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John Keats (1) (1795–1821)

Author of John Keats: The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics)

For other authors named John Keats, see the disambiguation page.

432+ Works 11,847 Members 86 Reviews 108 Favorited

About the Author

John Keats was born in London, the oldest of four children, on October 31, 1795. His father, who was a livery-stable keeper, died when Keats was eight years old, and his mother died six years later. At age 15, he was apprenticed to an apothecary-surgeon. In 1815 he began studying medicine but soon show more gave up that career in favor of writing poetry. The critic Douglas Bush has said that, if one poet could be recalled to life to complete his career, the almost universal choice would be Keats, who now is regarded as one of the three or four supreme masters of the English language. His early work is badly flawed in both technique and critical judgment, but, from his casually written but brilliant letters, one can trace the development of a genius who, through fierce determination in the face of great odds, fashioned himself into an incomparable artist. In his tragically brief career, cut short at age 25 by tuberculosis, Keats constantly experimented, often with dazzling success, and always with steady progress over previous efforts. The unfinished Hyperion is the only English poem after Paradise Lost that is worthy to be called an epic, and it is breathtakingly superior to his early Endymion (1818), written just a few years before. Isabella is a fine narrative poem, but The Eve of St. Agnes (1819), written soon after, is peerless. In Lamia (1819) Keats revived the couplet form, long thought to be dead, in a gorgeous, romantic story. Above all it was in his development of the ode that Keats's supreme achievement lies. In just a few months, he wrote the odes "On a Grecian Urn" (1819), "To a Nightingale" (1819), "To Melancholy" (1819), and the marvelously serene "To Autumn" (1819). Keats is the only romantic poet whose reputation has steadily grown through all changes in critical fashion. Once patronized as a poet of beautiful images but no intellectual content, Keats is now appreciated for his powerful mind, profound grasp of poetic principles, and ceaseless quest for new forms and techniques. For many readers, old and young, Keats is a heroic figure. John Keats died in Rome on February 23, 1821 and was buried in the Protestant Cemetery, Rome. His last request was to be placed under a tombstone bearing no name or date, only the words, "Here lies One whose Name was writ in Water." (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Works by John Keats

Lyric Poems (1991) 564 copies
Selected Poems (2007) 438 copies
The Eve of St Agnes (1820) 212 copies
Poems (1777) 159 copies
The Essential Keats (1987) 128 copies
Keats poems (1909) 116 copies
Endymion: A Poetic Romance (1902) 91 copies
John Keats: Selected Poems (1993) 75 copies
Ode to a Nightingale (2017) 69 copies
La Belle Dame sans Merci (2012) 68 copies
Ode on a Grecian Urn (1997) 62 copies
Selected poetry and letters (1965) 60 copies
Selected poetry (1971) 57 copies
Keats : Selected Poems (1953) 53 copies
Lamia (1996) 48 copies
Selected Poems (1950) 48 copies
The 64 Sonnets (2004) 45 copies
Selected Letters (2014) 40 copies
Poems 1817 (1989) 35 copies
Poems (1971) 33 copies
SELECTED POEMS: John Keats (1955) 32 copies
Poems of John Keats (2010) 29 copies
A Song About Myself (2014) 27 copies
Poemes et poesies (1996) 27 copies
Selected Poems (1985) 27 copies
Poesie (2007) 26 copies
Illustrated Poetry (1984) 26 copies
Keats (1914) 26 copies
Poesie (1983) 25 copies
Letters 24 copies
Poesie (1996) — Author — 19 copies
Poesie: odi e sonetti (1975) 19 copies
Hyperion (1900) 18 copies
The Poems of John Keats (1970) 17 copies
John Keats: An Anthology (1989) 17 copies
Poems, Odes, Sonnets (1944) 17 copies
Keats (1985) 15 copies
Poemas escogidos (1997) 15 copies
Odas y sonetos (1997) 13 copies
Letters of John Keats (1954) 13 copies
Lettere sulla poesia (1984) 12 copies
Poems by John Keats (1910) 12 copies
Odes (1923) 10 copies
To Autumn (1985) 10 copies
The Naughty Boy (1965) 9 copies
The Folio Poets 7 copies
Gedichten 1820 (2014) 7 copies
John Keats (2002) 7 copies
Selections from Keats (1956) 7 copies
Endymion I (2003) 6 copies
Selected Poetry of Keats (1966) 6 copies
The Poems of John Keats (2014) 5 copies
Belleza y verdad (1998) 5 copies
Poemes de John Keats (1985) 5 copies
Runoelmia (2012) 4 copies
Iperione e altri scritti poetici — Author — 4 copies
POEMS OF JOHN KEATS (1980) 4 copies
Poesía (2016) 4 copies
Poetry (2022) 3 copies
A Day with the poet Keats (1909) 3 copies
The Letters of John Keats (2004) 3 copies
Poetry of Keats (1996) 3 copies
Endymion and Other Poems (2009) 3 copies
Lucente stella (2022) 3 copies
燦爛的明星 (2012) 3 copies
Otho The Great 3 copies
John Keats versei (1975) 3 copies
Selections from Keats (2015) 3 copies
POEMES CHOISIES NO1 (1993) 3 copies
Cartas (Spanish Edition) (1982) 3 copies
Keats's Paradise lost (1998) 3 copies
A choice of Keats' verse (1971) 3 copies
The Letters of John Keats (1965) 2 copies
Poemas (2006) 2 copies
Selected Poems John Keats (2000) 2 copies
To Sleep {poem} 2 copies
Keats 2 copies
Poèmes (2000) 2 copies
Keats' Poems 2 copies
Poems of Keats & Shelley (1820) 2 copies
Sonetti (2000) 2 copies
On the Sonnet 2 copies
Poesie (1981) 1 copy
Poesías 1 copy
Sonnets 1 copy
Oda a un ruisenor (1819) 1 copy
Poems 1 copy
Odas (2016) 1 copy
A Concordance to the Poems of John Keats — Contributor — 1 copy
Shelley and Keats (1925) 1 copy
Briefe eines Liebenden (1986) 1 copy
John Keats 1 copy
Lettres 1 copy
Great Poets (2007) 1 copy
Poetry, F3 1 copy
Selected poems (2014) 1 copy
濟慈詩選 (2002) 1 copy
対訳 キーツ詩集 (2005) 1 copy

