Reading Notes W8: Poetry by John Keats, Part X

On First Looking into Chapman's Homer

Reading through this poem, I didn't understand it that much. I only understood it when I reread what was on the previous page: "The poet is pointedly celebrating Chapman's 'loud and bold' seventeenth-century translation of the ancient Greek poet over the neatly rhymed, standard translation of his own time--that of Alexander Pope" (405). So in this poem, he's explaining how he's loved the translations of Homer's works that he's already read. But by reading Chapman's translation after reading Pope's translation, he's experiencing it all over again but in a way that he can appreciate even more. He tells of how he's "traveled in the realms of gold" and has seen "many goodly states and kingdoms" from getting lost in his immersion by reading Pope's translations of Homer's works (406). However, halfway into the poem Keats says "Yet did I never breathe its pure serene / Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold" (406). He's hearing the same exact story, but when is written in a way that he's found to be more enjoyable. The message I take away from this poem is that someone can tell a phenomenal story, but it won't be as memorable if it wasn't written as good as it could have been. Different writing styles can create a major difference in the way someone appreciates a story and can be what decides whether or not the story is treasured briefly or for a lifetime.

When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be

I liked this poem more than the previous one since it isn't directly referencing an existing work. I like poems that actually give me a realistic chance of being able to understand them without needing to be told what they're about or what they meant. Keats starts off this poem by expressing that he has reoccurring fears about his death. He worries that he'll die before he can successfully write down everything he's wanted to write. He looks up to the stars at nights and wonders if he'll be able to accomplish everything in life that he's wanted and whether or not love is something he can really achieve on a fairy tale level. "Of the wide world I stand alone, and think / Till love and fame to nothingness do sink" (407). It's with these last two lines that he realizes all of his desires, while a big deal in his eyes, are microscopic compared to the rest of the world. The poem kind of reminded me of the poem "Harlem" by Langston Hughes where Langston Hughes wonders about what happens to a dream deferred.

Bright Star

Keats speaks to a star and wonders what it would be like to be a star. He would be up in the sky able to look at all the beautiful things on Earth. He would watch how the waters shape the shores and how the snow coats mountains. While he would enjoy being a star and having these sights all to himself, he realizes there would be downsides. He wouldn't be able to sleep with his wife if this were the case. He cherishes the feeling of her touch and the sound of her breath. It's because of this that he's okay with not being a star.




Keats, John. The Norton Anthology World Literature, edited by Martin Puchner, Third Edition, vol. E, W. W. Norton 2012, pp. 403-407, 410-415