Keats
by Keats John
2020-06-04 22:49:40
Born in far from affluent circumstances and dying of tuberculosis in 1821 when he was but 25 years old, Keats had a productive life as a poet of a mere five years of which his last year arguably produced his greatest poetry. It is these final poems t...
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Born in far from affluent circumstances and dying of tuberculosis in 1821 when he was but 25 years old, Keats had a productive life as a poet of a mere five years of which his last year arguably produced his greatest poetry. It is these final poems that are included in this collection that was printed by the Clarendon Press Oxford in 1909, edited and with notes by M. Robertson. The book is introduced with a helpful short biography of the poet. These poems demonstrate the height of Keats' skill and are well known to most readers of English literature. They are the product of a sublime talent working at the apex of early 19th century English Romanticism. There is little that I can say about these wonderful poems that has not been said many times before and in better ways than I can hope to write. As I read them on this occasion I was again struck with how often phrases emerged that have become part of our common heritage, sometimes used by other authors as titles of their own works or quoted within their writings. Here are a few from but a single poem, "Ode to a Nightingale": "….tender is the night, And haply the Queen-Moon is on her throne, Cluster'd around by all her starry Fays;" "….for many a timeI have been half in love with easeful Death," "Now more than ever seems it rich to die, To cease upon the midnight with no pain, While thou art pouring forth thy soul abroadIn such an ecstasy!" There are poems and groups of poems that should be read and reread throughout one's life, works that speak to us afresh with each revisiting. These poems from Keats' prime are such works.
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