Associated Works

Paradise Lost [Norton Critical Edition] (1667) — Contributor, some editions — 2,194 copies
One Hundred and One Famous Poems (1916) — Contributor, some editions — 1,932 copies
The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms (2000) — Contributor — 1,254 copies
Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, and Drama (1995) — Contributor, some editions — 915 copies
The Nation's Favourite Poems (1996) — some editions — 622 copies
English Romantic Poetry: An Anthology (1996) — Contributor — 572 copies
The Best Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis (2001) — Contributor — 545 copies
A Treasury of the World's Best Loved Poems (1961) — Contributor — 524 copies
English Poetry, Volume II: From Collins to Fitzgerald (1910) — Contributor — 491 copies
Critical Theory Since Plato (1971) — Contributor, some editions — 398 copies
The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: A Poetry Anthology (1992) — Contributor — 388 copies
The Treasure Chest (1932) — Contributor — 258 copies
The Literary Cat (1977) — Contributor — 241 copies
Criticism: Major Statements (1964) — Contributor — 220 copies
Love Letters (1996) — Contributor — 180 copies
Best Remembered Poems (1992) — Contributor — 157 copies
Vampires, Wine, and Roses (1997) — Contributor — 155 copies
The Faber Book of Beasts (1997) — Contributor — 140 copies
Major British Writers, Volumes I and II (1954) — Contributor — 122 copies
The Standard Book of British and American Verse (1932) — Contributor — 114 copies
The Norton Book of Travel (1987) — Contributor — 110 copies
The Norton Book of Friendship (1991) — Contributor — 95 copies
Byron's Poetry and Prose [Norton Critical Edition] (2009) — Contributor — 94 copies
Wolf's Complete Book of Terror (1979) — Contributor — 76 copies
The Everyman Anthology of Poetry for Children (1994) — Contributor — 72 copies
A Book of Narrative Verse (1930) — Contributor — 61 copies
The Grim Reader: Writings on Death, Dying, and Living On (1997) — Contributor — 60 copies
Autumn: A Spiritual Biography of the Season (2004) — Contributor — 57 copies
The Faber Book of Gardens (2007) — Contributor — 45 copies
Elegy written in a country churchyard and other poems (2009) — Contributor — 42 copies
A Golden Land (1958) — Contributor — 42 copies
Poetry of Witness: The Tradition in English, 1500-2001 (2014) — Contributor — 41 copies
The Romantics on Shakespeare (1992) — Contributor — 37 copies
Poetas románticos ingleses (1989) 29 copies
The Lakeland Poets: An Illustrated Collection (1991) — Contributor — 28 copies
Dark of the Moon: Poems of Fantasy and the Macabre (1947) — Contributor — 26 copies
The Dedalus Book of Femmes Fatales (1992) — Contributor — 24 copies
Five Great English Romantic Poets (Dover Thrift) (1993) — some editions — 23 copies
100 Story Poems (1951) — Contributor — 20 copies
Wonders: Writings and Drawings for the Child in Us All (1980) — Contributor — 18 copies
Masters of British Literature, Volume B (2007) — Contributor — 16 copies
Great Writers and Poets in Ten Volumes (2007) — Author — 13 copies
Fairy Poems (2023) — Contributor — 13 copies
English Narrative Poems (1909) — Contributor — 12 copies
Men and Women: The Poetry of Love (1970) — Contributor — 8 copies
Poetry anthology (2000) — Contributor, some editions — 6 copies
Selected Ballads (2002) — Contributor — 5 copies
Teen-Age Treasury for Girls (1958) — Contributor — 5 copies
Cats: Fifteen Complete Stories and Poems (1998) — Contributor — 5 copies
La poesía inglesa románticos y victorianos — Contributor — 4 copies
Cricket Magazine, Vol. 5, No. 1, September 1977 (1977) — Contributor — 3 copies
English Romantic Poetry (1996) — Contributor — 2 copies
Ferdinand Freiligraths Werke - Neue Pracht-Ausgabe (1900) — Contributor — 1 copy
Bright Star: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack (2009) — Composer — 1 copy

