old Nile, whose witchery Made Emperors drunken⁠—come, great Egypt, shake Our stage with all thy mimic pageants! But I think I would prefer to see you perform as Cleopatra, the enchantress who intoxicated rulers—come, great Egyptian queen, fill our theater with your grand spectacles! _The speaker shifts from admiring Camma to expressing a desire for Ellen Terry to play Cleopatra, a more passionate and dramatic role._ > Nay, I am grown sick of unreal passions, make The world thine Actium, me thine Anthony! No, I have become weary of artificial emotions—make the world your battlefield of Actium, and me your Mark Antony! _The speaker rejects theatrical artifice and calls for a grand, real passion, casting himself as Antony to her Cleopatra._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters/iii-camma - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_18_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/poetry_18_se/chapters