John Keats was born to Thomas and Frances Jennings Keats on October 31, 1795. Both of his parents died when he was still a child, and his grandmother became caretaker to him and his three younger siblings. John developed a close relationship his school's headmaster and the headmaster's son, John and Cowden Clark, both of whom encouraged John's interest in literature and poetry.
Not thinking of poetry as a true career, in 1815 John studied to become a surgeon and apothecary, proving to be quite skillful. However, his love of poetry was too strong, so he gave up practicing medicine in 1816 but incorporated his knowledge into his writings.
John died of tuberculosis on February 23, 1821.
Sources: The Poetry Foundation, Royal College of Surgeons of England
Artist: William Hilton
Keats by
A dazzling new look into the short but intense, tragic life and remarkable work of John Keats, one of the greatest lyric poets of the English language, seen in a whole new light, not as the mythologized Victorian guileless nature-lover, but as the subversive, bawdy complex cynic whose life and poetry were lived and created on the edge. In this brief life, acclaimed biographer Lucasta Miller takes nine of Keats's best-known poems--"Endymion"; "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer"; "Ode to a Nightingale"; "To Autumn"; "Bright Star" among them--and excavates how they came to be and what in Keats's life led to their creation. She writes of aspects of Keats's life that have been overlooked, and explores his imagination in the context of his world and experience, paying tribute to the unique quality of his mind. Miller, through Keats's poetry, brilliantly resurrects and brings vividly to life, the man, the poet in all his complexity and spirit, living dangerously, disdaining respectability and cultural norms, and embracing subversive politics. Keats was a lower-middle-class outsider from a tragic and fractured family, whose extraordinary energy and love of language allowed him to pummel his way into the heart of English literature; a freethinker and a liberal at a time of repression, who delighted in the sensation of the moment. We see how Keats was regarded by his contemporaries (his writing was seen as smutty) and how the young poet's large and boisterous life--a man of the metropolis, who took drugs, was sexually reckless and afflicted with syphilis--went straight up against the Victorian moral grain; and Miller makes clear why his writing--considered marginal and avant-garde in his own day--retains its astonishing originality, sensuousness and power two centuries on.
John Keats - Life and Letters by
This classic book is a collection of letters written by the seminal English Romantic poet John Keats, together with a detailed biography written by Richard Monckton Milnes. This comprehensive and insightful volume provides a vivid picture of Keats as a man and as a poet, and will appeal to those with an interest in his life and work. John Keats (1795-1821) was a seminal English poet and an important member of the second generation of Romantic poets, together with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. Many classic books such as this are becoming increasingly rare and expensive. We are republishing this classic book now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.
Life, Death & Last Words of John Keats by
"Here lies one whose name was writ in water". This is the phrase the English Romantic poet Keats desired to be inscribed on his tombstone. Just this phrase; he did not even want his name to appear on his tombstone; merely this line. Keats wanted simply the above phrase on his tombstone for by the time his death was near, he was embittered with life and believed he would soon be forgotten. But, contrary to it, more than two hundred years after his death, he is still remembered as one of the greatest English Romantic poets ever. This book, the second in the "Last Words Series", deals with the fascinating account of the 'Life, Death, and Last Words' of the English Romantic poet John Keats (31 October 1795 -- 23 February 1821). Keats came to this world on a short visit. He was just over 25 when he died.
Keats by
The description for this book, Keats: The Religious Sense, will be forthcoming.
John Keats by
We read fine things but never feel them to the full until we have gone the same steps as the Author.' (John Keats to J.H. Reynolds, Teignmouth May 1818)John Keats is one of Britain's best-known and most-loved poets. Despite dying in Rome in 1821, at the age of just 25, his poems continue to inspire generations who reinterpret and reinvent the ways in which we consume his work.Apart from his long association with Hampstead, North London, he has not previously been known as a poet of 'place' in the way we associate Wordsworth with the Lake District, for example, and for many years readers considered Keats's work remote from political and social context. Yet Keats was acutely aware of and influenced by his surroundings: Hampstead; Guy's Hospital in London where he trained as a doctor; Teignmouth where he nursed his brother Tom; a walking tour of the Lake District and Scotland; the Isle of Wight; the area around Chichester and in Winchester, where his last great ode, To Autumn, was composed.Far from the frail Romantic stereotype, Keats captivated people with his vitality and strength of character. He was also deeply interested in the life around him, commenting in his many letters and his poetry on historic events and the relationship between wealth and poverty. What impact did the places he visited have on him and how have those areas changed over two centuries? How do they celebrate their 'Keats connection?'Suzie Grogan takes the reader on a journey through Keats's life and landscapes, introducing us to his best and most influential work. In many ways a personal journey following a lifetime of study, the reader is offered opportunities to reflect on the impact of poetry and landscape on all our lives. The book is aimed at anyone wanting to know more about the places Keats visited, the times he lived through and the influences they may have had on his poetry. Utilizing primary sources such as Keats's letters to friends and family and the very latest biographical and academic work, it offers an accessible way to see Keats through the lens of the places he visited and aims to spark a lasting interest in the real Keats - the poet and the man.
