Remembering John Keats

Born in 1795, John Keats published only three poetry book in his life time. An English poet, who become one of the key figures of Romantic Movement in English poetry. Along with the Lord Byron and Percy Shelly, Keats was the part of the second generation romantic poets. John Keats’ works are art of words. He was a master of selection of words and imagery. But sadly, during his life time, he mostly received constant attacks from other poets and critics. Rivalry between Byron and Keats is well known and discussed. John Keats was a poor and struggling middle-class poet whose work was often savaged by the great critics of the age; he was advised that poetry was the provenance of nobleman such as Byron, and dismissed (by Byron, among others) as a 'Cockney' poet.

He got acquainted with celebrated artists of his time, like Leigh Hunt, Percy B. Shelley and Benjamin Robert Haydon. In May 1816, Hunt helped him publish his first poem in a magazine. A year later Keats published about thirty poems and sonnets printed in the volume "Poems".

After receiving scarce, negative feedback, Keats travelled to the Isle of Wight on his own in spring of 1817. In the late summer, he went to Oxford together with a newly-made friend, Benjamin Bailey. Keats worked for his poem ‘Endymion’, a four thousand line erotic/allegorical romance based on Greek myth of the same name. The critics and the literary circle of that time declared this collection to be ‘nonsense’. The editor of a famous magazine, the Examiner, Leigh Hunt, who published Keats’ two sonnets earlier, advised John Keats to give up writing poetry. Percy Shelly, who was very fond of Keats, gave a favourable feedback.

In the year 1818 Keats spent the summer in a walking tour of Northern England and Scotland. This is the year when he fell in love with beautiful Fanny Brawne. But this relationship was cut short due to his illness. Keats's ardour for her seemed to bring him more vexation than comfort. The later (posthumous) publication of their correspondence was to scandalise Victorian society. In the diary of Fanny Brawne was found only one sentence regarding the separation: "Mr. Keats has left Hampstead". Fanny's letters to Keats were, as the poet had requested, destroyed upon his death. However, in 1937, a collection of 31 letters, written by Fanny Brawne to Keats's sister, Frances, was published by Oxford University Press. While these letters revealed the depth of Brawne's feelings toward Keats and in many ways attempted to redeem her rather promiscuous reputation, it is arguable whether or not they succeeded.

But John Keats had written his finest poetry in this period of time.

He mainly worked on ‘Hyperion’, a Miltonic blank verse epic of the Greek mythology. But by this time, his brother, Tom Keats felt seriously ill. He was suffering from tuberculosis. John Keats stopped writing ‘Hyperion’ upon the death of his brother and forced to back to England. But in the late 1819, he started writing again and rewrote it as ‘The Fall of Hyperion’. This remained unfinished till 1856.

In the same autumn, Keats contracted tuberculosis and he felt that death was already upon him. He was ordered by his doctor to avoid English summer and moved to Italy with his friend Joseph Severn. Though his health improved momentarily but finally he succumbed to his illness; John Keats died in Rome on the 23rd of February 1821. He was only twenty five. He was buried in the Protestant Cemetery. On his desire, the following line was engraved on his tombstone – “Here lies one whose name was writ in water.”

John Keats was one of those famous personalities who lived under heavy criticism in their lifetime and reputation grew after his death. His posthumous influence on poets such as Alfred Tennyson and Wilfred Owen was immense.

Today we can say, John Keats is undoubtedly one the most supremely gifted and tragic poets of all time.

Darkling I listen; and for many a time I have been half in love with easeful Death

- John Keats (Ode To A Nightingale)