John+Keats

John Keats



Background:
- Born: October, 1795 (Finsbury Pavement near London) - Death: February, 1821 - Father owned an inn - Death of Father: 1804 (Fractured his skull by falling off a horse), because his dad didn’t get a lawyer to write his will, Keats was left in financial trouble. - Death of Mother: 1810 (Tuberculosis) Born: October, 1795 - In 1816, with the help of Leigh Hunt (a celebrated artist of the time) Keats published his first poem in a magazine. - A year later Keats had published a collection of around 30 poems and sonnets in a volume called “Poems” - Keats unfortunately received negative feedback and moved to the Isle of Whit in 1817. - Keats’ brother George got engaged and emigrated to America leaving John Keats to take care of his younger brother Tom who was sick. - This though did not stop him from working on his latest poem: “Endymion” - The first signs of his own fatal disease were recognized before the publication of ‘Endymion’ in 1817. - Tom Keats passed away in December 1818. - Keats then met the Fanny Brawne (18 years old) and fell in love with her when he was living at his friend’s house at Wentworth place. - Unfortunately he was told to move to Italy, because the cold weather in England was affecting his tuberculosis. - During the boat trip to Italy Keats wrote the final revisions of his sonnet “Bright Star”, which was written for Fanny. - He then died on February the 23rd, 1821. At the age of 25.

Time/Historical Era
- Growth of the British Empire - Development of the Romantic Era, which was an artistic, and literary movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century, mainly among Europe. - The Romantic Era developed mainly along the lines of the Industrial Revolution; it was designed to react with the changes brought by the steam engine and railway. - This movement inspired and brought out a lot of literary icons including: Charles Dickens (Oliver Twist), Jane Austen (Pride and Prejudice), Robert Louis Stevenson (Treasure Island) and John Keats.

Influence
- In 1814, he wrote one of his first poems, an imitation of the Elizabethan poet, Edmund Spenser. - Charles Cowden Clarke J.H. Reynolds  o Early friends who helped encourage him to continue writing poetry - Leigh Hunt  o Owned the //Examiner//  § Leading liberal magazine of the day  o Published Keats’ first poem - Inspired by Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, Shelley and Wordsworth - Obviously influenced by family tragedies, poverty, doomed love, lingering illness and early death.

Romanticism

 * A huge movement of change for music, art, and literature.
 * It was a reaction against the scientific rationalization of the Age of Enlightenment
 * Poetry moved from the Augustan Era to the Romantic Era
 * The highly structured verses and high diction of the Augustan Era were rejected in favor of more commonplace language.
 * Keats was part of the 2nd generation of Romanticist poets

Contributions to the Literary World
- Active Writing Period: 1814-1820 - Two volumes of poetry published. - Group of 5 Odes written in 1819 considered his most important work. - Ode to a nightingale -Ode on a Grecian Urn - Ode to Psyche - Ode on Melancholy

- Ode on Indolence
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Literary contributions
- `The Eve of St Agnes',  o He revised it to make it very sexual, publishers refused to publish it (Keats was trying to appear manly)  o The poem describes the belief that if a virgin follows the traditions on the Eve of St. Agnes, she will dream of her future husband. - ‘Hyperion’  o Never finished  o The poem describes the fall of the titans as they are overthrown by their children, the Olympian Gods. Hyperion, the titan God of the Sun is the only one left.  o His downfall is seen as tragic and it depicts the inevitable trend towards succession and evolution towards higher forms of beauty.  o Puts forward an alternative Greek vision of struggle and human progress. - `Ode to a Nightingale'  o Probably his most recognized work.  o Wrote after the death of his brother  o Described a nightingale that managed to go through its song without dying  § Contrasted to man who cannot accomplish that feat  o Reminds him of the inevitable sadness of mortality.

=__Quotations and Extracts:__= Bright Star! would I were steadfast as thou art.


 * said to be his last poem that he finalized.
 * expresses Keats's desire to be unwaveringly faithful to himself like the stars
 * Also refers to Fanny Brawne, with whom Keats was in love with.
 * Romanticism qualities include the appreciation of the beauty of nature, awe, appreciation of life.

Ode to a Nightingale


 * often refered to as Keat's most famous work

Extract from Ode to a Nightingale


 * The voice I hear this passing night was heard || ||
 * In ancient days by emperor and clown: || ||
 * Perhaps the self-same song that found a path || ||
 * Through the sad heart of Ruth, when, sick for home, || ||
 * She stood in tears amid the alien corn; || ||
 * The same that ofttimes hath || ||
 * Charm'd magic casements, opening on the foam || ||
 * Of perilous seas, in faery lands forlorn. ||

In these lines, Keats talks about the beautiful voice that he hears is the same voice that was heard thousands of years ago by emperor and clown, which are two contrasting types of people, yet they hear the same beauty.

Eve of St. Agnes


 * long (380 lines) poem telling a story about a girl who is following a superstitious rite to see her future husband in a dream.
 * She performs this rite where on St. Agnes' eve she strips down naked and look to the heavens.
 * Not suprisingly, her forbidden lover comes to her in the night, and she, believing it to be a dream, she sleeps with him
 * After waking up, she realises her mistake. They escape from the castle and flee into the night.



**Criticism**
"To witness the disease of any human understanding, however feeble, is distressing; but the spectacle of an able mind reduced to a state of insanity is, of course, ten times more afflicting. It is with such sorrow as this that we have contemplated the case of Mr John Keats. [...] He was bound apprentice some years ago to a worthy apothecary in town. But all has been undone by a sudden attack of the malady [...] For some time we were in hopes that he might get off with a violent fit or two ; but of late the symptoms are terrible. The phrenzy of the "Poems" was bad enough in its way; but it did not alarm us half so seriously as the calm, settled, imperturbable drivelling idiocy of //Endymion.//


 * Keats was unappreciated in life
 * Only about 200 copies of the collection of his poems were sold while he was alive
 * Heavily criticized for the use of "the most incongruous ideas in the most uncouth language

Sources

 "534. The Eve of St. Agnes. John Keats. 1909-14. English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald. The Harvard Classics." // Bartleby.com: Great Books Online -- Quotes, Poems, Novels, Classics and Hundreds More //. Web. 03 Nov. 2010. <http://www.bartleby.com/41/534.html>. <span style="display: block; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 3em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -3em;">"BBC - History - Historic Figures: John Keats (1795-1821)." // BBC - Homepage //. Web. 03 Nov. 2010. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/keats_john.shtml>."Introduction to Keats." Web. 03 Nov. 2010. <http://academic.brooklyn.cuny.edu/english/melani/cs6/keats.html>."'Ode to a Nightingale' by John Keats." // THE BRITISH LIBRARY - The World's Knowledge //. Web. 03 Nov. 2010. <http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/keats/keatsnightingale.html>. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 3em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -3em;">"John Keats (1795-1821)." // THE BRITISH LIBRARY - The World's Knowledge //. Web. 03 Nov. 2010. <http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/features/keats/keats.html>. <span style="color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 24pt; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;"><span style="display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman',Times,serif; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 3em; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding: 0px; text-indent: -3em;">Keats, John, and Elizabeth Cook. "Notes." Afterword. // John Keats: Selected Poetry //. Oxford: Oxford UP, 1988. Print.