The mood of the poem can be compared to its tone as they both share major attributes, the main attribute being that of deceit as Arnold believes life is not as he first thought but a potent concoction of modern society. It seems that Bob Dylan is not only a good musician but one of his lyrics can be adopted to the mood of the poem as from my understanding Arnold might have believed that “the great books have all been written and the great sayings have all been said”, this is not the case as Arnold now realises his understanding of the world before was but a glimpse of reality.
The narrative in this poem can be seen to be unclear as the poet’s
ruminations are obsessed with the altering world “which seems to lie before” him. Light plays a major role in setting the scene as light is associated with a
benevolent force which is commonly good, the usage of light is vital to creating visual imagery as it emphasises life, which without light would never endure. A poignant and somewhat ominous feeling is created as “the light gleams, and is gone” this extract mirrors a feeling of immobility as the poet is admiring his surroundings but is unable to act upon any impulses.
The narrative possesses a rhythmic quality that emulates the motion of the tide as “the sea is calm to-night”, the word to-night and its dash can in some manner be seen to represent the receding motion of the sea from the shore.
A soporific atmosphere is formed as the words “Gleams and Glimmering are repeated”; through this case of alliteration we view a mimetic quality that is associated with a hypnotic element or sleep. The audience’s attention is gained through personal pronouns, “Listen! You hear the grating roar”, the personalisation of this line gains the readers attention whilst it is instructing the audience to “Listen”. Time plays a role in setting the scene of the poem as Sophocles, a Greek poet, is mentioned alongside references to England and France, these references are seen to be historic thus their aim is to “bring the eternal note of sadness in”. Time in my view is represented by the sea as the sea is referred to as the “Sea of faith”. As I stated earlier the sea is unreliable thus time now is somewhat unreliable as things have changed with no regard to the past. The unreliable nature of the sea thus induces the thought of companionship and love to counteract its consequences is to be “true to one another”.
The poet has used a simple blend of intriguing language to propagate his message which is his isolation in contrast to the world. This poem is thought provoking and it conveys a serious message about people’s perceptions of the changing world. The poem is in the structure of four stanzas and there is no consistent rhythmic scheme. The poem is extremely effective as it develops the ruminations of the poet in a consistent manner. Each of the stanzas lead into one another and the harmony between the transitions could be to portray how Arnold would like society to behave.
The poem “On First Looking Into Chapman’s Homer” by John Keats is concerned with Keats and his admiration for the integrity of Chapman’s translation of Homer. This poem encompasses the intensity and vividness of Keats vicarious experience of reading “Chapman’s Homer”, the poem also illustrates how passionately Keats cared for poetry. Imagery of exploration and discovery are utilized to communicate to the audience the magnitude of his revelation of homer’s brilliance and how it has affected him. Reading in my view gives the reader a vicarious experience of the world but in Keats position he gained the most from reading “Chapman’s Homer” as he felt he had “travell’d in the realms of gold”, this means that he has extensive reading knowledge but until now Homer to him was incomprehensible.
The theme of the poem can be understanding and discovery as until now Homer was bewildering but from “Chapman’s Homer” he has seen the true significance of Homer. Discovery is also a major theme as Keats discovers the wonder of Homer through Chapman, whom he gives credit to, though he only translates Homers work. This poem is in the form of an Italian sonnet. This poem describes the way you feel after discovering a magnitude of brilliance you have never come across before, and it does this so perfectly. Knowing what inspired the romantic poets gives them so much more life and makes them even more interesting as we are able to view the source of the inspiration.
The tone of the poem is one of utter content as Keats now comprehends and admires the work of “Chapman’s Homer”. The tone embraces a distinct sound that embodies the contentment of Keats. The poem or sonnet as it is more commonly known can be split into two major parts an octet and a sestet. The octet is the first eight lines in the poem and it describes Keats’s reading experiences prior to reading Chapman’s translation. The sestet is the last six lines and it describes Keats’s experiences of reading Chapman’s Homer. The mood of the poem can also be compared with the tone as the mood is optimistic as the poem encompasses the beginning of understanding of Homer to Keats.
To understand this poem in an articulate manner the audience must first be able to comprehend the subtext of the poem. To portray Keats’s vast account of literature and education he compares his education to a journey through the “realms of gold”, this is intended to indicate that Keats’s education is of a vast nature and it is one of a high calibre. The repetition of the letter “l” in travell’d, realms and gold” are used to create a sense of rhythm thus inducing the audience to associate the words with his life. Whilst the poem is rather straightforward (sonnet form) the diction utilized is very cleverly used to portray the difference between Keats past experiences and his experience after reading “Chapman’s Homer”. To emphasize the extent of Homer's genius and his literary accomplishments, Keats modifies "expanse" (which means "extensive") with an adjective which also means "extensive," in the fifth line, “one wide expanse have I been told”. Through the line, “Yet did I never breathe its pure serene” we see that by breathing in the feeling of the text; Keats makes it part of himself thus infusing himself in the poetry.
The poem now moves into the sestet, the word which has made this transition smooth and applicable is “then” as is inducing the thought of a new idea. Keats portrays the change after reading “Chapman’s Homer” by stating that he “felt like some watcher of the skies”; this means that the translation has opened his mind to a new breadth of understanding thus portrayed through “the skies”. The poem ends on the discovery of Cortez and his means amazement, “his men look’d at each other with wild surmise”. The image of Cortez and his men standing overwhelmed is sharply presented. The contrast of Chapman's "loud and bold voice" in the last line of the octet and the "silence" of Cortez and his men in the last line of the poem portray the change in attitude towards Homers work.
In this poem the poet has utilized a laconic manner to portray his admiration for a translation of Homer’s work, the odyssey. This poem gives an inspirational and rather revitalizing outlook on Homer’s work as it seems that his work was not how it seems at first but deeper examination is essential to comprehend the true stature of Homer’s work.
Both of these poems are encompassed with the theme of discovery as in “Dover Beach” Arnold discovers that what were his first views of the world were an assemblage of misleading notions that he had indubitably created. In “Chapman’s Homer” Keats discovers the true magnificence of Homers work through a translation by Chapman. Keats himself was interested in the nature of history and how it constantly repeats itself, in both of the poems discovery is a major theme and this theme can be contrasted by the theme of concealment as in each of the poet’s cases the truth was concealed or not looked upon. The intention of the poets could have been to inform the reader on its two contrasting themes. The fact that unawareness is such a major attribute in these poems could be to highlight how important discovery is to humankind. The poems are dissimilar in the manner that they are anchored in different topics but the main themes are constant. “Dover beach” ends on a shady elusive note thus giving the reader space to think and consider the poems content and the consequences of evolutionism. “Chapman’s Homer” ends on a note of ecstasy as Homers work has been viewed in its true light.
