The Romantic Poets
Keats was one of the ‘big six’ Romantic Poets, the others being Shelley, Worsdsworh, Coleridge, Blake and Byron.

A tenet of Romantic poetry is its focus on nature, on the supernatural and man’s insignificance in comparison to the natural world. It was a turbulent time when the Napoleonic Wars had not long ended and Europe was in a state of flux and unrest. In England the infamous Peterloo Massacre had occurred in August 1819, when cavalry charged into a crowd demonstrating against poor economic conditions and lack of parliamentary representation in the north of England..

Summary
Keats' “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer” is a sonnet written in 1816, devoted to the appreciation of writing and power of great art in general.

The title refers to George Chapman, a contemporary of Shakespeare, who wrote a translation of Homer’s Odyssey.

The poem is about the effect reading Chapman’s Homer had on Keats. After reading the poem Keats feels he has transcended the role of a passive viewer of literature and believes that he can create his own great works.

Before the volta, literature is described in terms that suggest it belongs to someone else (kingdoms, realms).

After reading Chapman’s translation of Homer Keats uses the imagery of discovery and exploration (watcher of the skies, Cortez) to convey the idea that he is capable of creating his own work and formulating his own ideas.

The change in role can also be demonstrated by comparing the two geographical locations mentioned in the poem. The ‘Western Islands’ refer to islands in the Aegean. ‘Darien, mentioned after the volta, is in Central America.The contrast between the old world and the new show that Keats feels he is now making his own new, fresh, unseen literature, not exploring the work of others. This is also, in its length and the way in which it diverges from the literal subject of the poem, a “Homeric” metaphor.

Structure
It is worth noting this sonnet was one of the first Keats published and hence was written at a time when Keats was making the transition from reader to writer. It is essentially in the form of a Petrachan sonnet (see below for more further explanation), where the volta or ‘turn’ comes after the octave or octet, meaning the first eight lines. Then a new perspective is introduced in the final six lines.

The metrical rhythm is iambic pentameter, that is five iambs or metrical feet per line, where a iamb is one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. For more on this see below. For more on this see below. The effect is solemn and elegant, appropriate to the subject.

The rhyme scheme is ABBA ABBA CDCDCD. The total effect is coherent and accomplished, a tribute to the skill of a gifted poet beginning to develop his craft.

About Sonnets
A sonnet is a poem which expresses a thought or idea and develops it, often cleverly and wittily.

The sonnet genre is often, although not always, about ideals or hypothetical situations. It reaches back to the Medieval Romances, where a woman is loved and idealised by a worshipping admirer. For example, Sir Philip Sydney in the Astrophil and Stella sonnet sequence wrote in this mode. Poems were circulated within groups of educated intellectuals and they did not necessarily reflect the poet’s true emotions, but were a form of intellectual showing-off! This may not have been true of all; it is a matter of academic debate today. It is generally believed, however, that Shakespeare’s sonnets were autobiographical.

Sonnets are made up of fourteen lines, each being ten syllables long. Its rhymes are arranged according to one of the following schemes:

• Italian, where eight lines consisting of two quatrains make up the first section of the sonnet, called an octave. This section will explore a problem or an idea. It is followed by the next section of six lines called a sestet, that forms the ‘answer’ or a counter-view. This style of sonnet is also sometimes called a Petrarchan sonnet.

• English, which comprises three quatrains, making twelve lines in total, followed by a rhyming couplet. They too explore an idea. The ‘answer’ or resolution comes in the final couplet. Shakespeare’s sonnets follow this pattern. Edmund Spenser’s sonnets are a variant.

At the break in the sonnet — in Italian after the first eight lines, in English after twelve lines — there is a ‘turn’ or volta, after which there will be a change or new perspective on the preceding idea.

Language
The metre usually chosen for sonnets is iambic pentameter, that is five iambs or metrical feet per line, where a iamb is one unstressed followed by one stressed syllable. The effect is stately and rhythmic, and usually (but not always) creates a solemn, dignified mood.