Sunday, March 6, 2011

Let Us Start Preparing for Homer's Epics

To better understand this poem, use this Brooklyn College John Keats website:
http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/homer.html


Portrait of John Keats

   

















ON FIRST LOOKING INTO
    CHAPMAN'S HOMER 

Much have I travell'd 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-brow'd 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 star'd at the Pacific--and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise--
    Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
                                                          John Keats (1817)

ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS:
1. Why is or isn't this a Petrachan Sonnet?
2. How does Keats express his sensation of being exposed to Chapman's translation of Homer?
3. What metaphors and similes are employed?
4. What other literary devices does Keats use?

7 comments:

  1. From what I have read...

    1. This is a Petrachan Sonnet because this sonnet discusses the perfection Of Homer writtings.

    2. Keats expressed his sensation of being exposed to Chapman's translation of Homer by writting this sonnet while using imagery of his voyages.

    3. One Metaphor that Keats put within this Sonnet was the line "Yet did I never breathe its pure serene". This is a metaphor that states the poet himself has never breath cleaner air.

    Keats also employs the metaphor within the line "Silent upon a peak in Darien." which tells how silent he was after reading the book and comparing it to one of his sites at the peak of Darien Mountain.

    4. Keats other literacy devices he used during this sonnet was Imagery. This was common throughout this sonnet because Keats constantly compared his readings to his sites of travel.

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  2. 1. Why is or isn't this a Petrachan Sonnet?
    This is a Petrachan Sonnet because it is an octave and sestet. The pattern of the sonnet is a b b a b b a c d c d c d
    2. How does Keats express his sensation of being exposed to Chapman's translation of Homer?
    Keats' expresses his sensation of being exposed to Chapman's translation of Homer by being very descriptive and showed imagery.
    3. What metaphors and similes are employed?
    "Yet did i never breathe its pure serene" is a metaphor used and "Then felt I like some watcher of the skies" is a simile used.
    4. What other literary devices does Keats use?
    Other literary devices used by Keats are pathetic fallacy, rhythmic pattern and imagery.

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  3. 1. As Kenya said, this a Petrachan sonnet because it consists of an octave and sestet.
    2. Keats expresses his sensation of being exposed to Chapman's translation of Homer by using similes and imagery which describe clarity and freedom.
    3. He uses the simile, "Then felt I like some watcher of the skies When a new planet swims into his ken." He also uses the metaphor, "the realms of gold".
    4.Keats also uses an allusion at the end of the poem.

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  4. Judging by the answers from Kenia and Yenifer, I probably missed the lesson of a Pertachan sonnet. I "wiki'ed" it and it told me that a Pertachan sonnet was a sonnet that includes perfection in its writings. I guess Wikipedia.org isn't always right!

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  5. i know real late but a Petrachan sonnet consist of an octave with the rhyme pattern abbaabba, followed by a sestet with the rhyme pattern cdecde or cdcdcde

    ReplyDelete