On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer

     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.
     Oft of one wide expanse had I been told
         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;
     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.