John Keats1795-1821

Keats stepped into the world the 31st day in October of 1795. He was the eldest of five children, however one died in infancy. He had rich grandparents that gave his father the ‘Swan and Hoop’ stables (London, England). John had a childhood but after the death of his father in April of 1804 life took a downward spiral. Two months after his fathers death his mother remarried to a man that was only after fortune and the marriage failed. Their Grandfather died in 1805. John, George & Tom (brothers), and Fanny (sister) went to live with their grandmother, where the boys then attended Enfield school. John was well liked and popular.

John nursed his mother through her tuberculosis until her death in 1810. Pushed by guardian Richard Abbey John became an apprentice to a surgeon and studied medicine for a few years until setting that profession aside for his love of poetry. The financial and emotional state of the family worsened with each death of a family member and reached its peak when in December 1814 their Grandmother passed away. Not long before his grandmothers death he wrote his first poem. In 1817 he published his first vol. Which included; “I stood on tip-toe upon a little hill”, “Sleep and Poetry”, and more. John also nursed his brother Tom whom caught Tuberculosis. By 1818 John Keats was deeply in love with a woman by the name of Franny Brawne, however they did not marry because of John’s health. Some of John’s most important works came out in his 1820 volume of literature. In this year he was accompanied by his friend Joseph Severn to Italy. In Feb. of 1821 he died in Rome. John is remembered by being Brave, generous, and sensitive all at the same time.

John’s Bibliography cont’d

"was a boy whom any one might easily have fancied would become great - but rather in some military capacity than in literature.“-Holmes

Literary Criticisms

COMPLIMENT:

John Keats was one of the last, great poets of the Romantic Era.  He wrote poetry of great sensual beauty and with a unique passion for details.

CRITICISM:

We venture to make one small prophecy, that his bookseller will not a second time venture 50 quid upon any thing he can write.  It is a better and a wiser thing to be a starved apothecary than a starved poet; so back to the shop Mr John, back to "plasters, pills, and ointment boxes," &c.  But, for Heaven's sake, young Sangrado, be a little more sparing of extenuatives and soporifics in your practice than you have been in your poetry. -John Gibson Lockhart, from Blackwood's Edinburgh MagazineAugust 1818

INSERT FROM:

I stood tip-toe upon a little hill

“I STOOD tip-toe upon a little hill, The air was cooling, and so very still,

That the sweet buds which with a modest pride Pull droopingly, in slanting curve aside,

Their scantly leaved, and finely tapering stems, Had not yet lost those starry diadems

Caught from the early sobbing of the morn. The clouds were pure and white as flocks new

shorn, And fresh from the clear brook; sweetly they slept

On the blue fields of heaven, …”

Flattering the Author: My imitation poem.

The Girl Upon the Window Sill.

By: Alisha O’Reilly

What does she wait for? It is true love.

Upon the sill she peers out into a world of hate.

Is there one whom might use a different gate?

And if there is will he find hers?

This is what she hopes, this is why she waits.

Literary Criticism by:ALISHA O’REILLY

I found that throughout his writings he writes with passion and such vivid description that the picture he is presenting appears before your eyes. His usage of personification is very enjoyable, especially in one of his earlier works, “I stood tip-toe upon a hill.” I was enlightened and refreshed by the work of this great poet.

I greatly enjoyed his imagery and style of writing.

What I Found:

Challenging & Appealing

Some of the older forms of English sometimes make it more difficult for me to comprehend.

I myself being a romantic person myself I soak up his passionate writing. Also the way he portrays various emotions is breathtaking and makes his works an easy read in the sense that they are not painful to get through.

The effects John’s society had on his writing.

• The the slave trade and slavery still existed during this time.

•Social classes were very evident and John was a middle class poet whom would find acceptance much harder than if he was a lord or in the upper class.

•Sickness and incurable epidemics, such tuberculosis.

 1. Columbia Encycolpedia. “John Keats.” 2005. http://src2.epnet.com/School/Citation.aspx?sid=7402635c-d134-4d5c-9d5c-b39f532a7c73%40SRCSM1&vid=12424982#AG1412646256-6> (accessed 12 Dec. 2005).  2. Wikipedia. “John Keats.” 12 Dec. 2005.<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keats>( accessed 12 Dec. 2005).   3. Marilee. “The Life of John Keats.” March 2004.<http://englishhistory.net/keats/life.html>(accessed 13 Dec. 2005).  4. Digital Term Papers, Inc. “John Keats.” 2004.<http://www.digitaltermpapers.com/c5675.htm> (accessed 13 Dec. 2005).

Resources for my POETRY STUDY