John Keats
"On first looking into Chapman's Homer"

Much have I traveled in the realms of gold,
And man 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 demense;
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 started at the Pacific-and all his men
Looked at each other with a wild surmise-
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

This material has been placed on the web by Tom Sienkewicz for his students at Monmouth College in Monmouth, Illinois. If you have any questions, you may contact him at toms@monm.edu.

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