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.
- John Keats