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On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer, by John Keats
Wednesday, 25 November, 2009
John Keats was a romantic poet of the early nineteenth century. He was, perhaps, even more "romantic" than the other three giants of the era: Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Shelley. This poem really embodies the exuberance and feeling that is present in all of his best work. It speaks of his wonder after reading the first complete English translation of Homer, by George Chapman. Chapman's version, from around the time of Shakespeare, had long been replaced by the more polished versions of Dryden and Pope; but Chapman's "vigorous and earthy paraphrase"* often does a better job of capturing the feeling of the original Greek. Much have I travelled in the realms of gold, And many goodly states and kingdoms seen; Round many western islands have I been Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold. 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: 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 Looked at each other with a wild surmise - Silent, upon a peak in Darien. realms of gold - books, with edge of their pages painted gold. Apollo - the god of poetry, wisdom, and song. demesne - domain, property, estate. ken - sight; here it could even mean lens. Cortez - It was, of course, Balboa that discovered the Pacific. Keats was immediately informed of this error, but chose to leave it in. Why he did this is open to speculation: he may have just liked the sound of it better. surmise - An idea formed in the mind (and, often, expressed) that something may be true, but without certainty and on very slight evidence, or with no evidence; a conjecture. (OED) Darien - rugged area on the isthmus of Panama where Balboa first spotted the Pacific. *Quote from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_First_Looking_into_Chapman's_Homer), referenced to the Enfield Council literary history (http://www.enfield.gov.uk/448/Literary%20Enfield.htm), but the original page has vanished. But it's a nice quote. Thanks for listening! Visit the podcast at http://poetryalive.podomatic.com We'd love to hear from you, e-mail comments and suggestions to poetryalivepodcast@gmail.com. If you've got a poem you'd like to hear, or even better, to read, let us know!
