JOHN KEATS (1774)

One of the greatest of the 19th-century English lyric poets, is recognized for the vivid imagery, sensuous appeal and rich classical themes of his verse.

Although Keats had been well advanced toward a medical career, his creative talent, reinforced by literary influences from his mother, school and friends caused him at 21 to devote himself exclusively to poetry.

His introduction to the work of William Wordsworth and Leigh Hunt prompted him to develop an individual style but his first important sonnets O Solitude and On First Looking into Chapman´s Homer (October 1816) went virtually unnoticed. 

Abusive criticism was heaped on his lengthy poem Endymion (on the Greek legend of the love of the moon goddess Cynthia for a mortal Endymion).

In spring 1819 he wrote La Belle Dame sans Merci and the great odes On Melancholy, To a Nightingate, On a Grecian Urn and To Psyche all sharing the theme of life´s transitoriness.

In 1820 Keats was in despair over his prolonged engagement to Fanny Brawne, financial difficulties and his work scarcelu appreciating the positive recognition given to the appearance of The Eve of St. Agnes and the epic Hyperion.

The terminal stage of tuberculosis set in that fall, prompting a trip to Rome in a vain search for a cure.