On the sea

Question 1

who is hacate

Answer 1

the goddess of the lower world, of witchcraft, ghost and magic. However, she was the underworld aspect of Artemis (her name on earth) and Selene (her name as moon-goddess)

Question 2

why is ‘shadowy sound’ important in this poem?

Answer 2

Keats yokes together two of the five senses (synethesia). Shadowy- sight, sound- listening

Question 3

explain the allusion in ‘winds of heaven.. unbound’

Answer 3

Aeolus, the god of the winds in ancient greek mythology, gave Ulysses all the winds tied up in a bag sp that hsi ship would not be subject to their potential violence (in the odyssy, ulysses sailors did release them)

Question 4

what are Nymphs

Answer 4

minor deities associated with trees and water and represented as beautiful, eternally young maidens; generally they are associated with the sea

Question 5

synopsis

Answer 5

The poiem describes the power and mystery pof the sea and reflects on its extream change of mood (both extream violence and gentle care). the speaker recommends the sea as a cure for the problems of urban life, suggestiung it has magical holistic powers

Question 6

context (when written, in what form, to whom, where, what was striking to keats?)

Answer 6

poemn was written in April 1817 on the Isle of Wight. In the letter Keats wrote to reynolds, and in which he included a copy of the poem, Keats said that he had been ‘haunted’ by ‘the passage in Lear “Do you not hear the sea?” (King Lear Acvt 4 scene 6)

Question 7

quatrain 1: summary, notable features

Answer 7

• Keats conveys the power and strength of the sea

- very onomatopoeic and there is consistent use of consonance/ assonace/ sibilance to evoke powerful auditory imagery

Question 8

quatrain 2

Answer 8

• Keats expresses the changeable nature of the sea
• conveys both the omnipotence and benevolent nature of the sea through superlatives ‘the very smallest shell’ and through the classical allusion to convey the superlative ‘the winds of heaven.. unbound’

Question 9

how does keats draw attentionm to the Volta

Answer 9

Volta signalled through the shift from a third person omniscient voice (observational tone) to an apostrophe

Question 10

Sestet

Answer 10

• keats demands the adressees (general audience) to go to the sea to benefit from the omnipotent holistic properties that it provides
• reptition of ‘Oh Ye!’ creates a sense of urgency, this is completed by imperatives and the stress on ‘/feast’

Question 11

structure and versification (4)

Answer 11

• petrachian sonnet form with enclosed rhymes
• repeated rhyme scheme of th octet helps caoture thee power
• enjambment creates a sensse of uncontainble force
• the mis en page appears to mimic the movement of the waves

Question 12

Why are the hellenistic motifs in this sonnet important?

Answer 12

-Throiugh the juxtaposition of the imagery associated with the sea and