On first looking into Chapman’s Homer

Question 1

structure

Answer 1

• poem is a Petrarchan sonnet and Keats uses its structure as an integral part of its meaning. As common in Petrarchan sonnets, its rhyme scheme is a b b a a b b a in the octave and c d e c d e in the sestet
• octave is dominated by theme of exploration and the metaphor or poet as literary adventurer
• sestet then develops the theme of discovery, with the use of similes through which Keats conveys his sense of wonder
• poem progresses from a steady opening (‘much .. And .. Round .. Oft’) via the turning point of encounter (‘Yet .. Til .. Then’) to a breathless climax which dramatically captures the sense of wonder of the explorer

Question 2

context

Answer 2

• written while he was a student @ school
• George Chapman (1554 – 1634) was an English poet and dramatist of the Elizabethan age, who translated Homer’s works in 1596
• poet says that he experienced new sensations on reading Homer in Chapman’s translation
  = comparing it to astronomical discovery and geographic exploration
  = emphasising the profound impact of this literary discovery through these powerful metaphors of exploration and discovery
• October 1816 Keats’ friend, Cowden Clarke, invited the poet to his rooms in Clerkenwell to show him a book that was being passed around the friends of Leigh Hunt
  = this was a 1616 folio edition of George Chapman’s translation of Homer
• critics say Keats’ interest in literary tradition stems from19th century class struggles
  = Keats’ father was an ostler= he ran a livery where travellers could hire horses from for their journeys
  = Keats was anxious about his social background and his education
• Keats’ poetry received harsh criticism from some critics, not least because of the fact that he was a qualified apothecary= such a profession was seen by some to be beneath the dignity of a poet
• Tory critic John Gibson Lockhart was scathing of Keats’ work, and writing anonymously in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, noted that Keats was destined ‘to the career of medicine, and he was bound apprentice some years ago to a worthy apothecary in town’
• Andrew Motion (Keats, 1997) suggests the poem is ‘about exclusion as well as inclusion’
  = title suggests that Keats had come late to high culture (it is On First Looking)
  = draws attention to the fact that he could not read Homer in the original Greek

Question 3

old novels he’s read

Answer 3

• expresses intellectual and literary pleasures that he derived from reading ballads and romances of the olden times
• “realms of gold”
  = reference to “Eldorado” poem meaning about a knight that goes out in search for Eldorado, which is a fabled city filled with riches
  = reading is as valuable and rewarding as discovering treasure
  = entire passage is steeped in classical allusions, grounding the poem in the literary canon and intellectual heritage
  = metaphorical image representing the world of classical literature and imagination, suggesting richness, value, and something precious
• “many goodly states and kingdoms” and “western islands”
  = evoke grand, exotic, and almost mythical places, stimulating the reader’s imagination
  = geographical and exotic imagery= places aren’t literal but symbolic of the imaginative landscapes accessed through poetry
  = portrayal emphasises how literature offers an escape from the mundane and allows the mind to voyage through unfamiliar and magnificent territories

Question 4

tone

Answer 4

• first of Keats’ poems in which emotion is fully controlled and sustained throughout the verse
• tone shifts from reflective to ecstatic= highlighting the transformative power of literature
  = final line, “Silent, upon a peak in Darien,” ends the poem on a powerful image of stillness and awe= embodying the ultimate effect of imaginative escape
  = caesura after “Silent,” isolates the moment, drawing attention to the intensity of the experience

Question 5

imagery

Answer 5

• dominant images of travel and discovery
  = ‘states and kingdoms’, ‘islands’, ‘new planet’, ‘the Pacific’
  = Keats presents himself as one of the explorers of the past, giving his explorations in the realms of literature a similar sense of adventure and heroism

Question 6

Keats claiming his poetic vocation

Answer 6

• poetry is seen as an empire of the mind, something which sets free the imagination, which is an imaginative conquest
  = poem marks a turning-point in Keats’ development
  = full power of the god Apollo has been revealed to him and there can be no doubt that Keats has found his literary vocation
  = he has discovered not only Chapman’s Homer but also his true poetic self
• “bards in fealty to Apollo”
  = situates literature within a divine and mythological tradition but also positions poets as loyal servants of imagination and beauty

Question 7

new adventure

Answer 7

• “Apollo”
  = biblical allusion to Greek god of poetry and music= invokes classical tradition of poetry and poets who serve the god of poetry
• turning point in the poem marked by “Then felt I like…”
  = simile to convey the speaker’s overwhelming sense of discovery
• compares his reaction to 2 powerful moments of human revelation
  = an astronomer “when a new planet swims into his ken” and “stout Cortez” discovering the Pacific
  = similes elevate the act of reading to the level of scientific and historical discovery= presenting literature as an imaginative portal capable of altering one’s perception of the universe
  = reflect how deeply literature can move the human mind, offering both escape and profound emotional experience