Keats's Odes by
"When I say this book is a love story, I mean it is about things that cannot be gotten over--like this world, and some of the people in it." In 1819, the poet John Keats wrote six poems that would become known as the Great Odes. Some of them--"Ode to a Nightingale," "To Autumn"--are among the most celebrated poems in the English language. Anahid Nersessian here collects and elucidates each of the odes and offers a meditative, personal essay in response to each, revealing why these poems still have so much to say to us, especially in a time of ongoing political crisis. Her Keats is an unflinching antagonist of modern life--of capitalism, of the British Empire, of the destruction of the planet--as well as a passionate idealist for whom every poem is a love poem. The book emerges from Nersessian's lifelong attachment to Keats's poetry; but more, it "is a love story: between me and Keats, and not just Keats." Drawing on experiences from her own life, Nersessian celebrates Keats even as she grieves him and counts her own losses--and Nersessian, like Keats, has a passionate awareness of the reality of human suffering, but also a willingness to explore the possibility that the world, at least, could still be saved. Intimate and speculative, this brilliant mix of the poetic and the personal will find its home among the numerous fans of Keats's enduring work.
The Complete Poems of John Keats by
'I think I shall be among the English Poets after my death,' John Keats soberly prophesied in 1818 as he started writing the blankverse epicHyperion.Today he endures as the archetypal Romantic genius who explored the limits of the imagination and celebrated the pleasures of the senses but suffered a tragic early death. Edmund Wilson counted him as 'one of the half dozen greatest English writers,' and T. S. Eliot has paid tribute to the Shakespearean quality of Keats's greatness. Indeed, his work has survived better than that of any of his contemporaries the devaluation of Romantic poetry that began early in this century. This Modern Library edition contains all of Keats's magnificent verse- 'Lamia,' 'Isabella,' and 'The Eve of St. Agnes'; his sonnets and odes; the allegorical romanceEndymion;and the five-act poetic tragedyOtho the Great.Presented as well are the famous posthumous and fugitive poems, including the fragmentary 'The Eve of Saint Mark' and the great 'La Belle Dame sans Merci,' perhaps the most distinguished literary ballad in the language. 'No one else in English poetry, save Shakespeare, has in expression quite the fascinating felicity of Keats, his perception of loveliness,' said Matthew Arnold. 'In the faculty of naturalistic interpretation, in what we call natural magic, he ranks with Shakespeare.'
Letters of John Keats to His Family and Friends by
This book contains a voluminous compilation of correspondences between the poet John Keats, his loved ones, and his friends. The total of 164 correspondences written by Keats in this edition are markedly varied. From short notes of acknowledgement to lengthy, detailed accounts of events in his life complete with poetic drafts, they provide a window into the poet's mind in a manner uncommon for the period. Owing to their detail and flow, there is something of an autobiographical tone whereby the poet relays various episodic accounts and events. Often in the habit of inserting draft poetry to his writings, Keats reveals his flamboyant personality and commitment to his craft. There is an unmistakable passion for his poems, and the poet's good manners and appreciation of courtesy is clear to behold. His philosophy behind creativity, and his unceasing quest for greater understanding of art, are among the most compelling traits present. Essential for lovers of Romantic era poetry, the letters of Keats are also valuable for shedding light on an era which saw a blossoming of the poetic arts. We gain a sense of the social customs and mores of Regency era Britain and early nineteenth century Europe. Keats only experienced a few years of recognition before his early death at the age of 25. Wide recognition and critical acclaim, which steadily increased his reputation posthumously, would rest partially upon the vigour and verve with which he approached his tragically brief life. For ease of reference, this edition of Keats letters contains a full Table of Contents which includes the name of each letter's recipient. It also contains the collator's original notes in their entirety, providing the reader with historical context together with information on the people and interests Keats refers to.