On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer John Keats (1795-1821)

The Poet John Keats was born in London on Halloween in 1795 and died in Rome from tuberculosis at the age of 25. He is noted for writing in a wide range of poetic forms, including the sonnet, Spenserian romance, Miltonic epic, and the ode. His unique style features a “distinctive fusion of earnest energy, control of conflicting perspectives and forces, poetic self-consciousness, and…dry ironic wit.” In his time, reviewers attacked his work as “mawkish and bad-mannered,” "vulgar,” and as consisting of "the most incongruous ideas in the most uncouth language."

A Romantic Poet “Keats today is seen as one of the canniest readers, interpreters, questioners, of the ‘modern’ poetic project…to create poetry in a world devoid of mythic grandeur, poetry that sought its wonder in the desires and sufferings of the human heart. Beyond his precise sense of the difficulties presented him in his own literary-historical moment, he developed with unparalleled rapidity, in a relative handful of extraordinary poems, a rich, powerful, and exactly controlled poetic style that ranks Keats as one of the greatest lyric poets in English” (Poetry Foundation).

Title The title refers to George Chapman’s translation of Homer’s The Illiad and The Odyssey. It suggests that Keats was inspired by Homer’s work and in particular, Chapman’s translation. Keats found the work so personally meaningful that upon his first reading he was moved to compare the experience to other emotional and imaginative states.

Paraphrase Much have I travell’d in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; Round many western islands have I been Where bards in fealty to Apollo hold. Keats’ imagination is vast. He has read and explored the classics of the literary world.

Paraphrase Oft of one wide expanse had I been told That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne: Yet did I never breathe its pure serene Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold: But before reading Chapman’s translation he did not understand the genius and deep thought of Homer’s work.

Paraphrase Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken; Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes He stared at the Pacific—and all his men Reading Chapman’s translation has revealed a new dimension or world to Keats. It has given him a new sense of power. He compares it to looking in the sky and finding a new planet or to the discovery of the Pacific.

Paraphrase Look’d at each other with a wild surmise- Silent, upon a peak in Darien. The discovery of the Pacific left Cortez’s men speechless and full of wonder… …just like Keats upon reading Chapman’s Homer?

Figurative Language Much have I travell’d in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; Round many western islands have I been Where bards in fealty to Apollo hold. Allusions “western islands” = the voyages of Odysseus “bards” = Shakespeare? Or poets in general Apollo = Greek God of music and poetry

Figurative Language Oft of one wide expanse had I been told That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne: Yet did I never breathe its pure serene Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold: Metaphor “one wide expanse” = poetry, as vast as the sea “demense” = estate, property “Yet did I never breathe its pure serene”

Figurative Language Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken; Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes He stared at the Pacific—and all his men Simile “Then felt I like some watcher of the skies” and “Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes” Personification “When a new planet swims into his ken”

Figurative Language Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken; Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes He stared at the Pacific—and all his men As the men who discovered the Pacific did not just glance at it but stared at it and digested its beauty, so too did Keats take in with full amazement the beauty of Homer’s epic.

Figurative Language Look’d at each other with a wild surmise- Silent, upon a peak in Darien. Diction “wild surmise” suggests Keats has an extreme excitement and curiosity about the work Allusion “Darien” = isthmus in Panama

Figurative Language Structure 14 lines ABBA ABBA CDCDCD rhyme scheme Petrarchan sonnet: octave and sestet “The octave bears the burden; a doubt, a problem, a reflection, a query, an historical statement, a cry of indignation or desire, a vision of the ideal. The sestet eases the load, resolves the problem or doubt, answers the query, solaces the yearning, realizes the vision” (Filreis).

Attitude/Tone “Then I felt like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken” “Look’d at each other with a wild surmise- Silent, upon a peak in Darien.” Strong senses and heightened emotions, evoke a feeling of awe, and an excitement at discovery

Shift Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken; Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes He stared at the Pacific- and all his men “Then” moves the poem to the new idea of how Chapman’s Homer effects Keats.

Theme Think outside the box and extend beyond this poem! What is the message for you? Watch the video on the next slide. What enduring understanding is revealed by examining this modern-day allusion to Keats’ sonnet?

An Unconventional “Reading” What enduring understanding is revealed by examining this modern-day allusion to Keats’ sonnet?

Theme What enduring understanding is revealed by examining this modern-day allusion to Keats’ sonnet? http://youtu.be/xMT67_uGEGU