Essay: Comparing John Keats' "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" and Percy Bysshe Shelley's "Ozymandias"
Romantic poetry was prevalent throughout
the years of 1780 to 1830, during the age of romanticism, when the world was
rapidly becoming industrialised and sought science and monetary benefits whilst
jeopardising the very non-artificial aspect of human life. Romantic poetry
brought about the idea of a world not so bound by human laws and objectivity.
It provoked imagination and passion, alongside the ideas of emotion and of the
natural world. It was unique for its time in that it was subverting current ideals
and challenging them publicly; daring to replace formality and order, the
ideals of the preceding neo-classicists, with imaginative creation and
expression. The very core of such
imaginative expression of ideas are that of “The everlasting power of nature ”
and “ the effect of art and language” which are demonstrated in John Keats' poem ‘On
first looking into chapman’s homer’ and Percy Bysshe Shelley's ‘Ozymandias’ through poetic
techniques.
Nature, the very basis of human life, is
everlasting and powerful when compared to human power.
This idea that nature is more powerful than human power is depicted in
Ozymandias. The title “Ozymandias” is an allusion to the Greek words “ozium”
and “mandate” that form the phrase “ruler of air”. This metaphor suggests that
King Ozymanidias is ruling only air, which symbolises nothing. This emphasises
the fact that human power is only make-believe or is short-lived. This is
further emphasised in the juxtaposition of King Ozymandias’ description of
himself as someone who has bountiful amounts of power and who is a great king
compared to nature. Ozymandias describes himself as “the king of kings” and
goes on further to describe his success, stating “look upon my works, ye might,
and despair!”. This hubris is contrasted with the natural environment in which
the statue remains in “stand in the desert…nothing beside remains…boundless and
bare”. This ironical juxtaposition of man-made and nature highlights that no
matter how much power that a human may have, nature is eternal and everlasting.
The quote further indicates that human power and dominance is short lived
through this contrast. Since there is no presence of artificial development
anywhere and that the statue has indicated that there was to be civilisation,
we are brought to the idea that nature has overcome human civilisation and has
taken over. We are also inclined to imagine that nature has an endless feature
and that is dominant and surrounding. This imaginative expression of romantic
ideals forces us to create an image rather than blatantly stating the facts as
would the rigid neo-classicists poems.
Nature, with its dominance and power,
causes those who look upon it, to be speechless and in awe. In Keats’ ‘On
First Looking into Chapman’s Homer’ we are able to also this idea of the
powerfulness and richness of nature whilst being drawn into another world. The
natural elements of this world are incredible and amazing, even to the extent
that when people look upon it, they will be in awe “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 dash indicates a pause, which further emphasises how stunned
they are when they see this natural world. The natural elements have stunned
them so much that they cannot speak, they cannot move and there is silence.
Nature has silenced them, as it is more dominant and is everlastingly
awe-striking.
Art and literature has the power to cause
revelation and induce discovery. This idea is depicted in Keats’ ‘On First Looking
into Chapman’s Homer’. Such
imagination is described by Keats’ to emphasise the power and everlasting
imprint that his literature journey has taken him “and many goodly states and
kingdoms seen”. This metaphorical sense of a journey describes his rich
experience whilst transporting us to a different world. The kingdoms and goodly
states represent the literature and arts that he has experienced over the
course of his life further emphasising the astounding impact that literature
and arts has had on who he is now. In addition, it is also described as “wide
expanse” which further highlights how powerful and mysterious literature and
arts is.
Discovery is an important aspect of
romanticism due to the fact that discovery is about finding places, animals,
plants and people from all over the globe; setting the discovery of the natural
world above that of the discoveries in science or industrialisation. Discovery
is deemed to be natural and this is portrayed in on First looking into
Chapman’s Homer “then felt I like some watcher of the skies when a new planet
swims into his ken”. This sentence describes the feeling that he had when
reading the poem and how imaginative and expressive it was that he felt like an
explorer who had discovered something. He uses the metaphor of a watcher of the
skies, who now would be called an astronomer, to describe the expansiveness and
greatness of The Odyssey by Homer, whilst also highlighting the greatness and
power of art and literature; how it is also surrounding and encompassing. Such
a unique portrayal of arts and literature was uncommon in Europe and Romantic
poetry brought such ideas to the surface.
Art and literature can cause a revelation
or self-realisation. In “Ozymandias” we are introduced to the character King
Ozymandias who has an inflated sense of self and believes that he is better
than everyone else. This is described by the sculptor who made him with a
“sneer of cold command…the hand that mocked them and the heart that fed”. This
description emphasises how condescending he was towards his people and his
hubris. This hubris led to his demise as depicted, by “two vast and trunkless
legs of stone stand in the desert..half sunk”. The repetition of the “s” sound
is used to highlight the silence and emptiness of the area, how it is now belonging
to nature and that Ozymandias’ belief of power and dominance is ephemeral. This
becomes a moral for us that an inflated hubris will lead to an inevitable
demise. This demise is further described by stating “trunkless legs of stone”,
how the body has disappeared. This symoblises the loss of self or “being” that
happens when someone has an inflated hubris. All these revelations are only
present once we see the description of statue, in its destroyed and crumbled
state. This imaginative description allows us, through see this piece of art,
to realise the downfalls of the neo-classic beliefs, whilst teaching us that an
inflated hubris will always lead to demise. Such a personal response is brought
about, which makes the poem unique for its time.
Romanticism was heavily concentrated on the
ideas that nature was all powerful and everlasting and that art and literature
had a profound impact on those who looked upon it or who experienced it.
Romantic poetry displayed the unique elements of nature, discovery and
revelation and induced imagination and emotion. This was in contrast to the
rigid neo-classicists, who were formal and ordered. The poems ‘On First Looking
into Chapman’s Homer’ and ‘Ozymandias’ embodied these romantic ideas whilst
taking us on a journey of realisation. Romantic poetry was and always will be
unique for its time; it challenged the industrial revolution and brought about
a more expressive and imaginative world.
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