On First Looking into Chapman's Homer Quotations
Quotations
“Much have I travell'd in the realms of gold...”Explanation: Keats says he has read many great literary works, like travelling through golden lands.
“Yet did I never breathe its pure serene...”Explanation: Keats never truly felt Homer’s beauty until he read Chapman’s powerful translation.
“Oft of one wide expanse had I been told...”Explanation: Keats had heard of Homer’s greatness and deep poetic world before reading him.
“He star'd at the Pacific... Silent, upon a peak in Darien.”Explanation: Keats compares his amazement to explorers seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time, shocked and speechless.