1 / 4

John Keats 1795-1821

John Keats 1795-1821. “Cockney” Poet. Unlike both Byron and Shelley—the other “2 nd Gen” Romantic poets—Keats was working class rather than a leisured, classically educated aristocrat.

kin
Download Presentation

John Keats 1795-1821

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript


  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

More Related