John Keats

John Keats

Introduction

Keats's major contribution to life writing is undoubtedly his letters. They were written over a period of seven years, between 1814 and 1821, but the most interesting were composed between 1817 and 1820, when the poet was in the process of producing his major poetic works. They were written to his brothers George and tom, to his sister fanny, to his friends john Reynolds, Benjamin Haydon the painter, James rice, Benjamin bailey, Charles brown, Richard woodhouse, and to his fiancée fanny brawn. Keats was an excellent letter writer, who could use humor and wit, and knew how to interest his readers. He was very good at adapting his writing to the person he was addressing, and the letters demonstrate his skills as a “came lion poet”, to quote his own words in the letter to woodhouse in which he defined the art of the poet.

Discussion

Biographically, the letters trace Keats's life from the moment when he decided to give up the study of medicine and become a poet, through the period of doubts when his first poems were received with contempt by the critics, and ending with the final illness and gradual withdrawal from society. However, the interest of his letters goes far beyond the merely anecdotal aspect, since Keats records in them his exploration of the self, his questioning about the human condition and the value of poetry. The letters reveal an evolution, from early optimism (“the imagination may be compared to Adam's dream - he awoke and found it truth”, to bailey, 22 November 1817), to later loss of faith in his own poetic powers, and a conception of beauty as mere consolation: “by a superior being our reasoning[s] may take the same tone - though erroneous they may be fine - this is the very thing in which consists poetry; and if so it is not so fine a thing as philosophy” (to the George ceases, 19 march 1819). Like the other romantic poets, Keats believed in the artist's power to improve society. However, to a much greater extent than his contemporaries, he stresses the healing quality of art: his training as a surgeon no doubt accounts for this.

John Keats Work

In 1818, he describes life as “a mansion of many apartments”; a year later as “a vale of soul-making”. These two metaphors reflect Keats's mode of exploration in his letters: he tries to remain concrete, and grounds his arguments on self-observation. He believes in evolution, desperately trying to find reasons to hope, despite his own unhappiness. In his letters, we see him using his experience of life as food for thought; he is eager to observe human life, and to interpret it. In the letters Keats argues, questions, tries to convince his readers; in the poems this process is transformed into art. The letters are indeed related to the poems in many ways: they pave the way for the creation of certain poems, such as Hyperion or the odes, but they also reflect Keats's thoughts after completing ...