blog 10

Option 1:

First, to translate the first 8 lines: John Keats first claims his interest and experience in works of art and literature. He describes his credentials as a critic of the Odyssey, by referencing Apollo, the Greek god of Poetry. The next lines could translate, “I have heard a lot about Homer's 'The Odyssey,' but my mind was blown when I heard Chapman speak it.”

We can concur that Keats knows a good work when he sees it. His two epic similes have a surprising, adventurous feel to them. The first demonstrates his pleasant surprise, as though an unexpected gift had showed up at his doorstep. This first simile empathizes with science, which even further expands his credentials. He then compares his experience with what Cortez (really Vasco de Balboa) may have felt just after seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time. This simile could empathize with historians, hikers, scientists, you name it.

I like to compare it to music. Like when you are listening to a song that you had heard many times before, but never understood the meaning until you were lucky enough not only to be paying attention to the lyrics line by line, but to put them together as a whole and see connections that weren't obvious to you. (this has happened to me before)

I believe Keats shows his roundness by empathizing with different kinds of people with different interests. This reaching out to a higher demographic allows more people to be touched by this poem. Both a planet and an ocean can be seen as whole, or examined for further detail, which scientists and artists alike would most likely do without hesitation. It is apparent to me that Keats intends to go far beyond reading Chapman's translation of the Odyssey, as he is an adventurer of his own type.

I'm not sure what made me like Sylvia Plath's “Metaphors” so much. It's hard to explain. I noticed that there are nine syllables in each line, and there are also nine lines(I'm not sure if this means anything). The first line could indicate that the following lines could be metaphors themselves. The two words “I am”(or I'm) are what give metaphors their identity. So it could be said that every line in this poem is a metaphor. Anything that can be put into print on paper could be the target of a metaphor. Or, if this poem is a riddle, as mentioned in the first line, the answer could be put into a metaphor for the poem: “I am every line of this poem!” It even has nine syllables!  The first line could be a metaphor for the riddle itself. ... “Metaphor metaphor metaphor.”