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"On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" is a sonnet written by the English Romantic poet John Keats. Written in October 1816, it tells of Keats' sense of wonder and amazement upon first reading the translation of the Odyssey by Elizabethan playwright George Chapman. The poem has become an oft-quoted classic that is cited to demonstrate the emotional power of a great work of art and its ability to evoke an epiphany in its beholder.
George Chapman (c. 1559 – 12 May 1634) was an English dramatist, translator and poet. He was a classical scholar whose work shows the influence of Stoicism. Chapman is seen as an anticipator of the metaphysical poets of the 17th century. He is best remembered for his translations of Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, and the Homeric Batrachomyomachia.
Shakespeare was a contemporary of Chapman, and there is evidence that he knew some of Chapman's work. William Minto proposed Chapman as a candidate for being the "Rival Poet" mentioned in Shakespeare's sonnets.