John Keats 1795-1821

1. John Keats 1795-1821

2. “Cockney” Poet • Unlike both Byron and Shelley—the other “2nd Gen” Romantic poets—Keats was working class rather than a leisured, classically educated aristocrat. • from a large hard-working family in London, but don’t think of Keats’s family desperately poor, just as not-privileged • Trained as apothecary (half pharmacist, half doctor by today’s standards)

3. Exactly where to put Keats? • When Keats died at 25, he had already written more than either Shakespeare or Milton had at that age (and arguably better poetry that either had yet written) • Of course, both of these great poets go on to write much more and much more amazing verse, but Keats’s scholars always have a bit of a “Wow, how might he have grown as a poet?” moment.

4. Keats and his Reviewers • Early reviews of Keats’s poetry were savage • Percy Shelley was a notable exception • Many of the early reviewers took it as a given that a working class man could not be a good poet therefore Keats’s poetry could not be good • Shelley – a bit melodramatically – blames reviewers for Keats’s illness and early death • “Discovered” after death