Chapman’s scholarly interpretation of the original Greek breathed new life into these ancient epics. Homer wrote in Homeric Greek, a dialect of Ancient Greek that, when translated literally, loses much of its eloquence and vitality. Chapman, a poet himself, managed to combine an authentic translation with the beauty Homer had intended. This great accomplishment probably could not have been undertaken by someone who was not a poet. Keats also translated texts, as did Seamus Heaney and many other great poets.
In the sestet Keats uses two powerful similes to convey his exhilaration. In the first, he compares himself to an astronomer who discovers a new planet: ‘Then felt I like some watcher of the skies/ When a new planet swims into his ken’. The second conveys his elation just as effectively. He compares himself to the Spanish explorer Cortez, whom he mistakenly believed crossed the Isthmus of Panama to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, thus becoming the first European to have reached the Pacific from the new world (it was actually another Spanish explorer, Balboa, who completed this feat): ‘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.’ The image of the ‘stout’ and solid Spaniard’s shrewd eyes is powerful. Keats felt the same awe when he read Homer’s epics as the explorer did when he gazed at the Pacific. The explorer’s ‘eagle’ eyes perceived a way to cross the great ocean, while Keats’ poetic sensibilities enabled him to appreciate Chapman’s translation. The sibilance of the final two lines and the comma after ‘Silent’ slow the poem down, allowing the reader a moment of reflection that is perhaps similar to the explorer’s moment as he looked upon the Pacific or Keats’ moment when he read Chapman’s Homer. Although this poem is about a specific experience, it is also universal in that we can all relate to encountering a work of art, music or literature that makes us feel as if we are discovering something completely new and setting out on an exciting journey.
