John Keats (1795-1821). On first looking into Chapman's Homer. Robert Bridges, ed. 1916. The Spirit of Man: An Anthology

Robert Bridges, ed. (1844–1930). The Spirit of Man: An Anthology. 1916.

On first looking into Chapman’s Homer

John Keats (1795–1821)


MUCH 1 have I travell’d 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	5
That deep-brow’d 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;	10
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look’d at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

Note 1. Keats. On first looking into Chapman’s Homer. [back]