ENG308Y1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 29: Sestet, Quarterly Review, Cockney
John%Keats
•
With%the%exception%of%Clare,%the%only%one%that%hails%from%the%lower%classes
○
But%he%was%one%of%the%Big%6%of%Romantic%Poetry,%unlike%Clare
•
Complicated%relationship%with%family
○
Age%of%8,%he%was%left%with%his%brothers%and%sister,%with%their%
grandmother%after%their%father%died
○
The%year%before%this,%he%had%been%sent%to%a%private%school%which%was%
very%famous%for%its%curriculum
○
Distinguished%himself%for%his%fist-fights%and%his%strength
○
He%was%of%short%status,%he%was%poor,%and%yet%was%the%noisy,%
rambunctious%type
•
His%mother%did%return%eventually,%but%was%famously%negligent
○
She%was%already%ill%when%she%returned%and%died%of%TB%soon%after
○
His%brother%also%died%of%TB%(consumption)
•
The%children's%guardian%took%Keats%out%of%school%at%15%and%bound%him%to%a%
physician%in%apprenticeship
•
Carried%out%medical%studies%in%London
○
Qualified%to%practice%as%an%apothecary's%surgeon
•
But%immediately%abandoned%medicine%for%poetry
○
Lots%of%his%poetry%relates%to%sickness%and%health,%the%ability%to%cure
•
Once%he%set%himself%to%being%a%poet%full%time,%he%developed%his%skills%with%
amazing%rapidity
○
He%was%deeply%read
○
He%understood%writing%poetry%meant%reading%poetry
○
And%understanding%the%literary%tradition%he%inherits
○
As%well%as%lovingly%subverting%it
○
Poetry%is%densely%allusive%of%many%poetic%forms%that%come%before
•
When%his%poetry%was%first%reviewed,%many%tended%to%be%very%negative
○
Referred%to%his%poetry%as%cockney%because%he%came%from%the%working%
classes%of%England
○
His%poetry%was%thought%to%be%a%presumption%upon%this%cultural%elite
§
As%if%he%was%trying%to%get%into%a%club%for%which%he%wasn't%good%
enough
○
Class%based%dynamic%that%contextualises%his%poetry
•Image%grew%up%of%Keats%as%a%sensitive%plant
○Somebody%who%was%crushed%by%negative%reviews
•Quarterly%review%described%Keats%as%a%vulgar%poet%who%had%aspirations%to%
being%a%poet%of%nature%but%was%an%undereducated%social%climber%(%:(%)
○So%back%to%the%shop%John%Keats
•Dialectical% and%speculative%imagination
○One%of%the%least%dogmatic%poets%in%this%course
○He%is%able%to%establish%consideration%of%opposed%possibilities
○Not%just%an%assertion%of%uncertainty,%but%of%two%ideas%that%are%mutually%
contradictory
○Not%that%he%rejects%logic,%but%he%didn’t%want%to%use%logic%as%a%hammer%to%
insist%upon%beliefs%or%views
○After%an%increase%in%awareness%of%thought
○Explored%ideas%by%throwing%himself%to%him
•Keats%died%of%TB%at%25
On%First%Looking%into%Chapman's%Homer%(pg.%904)
•George%Chapman%was%an%Elizabethan%dramatist
○Published%a%translation%of%the%epics%of%Homer
○It%was%very%fresh,%forceful,%full%of%concrete%imagery
○The%famous%translation%of%the%Iliad%and%the%Odyssey%was%the%translation%
by%Alexander%Pope
§This%would%have%been%the%famous%one%that%Keats%would%have%first%
read
§Pope%wrote%poetry%with%a%high%degree%of%decorum%and%propriety
§Highly%regularised,%conforms%very%much%to%what%we%think%of%as%
Neoclassical%poetry
○But%he%seems%to%have%read%Chapman's%translation%after,%which%was%
much%more%vigorous
•This%is%an%Italian%Sonnet%(divided%into%octave%and%sestet)
He#begins#line#1#with#a#metaphor#of#travel.#What#kind#of#travel#is#Keats#evoking?#
What#is#the#significance#of#travel#in#this#sonnet?
•Keats%is%referring%to%the%travels%that%he%has%metaphorically%undertaken%with%
Homer%while%reading%the%translations%of%Pope%and%Chapman
○This%is%academic,%artistic,%imaginative%travel
○Travelling%vicariously%with%the%characters%of%epics,%poems,%plays,%etc.
○Evoking%different%dimensions%of%imagination
○Journey%through%history%and%also%through%literature
○Metaphors%of%mobility%are%used%to%describe%moving/transporting%texts
•He's%talking%about%how%much%he%has%always%travelled
○Establishes%the%dominant%image%of%sophisticated%membership%within%a%
moneyed%elite
○Octave%establishes%a%strong%travel%image%of%entitlement
○Ensured%of%the%authoritative%judgement%of%the%speaker%when%it%comes%
to%travel
•But%the%travel%here,%all%the%same,%isn't%necessarily%actual,%physical%travel
○Because%by%the%time%we%get%to%the%islands%held%dear%to%Apollo,%we%
realise%this%is%literary%travel
○It%is%one%of%reading,%not%physical%voyaging
•Homer%rules%Ancient%Greece,%Troy%in%the%sense%that%he%rules%the%literary%
domain
○Even%though%literary%travel%is%a%self-contradiction
○Offers%an%imagery%of%elite% financial%class%status
•The%sestet%clarifies%the%effect%of%this%travel%on%Keats
○Establishes%a%navigational%guide%of%movement%on%land%and%sea
○We%move%from%the%poetry%which%is%an%imagery%of%land%travel%to%a%poetry%
which%is%an%image%of%astronomy
•The%watchers%on%line%9%are%situated%on%the%ground
○A%new%planet%becomes%apparent%because%of%the%way%in%which%he%is%
situated
○We%become%open%to%the%sky%when%we%experience% physical%voyaging%in%a%
physical%way
Lecture%29
Wednesday,% February%1,%2017
11:13%AM
Document Summary
John keats: with the exception of clare, the only one that hails from the lower classes. But he was one of the big 6 of romantic poetry, unlike clare: complicated relationship with family. Age of 8, he was left with his brothers and sister, with their grandmother after their father died. The year before this, he had been sent to a private school which was very famous for its curriculum. Distinguished himself for his fist-fights and his strength. He was of short status, he was poor, and yet was the noisy, rambunctious type: his mother did return eventually, but was famously negligent. She was already ill when she returned and died of tb soon after. His brother also died of tb (consumption: the children"s guardian took keats out of school at 15 and bound him to a physician in apprenticeship, carried out medical studies in london. Qualified to practice as an apothecary"s surgeon: but immediately abandoned medicine for poetry.
