Poetry help desperatly needed, "On first looking into Chapman's Homer" by Keats?

Question

Can anyone telling the underlying meaning of this poem? What is the author trying to tell me and the meter of this poem. Also what are some techniques that the author uses, such as style, rhyme scheme, syntax, diction. Just break up the poem and give a general annotation. Thx!

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 5
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; 10
Or like stout Cortez, when with eagle eyes
He stared at the Pacific—and all his men
Look'd at each other with a wild surmise—
Silent, upon a peak in Darien.

Answer 1

The speaker is saying he's traveled a lot, including "western islands" which may be referring to any number of places in the western hemisphere, but because he includes how bards (writers) in fealty (loyal bonds) to Apollo hold them, it probably refers to Greek islands, since Apollo would have been one of the main mythological gods of that area. He said he had even traveled to the place where Homer had lived, according to historic tradition, but he didn't really appreciate that ("Yet did I never breathe its pure serene") until, as the first answerer said, he read how Chapman translated it in a way the speaker could understand. This was a life-changing event for him, for then the speaker says he feels as if he had made an amazing discovery, "like some watcher of the skies" discovering a new planet in his land, or like the Spanish explorer Cortez when they first stood and were about to explore Darien in Panama (had to look that one up). I kind of think this poem is sort of dedicated to someone who made learning about history understandable and amazing for the speaker.
As for techniques, the rhyme scheme is almost but not quite abba, abba, cdedce and with a 14-line format I recognized it as a Petrarchan sonnet in iambic pentameter (except for a few syllables which don't quite fit - so the Romantic poets may or may not adhere to Classical poetry forms). See link below if needed. The syntax looks like it's 19th century style, and it reminds me of Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" because of the theme itself, and the way that certain words are abbreviated, like "travell'd" and "deep-brow'd" and "look'd" where the e before the last d is taken out. You can tell it's a British poet because "travell'd" (really "travelled") is spelled with 2 l's instead of just 1, like we Americans do. The syntax also has a tendency to reverse the order of verbs and subjects, like "felt I" instead of "I felt" or "did I never breathe" instead of "I did never breathe" - which is an old-fashioned way of speaking and which modern poets usually avoid as much as possible. As far as diction goes, it would probably help to hear someone from England read it aloud, but you can tell it was written by an educated, well-read man, since there are words in it that we as Americans hardly use, like "demesne." The word "fealty" is very European, referring to vassals and their master. There is some alliteration, say with "surmise-Silent" where the "s" sound is repeated in two words by each other. I guess the poet used personification to say a planet would "swim" as a planet would not literally be able to swim. Hope this helps.

Answer 2

He really,really,really liked the job that Chapman did in translating and interpreting from Greek to English,the poetry of Homer in The Iliad and The Odyssey.He had heard the stories before but when he read the new translation,he felt like an astronomer discovering a new planet or an explorer discovering the "new world".That's as plain as I can make the interpretation.I was never a fan of cutting a poem up into ribbons and dissecting it on a plate,so you'll have to rely on someone else for that b.s.