This sonnet records Keats’ joy at encountering George Chapman’s vivid translations of Homer’s epic poems. It is a traditional Petrarchan sonnet, with the octet rhyming abba abba and the sestet cdcdcd. Both parts of the sonnet focus on exploration – the descriptive octet focuses on Keats’ intellectual travel, while the reflective sestet focuses on the thrill of discovery. The sonnet celebrates the ability of art to impact deeply upon our human souls, while also revealing Keats’ great passion for literature. It was not easy for Keats to follow his dream of being a poet. He was orphaned at a young age, and went on to train as a surgeon. This was seen as a respectable profession for a young gentleman whose family had lost their fortune. After six long years of intense study and considerable expense, Keats received his apocathary licence to practise medicine in July 1816 (he wrote this sonnet in October 1816). However, in December 1816 he gave up medicine to focus on writing. This poem helps explain what poetry meant to Keats.
The sonnet begins by revealing his long travels through the world of poetry: ‘Much have I travell’d in the realms of gold’. His comparison of poetry to gold illustrates its immense value to him. He has already ‘seen’, that is, read, some amazing things – ‘And many goodly states and kingdoms seen’ – including many poems that were written to worship Apollo, the god of poetic inspiration: ‘Round many western islands have I been/ Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.’ Keats had encountered the exciting stories of the ‘deep-brow’d Homer’ before, but had not appreciated their brilliance until he read George Chapman’s masterful translations: ‘Yet did I never breathe its pure serene/ Till I heard Chapman speak out loud and bold’.
