I studied literature as well [granted, did not matriculate] but precisely because I fell in love with literature and poetry (already having been involved in music) in high school.
Did you ever read any Canadian poetry?
Some of our more celebrated poets were a little more literal, or prosaic, or largely storytellers. A prime example is Al Purdy (here performed by both himself reading, and in a dramatic presentation by Gord Downie [RIP]. Hopefully this is easily digestible as a sampling over pointing you to pages with words on them):