Poetry Alive Poetry Alive

John Keats was a romantic poet of the early nineteenth century. He was, perhaps, even more "romantic" than the other three giants of the era: Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Shelley. This poem really embodies the exuberance and feeling that is present in all of his best work. It speaks of his wonder after reading the first complete English translation of Homer, by George Chapman. Chapman's version, from around the time of Shakespeare, had long been replaced by the more polished versions of Dryden and Pope; but Chapman's "vigorous and earthy paraphrase"* often does a better job of capturing the feeling of the original Greek.

Much have I travelled in the realms of gold,
And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
Round many western islands have I been
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne;
Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
When a new planet swims into his ken;
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific -and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise -
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

realms of gold - books, with edge of their pages painted gold.
Apollo - the god of poetry, wisdom, and song.
demesne - domain, property, estate.
ken - sight; here it could even mean lens.
Cortez - It was, of course, Balboa that discovered the Pacific. Keats was immediately informed of this error, but chose to leave it in. Why he did this is open to speculation: he may have just liked the sound of it better.
surmise - An idea formed in the mind (and, often, expressed) that something may be true, but without certainty and on very slight evidence, or with no evidence; a conjecture. (OED)
Darien - rugged area on the isthmus of Panama where Balboa first spotted the Pacific.

*Quote from Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_First_Looking_into_Chapman's_Homer), referenced to the Enfield Council literary history (http://www.enfield.gov.uk/448/Literary%20Enfield.htm), but the original page has vanished. But it's a nice quote.

Thanks for listening! Visit the podcast at http://poetryalive.podomatic.com

We'd love to hear from you, e-mail comments and suggestions to poetryalivepodcast@gmail.com. If you've got a poem you'd like to hear, or even better, to read, let us know!

Carmen 7, by Gaius Valerius Catullus

Catullus was a Roman poet of the first century BC. His poems, though greatly revered by such canonical authors as Virgil and Ovid, survived in only one manuscript; possibly because many of his poems were considered too explicit. His poems include epigrams, hymns, mini-epics, and short, often informal poems. Catullus is especially remembered for his love poems like this one, to "Lesbia."

Quaeris, quot mihi basiationes
tuae, Lesbia, sint satis superque.
quam magnus numerus Libyssae harenae
lasarpiciferis iacet Cyrenis
oraclum Iovis inter aestuosi
et Batti veteris sacrum sepulcrum;
aut quam sidera multa, cum tacet nox,
furtivos hominum vident amores:
tam te basia multa basiare
vesano satis et super Catullo est,
quae nec pernumerare curiosi
possint nec mala fascinare lingua.

You ask how many of your kisses,
Lesbia, will be enough for me.
As many as the great number of Libyan sands
that lie in flower-rich Cyrene,
between the oracle of sweltering Jove
and Old Battus' sacred tomb;
Or as the multitude of stars which, when night is quiet,
gaze upon the secret loves of man.
So many kisses you kiss
Are enough and more for mad Catullus:
Such that prying eyes can't count them,
Nor an evil tongue bewitch.

FLOWER-RICH - Lasar was a long-extinct flower (although similar to the modern ferula, it's believed). Its extract, lasarpicium, was used throughout the Mediterranean, both as a seasoning and for a variety of medicinal purposes (from sore throats, to antispasmodics, to abortions).
SWELTERING JOVE - The Egyptian god Ammon, whose temple was in the desert over 400 miles from Cyrene
OLD BATTUS - The founder of Cyrene. His tomb stood in the city, where he was greatly reverenced.
BEWITCH - Exact details were considered a necessary part of spells, so any envious person wanting to put a hex on them would need such information.

Thanks for listening! Visit the podcast at http://poetryalive.podomatic.com

We'd love to hear from you, e-mail comments and suggestions to poetryalivepodcast@gmail.com. If you've got a poem you'd like to hear, or even better, to read, let us know!

John Donne's elaborate conceits are known for going beyond the simplistic metaphors of most love poetry, but they are at their best when, as here, they're not just intelligent symbolism but relevant, poignant embodiments of the feeling being experienced. As relevant today as it was 400 years ago, this poem captures that mix of playfullness and seriousness peculiar to the lover.

Busy old fool, unruly Sun,
Why dost thou thus,
Through windows, and through curtains, call on us?
Must to thy motions lovers' seasons run?
Saucy pedantic wretch, go chide
Late school-boys and sour prentices,
Go tell court-huntsmen that the king will ride,
Call country ants to harvest offices;
Love, all alike, no season knows nor clime,
Nor hours, days, months, which are the rags of time.

Thy beams so reverend, and strong
Why shouldst thou think?
I could eclipse and cloud them with a wink,
But that I would not lose her sight so long.
If her eyes have not blinded thine,
Look, and to-morrow late tell me,
Whether both th' Indias of spice and mine
Be where thou left'st them, or lie here with me.
Ask for those kings whom thou saw'st yesterday,
And thou shalt hear, "All here in one bed lay."

She's all states, and all princes I;
Nothing else is;
Princes do but play us; compared to this,
All honour's mimic, all wealth alchemy.
Thou, Sun, art half as happy as we,
In that the world's contracted thus;
Thine age asks ease, and since thy duties be
To warm the world, that's done in warming us.
Shine here to us, and thou art everywhere;
This bed thy center is, these walls thy sphere.


BOTH TH' INDIAS: The East (spice) and West (mine) Indies.

Thanks for listening! Visit the podcast at http://poetryalive.podomatic.com

We'd love to hear from you, e-mail comments and suggestions to poetryalivepodcast@gmail.com. If you've got a poem you'd like to hear, or even better, to read, let us know!

Robert Herrick was a Cambridge-educated Londoner stuck with an out of the way vicarship in Devon. He wasn't a fan of rural life, but it was there that he wrote almost all of the poetry he's known for: the volumes "Hesperides" and "Noble Numbers," both published in 1648. This poem sets forth the content of Hesperides.

I sing of brooks, of blossoms, birds, and bowers,
Of April, May, of June, and July-flowers.
I sing of Maypoles, hock-carts, wassails, wakes,
Of bridegrooms, brides and of their bridal-cakes.
I write of youth, of love, and have access
By these to sing of cleanly wantonness.
I sing of dews, of rains, and piece by piece,
Of balm, of oil, of spice and ambergris.
I sing of times trans-shifting, and I write
How roses first came red and lilies white.
I write of groves, of twilights, and I sing
The court of Mab, and of the fairy king.
I write of Hell ; I sing (and ever shall)
Of Heaven, and hope to have it after all.

bower - A place closed in or overarched with branches of trees, shrubs, or other plants; a shady recess, leafy covert, arbour. (OED)
hock-cart - The cart carrying the last load of the harvest, usually decorated in celebration.
wassails - Twelfth Night celebrations, basically big drinking parties.
wake - a rural church festival, like a fete or celebration of a feast day.
wantonnesse - Often a word for lasciviousness. Can also be naughtiness (of a child, for instance), or capriciousness. (OED)
ambergris - The base of many perfumes (at least it used to be). You don't want to know where it comes from.
Mab - queen of the fairies: she gives people dreams.

We'd love to hear from you! Email your comments and suggestions to poetryalivepodcast@gmail.com. If you've got something you'd like to hear, or even better, something you'd like to read for the podcast, send it along!