John Keats 1795-1821

life • He was born in London in 1795

• After the premature death of his parents he is entrusted with his brothers in the care of their grandmother.

• He studied medicine but also developed his literary interests.

• His first works, Poems and Endymion, were panned by critics.

• In 1818 his brother Tom died of tuberculosis and John moved to Brown’s house were he fell in love with Fanny.

• They couldn’t marry because of Keat’s economical problems and his poor health.

• In 1820 Keat’s health worsened and he had to leave for Italy to a less humid climate.

• He died the next year in Rome.

This Grave contains all that was mortal

of a YOUNG ENGLISH POET,

who on his death bed,

in the bitterness of his heart, at the malicious power of his enemies, desired these words to be engraven on his tombstone:

“here lies one whose name was write in water”

Feb 24th 1821 

Melancholy Is created by man’s knowledge of the transience of life and beauty.

“Beauty must die” Keats connects each positive feeling with its melancholic end. 

Aching pleasure The oxymoron blends two contradictory states: Acception of a real love affair would have meant the death of his poetry. His attitude towards women always caused a dilemma

Negative capability The object must be caught in its essence; everything that is irrelvant and discordant must be omitted.

“ The excellence of every Art is its intensity, capable of making all disagreeables

evaporate, from their being in close relationship with

Beauty and Truth. ”John Keats

He produced some of the best English lyrics, in fact he was able to combine Romantic themes with a rare formal perfection.

Poems, 1817Endymion, 1818Hyperion, 1818-1819The fall of Hyperion, 1820Lamia, 1819La Belle Dame sans Merci, 1819The Eve of St. Agnes, 1819Ode to the Nightingale, 1819Ode on a Grecian Urn, 1819Ode to Psyche, 1819To Autumn, 1819On Melancholy, 1819

Neo-classical + Romantic poet

Keats was inspired to write the Ode contemplating a Grecian Urn exhibited at the British Museum.

Five stanza of ten jambic pentameters

In the first stanza the poet ask himself some questions about the origins of the URN, and describes it as an “Unravish’d bride of quiteness“ and “foster-child of silence and slow time”.In the second stanza the poet observes a “fair youth” who’s playing a sweet but unheard melody . Art freezed the moment in which the boy was close to kissing his beloved. The moments portrayed on the urn will be there eternally.In the third stanza the poet looks at the trees sourrounding the lovers and he’s happy because they will never lose their leaves. In the same way the two lovers will love each other forever, unlike mortal love which is destined to an end.In the fourth stanza the poet observes the other side of the urn where a group of farmers leading a heifer to sacrifice are carved . The poet asks himself where they are going and also where they came from. Next he imagines the small town nearby whose streets will always remain empty.In the fifth stanza the poet says that the Urn will remain in future timesand preserve its lesson “Beauty is truth, truth beauty”, this is all we Know and all we need to know on earth.

ThemesArt freezes timeNegative capability Relationship between Art and BeautyHuman and changeable vs the immortal and permanentDiscrepancy between the frozen images and the dynamic life portrayed on the Urn

“Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard are

sweeter.”

“ ‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty’ – That is all

ye know on earth , and all ye need to know”

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” ll. 10-11

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” ll. 49-50

La Belle DameSans Merci

There are two versions of this poem, the first version is from the original manuscript and the second version is the first published form.

The original version was found in a letter to Keats's brother, George, and dated 21st April 1819. It was first published in ‘Lamia and Other Poems’ in 1820.

Twelve four-line stanzas consisting of three iambic tetrameters and a final iambic bimeter

This poem deals with a knight whomeets a mysterious woman with wild

eyes .He falls in love with her.But she brings him into the Elf’s cave

Where he falls asleep. The knight has a vision of pale princes and kings who shout to him that "the

beautiful lady without mercy" will make him her slave.

SUMMARY

Figure of the ‘Femme Fatal’

These fatal women are attractive, beautiful and

dangerous. They have an ability to ruin the whole life of a man.

(stereotype)

Lilies and RosesThese flowers are reminescent of old ballads and symbolize purity

and love. Their status also tend to reinforce the perception of

dejection and loneliness of the knight.

Keats took inspiration from local folklore.

It’s a ballad which recalls medieval times and oral

traditions.

This is Jane Campion’s film

based on the last three years of life of

John Keats.

“Bright star, would I were steadfast as thou art”