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.
1816
This brilliant poem written by John Keat's depicts his first experience with literature. He draws attention to our human inclinations to utilize literature to go beyond concrete definitions, because it satisfies us, both our mind and heart. Humans are a complex species and cannot be reduced to giving mechanical explanations when describing things (e.g., breakups, basketball games, brother-in-laws, etc.). Instead of defining things, literature absorbs us into the experience and activates our senses and imagination, stimulates, and triggers a reaction. When Keat's first discovers Homer's Illiad and the Odyssey he responds with overwhelming awe; he equates the experience to what it may have been like to see a "new planet" or an undiscovered ocean. Words are not merely meant to be concrete messages transferred between individuals, but they give us an intimate experience and inspiration by their syntax, look, and sound. This is the importance of literature.
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