Tagged

17th century (81) 19th century (351) anthology (856) British (184) British literature (181) cats (102) classic (152) classics (240) collection (115) criticism (78) England (64) English (173) English literature (357) English poetry (151) fiction (507) Folio Society (64) hardcover (81) Harvard Classics (70) horror (76) John Keats (79) Keats (125) letters (219) literary criticism (167) literature (760) non-fiction (276) own (102) philosophy (60) poems (146) poetry (6,046) poetry anthology (73) read (87) reference (110) religion (80) romantic (65) Romanticism (297) short stories (111) textbook (79) to-read (494) unread (78) writing (75)

Common Knowledge

Canonical name
Keats, John
Birthdate
1795-10-31
Date of death
1821-02-23
Burial location
Protestant Cemetery, Rome, Italy
Gender
male
Nationality
UK
Country (for map)
England, UK
Birthplace
London, England, UK
Place of death
Rome, Italy
Cause of death
tuberculosis
Places of residence
London, England, UK
Rome, Italy
Education
Guy's Hospital, London (surgeon's assistant)
Occupations
poet
Relationships
Hunt, Leigh (friend)
Brawne, Fanny (fiancée)
Reynolds, John Hamilton (friend)
Clarke, Charles Cowden (friend)
Haydon, Benjamin Robert (friend)
Coleridge, Samuel Taylor (friend) (show all 7)
Brown, Charles Armitage (friend)
Organizations
Guy's Hospital, London
Short biography
When dying, Keats asked for his headstone to be engraved with the words, "Here lies one whose name was writ in water."

Members

Reviews

 
Flagged
cassmkramer | Nov 7, 2023 |
 
Flagged
judeprufrock | Jul 4, 2023 |
This volume of Keats poetry includes some of his best-known work: Ode to a Nightingale, Ode to a Grecian Urn, Hperion, and others. In addition to the two odes just mentioned, I really liked Isabella, Robin Hood. To a Friend, and To Autumn. I like the rhythm and meter of Keats' poetry in particular.
 
Flagged
leslie.98 | 1 other review | Jun 27, 2023 |
Regarding the Modern Library edition as a Kindle e-book. Fairly extensive notes, but no links in the poems. Would have to bookmark each poem when obscurities & allusions need to be checked. Given that this is a Complete Poems, would result in quite a few bookmarks. Life is too short.
 
Flagged
featherbear | 5 other reviews | Feb 19, 2023 |

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Aileen Ward Editor, Introduction
William Wordsworth Contributor
John Milton Contributor
David Gentleman Illustrator
Jane Campion Introduction
George Scharf Illustrator
Chris Raschka Illustrator
F. W. Bateson General Editor
Jessie M. King Illustrator
Pamela Todd Introduction
宮崎 雄行 Translator
Simon Brett Engravings
Douglas Hodge Narrator
Samuel Palmer Cover artist
Mary Shelley Contributor
Thomas Mann Baynes Cover artist
Joseph Severn Illustrator
Gerlof Janzen Translator
Samuel West Narrator
Matthew Marsh Narrator
Arthur Symons Composer
Pasquale Maffeo Translator
Elisabeth Mulder Translator

Statistics

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432
Also by
80
Members
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Rating
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Reviews
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ISBNs
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Favorited
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