John Keats is my favorite poet of all time, the reasoning why is because I find his poetry beautiful. The romanticism period has to be one of my favorites because it gave way to many great poets like him. So let me explain who Keats was and explain his works.
Who was John Keats and why is he important?
John Keats was born on October 31st 1795, in a room over the stable of the Swan and Hoop inn. His parents were Thomas and Frances Keats. His father Thomas, had died in 1804, he was killed by falling off a horse. Keats life was full of tragic; he lost both his brother and mother from tuberculosis.
Through the dark times of his life he did fall in love with Fanny Brawne, who had been his love of his life though they never did get the chance to marry. The last months of his life, Keats was dying from tuberculosis like his mother and brother Tom. He then said a last farewell to Fanny and went to Rome with his friend Joseph Severn. He died four months later in 1821, after his death the poet Percy Shelley wrote a poem called, Adonais; it was an elegy on the death of Keats.
The publication of his poems in 1819 didn’t make a huge impact until a new generation of Victorian writers came way like Browning and Matthew Arnold, who said, “He is with Shakespeare.” They helped his legacy to be remembered for our generation, like take the Jane Campion film, Bright Star for example. That film just showed that Keats will always be popular with poetry and movie fans.
Some of Keats Poetry
Sleep and Poetry (November-December 1821)
(My favorite poem of this list, though all of them are equally good.)
The Last Sonnet (1820)
To Byron (December 1814)
La Belle Dame sans Merci (1819)
Ode to a Nightingale (May, 1819)
To Autumn September (1819)
(Since Autumn is my favorite season, this poem just works. It’s a very beautiful piece and very descriptive.)
Conclusion
Still, still to hear her tender taken breath, And so live ever-or else swoon to death.
Keats can be called in modern terms a beatnik, with his attitude. In his young life he decided to take up a bohemian lifestyle. He was a rebel. No matter what Keats did, I like him because his words bring such emotion when you read them. His poems are timeless and though he died at a young age of 25, he is still memorable because of them. So please open one of his books and read the immortal Keats.
Sources:
“Selected Poems of Byron, Keats and Shelley” Edited by, Elliot Coleman