Complete Poems and Selected Letters of John Keats

The introduction speaks of Keat's "verbal sumptuousness" and that's apt--particularly if you read these out loud, they're a feast for the ears. That said, I didn't love everything. I was less than wild about Keats' two longest poems, particularly the longest, Endymion, which at over a hundred pages is the only one that could be described as "epic" and the only one that after reading part of it I skipped. I think part of what I don't much like about that poem is that it feels less personal than the others. Although the shorter poetry has a lot of classical allusions, here the world of Greek myth is central, and strikes me as too artificial and pedantic unlike the way it hits me when it comes from a Homer or Vergil. Poems such as "On show more Chapman's Homer," "Ode to a Grecian Urn" and "On Seeing the Elgin Marbles For the First Time" are about Keats' reaction to things classical, which is a different story. Or maybe it's just Keats wasn't then ready to handle an epic theme. He himself said he was stretching himself and saw the poem as flawed, if a great learning experience, and when it was published, the poem drew scathing reviews.

Yet, even Endymion has its riches--the first line is "a thing of beauty is a joy forever." That certainly can be said of Keats' poetry. There are so many of the shorter lyric poetry and sonnets that are so absolutely gorgeous it would just be too long to list all I loved in a review, but I'll try to list my five favorites in order they're found in the book--even though I know the choices are rather predictable.

1) "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" - because it expresses so well the wonder of discovery to be found in reading with its "realms of gold."
2) "When I Have Fears" - because it's heartbreaking, especially knowing Keat's fate.
3) "La Belle Dame sans Merci" - because it's a creepy, haunting horror story.
4) "Ode on a Grecian Urn" - because well, it's brilliant. ("Beauty is truth, truth beauty.")
5) "To Autumn" - because the imagery is so lush. ("Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness")

Yet it's not just famous ones such as "Ode to a Grecian Urn" or "La Belle Dans Merci" but it's the ones such as say "Fancy" that don't often make it into anthologies that thus justify reading a book devoted to Keats alone. Ordinarily, given I didn't like a poem which takes up a quarter of the book's length, I'd mark the book down in the rating, but with Keats I can't bear to. Absolutely a first-rate poet, it's obscene that he died at twenty-five years old. show less

Complete Poems and Selected Letters of John Keats takes the reader on the ride through mythology and Keats's time in the world. Keats wrote new imaginings on old mythologies in the form of poetry. At times I found myself a little awash in a story that felt both oddly familiar and completely foreign at the same time. Keats plays with language in a way that feels both deliberate and carefree. I often found myself looking for a hidden message in the simplest of text and longing for a straightforward message in more complex text. Complete Poems and Selected Letters of John Keats sometimes veers into unfinished thoughts and unfinished works with an honesty that disarms even as it brings up one's defenses. I found some of his unfinished work show more quite compelling as it was, even complete, and some of it... well, unfinished. Complete Poems and Selected Letters of John Keats is an intriguing look inside the work and the mind of John Keats that somehow feels like a complete work even with the inclusion of his unfinished works. show less

What a brilliant mind to have died so young. His poetry simply pulls me into its depths; each time I read it, I find something new to enjoy in his words. I find his letters to be even more complex and challenging then his poetry, actually, but fun to read when I just want to wander off into his voice.

There is something in poetry that I will call the Sublime. Dante, Virgil, Ovid did it. After them Shakespeare and I think, Only Keats, the keats of the odes and Bright Star, did like them. What is the sublime - it is not just quality, many others are as exceptional - it is a poetry that just flows, steady, special... It is the poetry with the invisible wings.

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.

Shows how rapidly Keats developed as a poet in so short a span of years.

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