"On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" is a sonnet written by English poet John Keats when he was just 20 years old. Essentially, it is a poem about poetry itself, describing a reading experience so profound that an entire world seems to come to life. The poem talks specifically about a translation of Homer, the Classical Greek poet, by George Chapman, an Elizabethan poet whose translations were more concerned with the reader's experience of the text than loyalty to the original form. The poem was published in the newspaper The Examiner soon after it was written in 1816.
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The Full Text of “On First Looking into Chapman's Homer”
1Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
2And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
3Round many western islands have I been
4Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
5Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
6That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne;
7Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
8Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
9Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
10When a new planet swims into his ken;
11Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
12He star'd at the Pacific—and all his men
13Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
14Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
The Full Text of “On First Looking into Chapman's Homer”
1Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold,
2And many goodly states and kingdoms seen;
3Round many western islands have I been
4Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
5Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
6That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne;
7Yet did I never breathe its pure serene
8Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold:
9Then felt I like some watcher of the skies
10When a new planet swims into his ken;
11Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
12He star'd at the Pacific—and all his men
13Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
14Silent, upon a peak in Darien.
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“On First Looking into Chapman's Homer” Summary
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“On First Looking into Chapman's Homer” Themes
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The Power of Literature
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Line-by-Line Explanation & Analysis of “On First Looking into Chapman's Homer”
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Lines 1-4
Much 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. -
Lines 5-6
Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
That deep-brow'd Homer ruled as his demesne; -
Lines 7-10
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; -
Lines 11-14
Or like stout Cortez when with eagle eyes
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.
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“On First Looking into Chapman's Homer” Symbols
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Gold
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Planet
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“On First Looking into Chapman's Homer” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
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Alliteration
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Allusion
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Assonance
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Consonance
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Enjambment
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Caesura
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Extended Metaphor
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Simile
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“On First Looking into Chapman's Homer” Vocabulary
Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
- Travell'd
- Goodly
- Bards
- Fealty
- Apollo
- Oft
- Expanse
- Deep-brow'd
- Homer
- Demesne
- Serene
- Chapman
- Ken
- Cortez
- Eagle eyes
- Surmise
- Darien
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Form, Meter, & Rhyme Scheme of “On First Looking into Chapman's Homer”
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Form
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Meter
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Rhyme Scheme
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“On First Looking into Chapman's Homer” Speaker
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“On First Looking into Chapman's Homer” Setting
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Literary and Historical Context of “On First Looking into Chapman's Homer”
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More “On First Looking into Chapman's Homer” Resources
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External Resources
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Keats's Letters — An online resource containing all of Keats's correspondence.
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A Review of Keats's Poetry — A review from 1818 published in Blackwood's Magazine, showcasing some of the literary establishment's prejudices against Keats.
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Chapman's Odyssey — George Chapman's actual translation of one of Homer's works, The Odyssey.
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Keats's Character — This a collection of descriptions of Keats by his contemporaries.
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LitCharts on Other Poems by John Keats
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