Poets of the Romantic Age
John Keats
1795-1821
Biographical Information
• Keats was born in London on October 31st
1745.
• He became a “freedom writer” of sorts and
wrote in hopes of changing the world.
• Keats used a number of Greek themes in
his poetry.
• He did not believe in using poetry for
political statements.
• In 1818, Endymion was published and
received harsh critique.
• After he died of tuberculosis, Keats’
friends did as much damage to him as his
enemies.
• He found beauty to be the highest value
our world could offer.
• For Keats, striving for what can never be
attained was perhaps the true poetic task.
• He was profoundly sensitive to the deep
contradictions of life.
• His brother died the same year he met the
love of his life which inspired his poetry.
Ode to a Nightingale
Summary
The speaker begins the poem expressing how
disoriented he feels when listening to a nightingale sing.
He wishes to drink the richest wine available and fade
away into the forest with the nightingale. He describes
how he wants to wander away from worries and
concerns of life, age, and time.
The poet begins to explain that the nightingale is
immortal because many different generations of people
have heard the song of the bird.
The poet is brought back to reality when the bird flies
away, he feels abandoned and disappointed that his
imagination can’t create his own reality. He is left
confused now knowing the difference between reality
and dreams.
Ode to a Grecian Urn
Summary
• The speaker is talking to an urn.
• He goes from picture to picture
questioning what is going on.
• He tells us that everything on the urn is
frozen in time and will last forever.
• “Beauty is truth, truth beauty”
On First Looking summary
• Keats says in this poem that he knew
Homer was a great poet but was not
amazed by it until he read Chapmans
translation.
When I Have Fears that I May
Cease to be summary
• Keats reflects in this poem about death
and all the things that he has not done and
will not be able to do once he dies. It is a
very dismal poem.
Consensus
• We as a group preferred “Ode on a
Grecian Urn” Because it made a good
point and made us think about art in a way
none of us had before. Keats describes
the art on the urn in a way that brings it to
life. The trees are alive and the people
have feelings. It is truly a fine piece of
literature.
Ode on a Grecian Urn images
The author
describes the
urn as a
historian who
tells a story of
ancient time but
can never
speak.
“Sylvan historian ,who
canst thus express”
“Heard melodies are sweet, but
those unheard are sweeter.”
He tells of a young pipe player and
how his music is more beautiful
than any music he ever head
because its beauty will never fade.
Ode to a Nightingale images
“Tis not through envy of the happy lot.”
A depiction of Keats in the
mood of the poem.
Themes
• Human mortality- “Ode to a Nightingale”
• The inevitability of death- “Ode to a
Grecian Urn”
• The contemplation of beauty- “Ode to a
Grecian Urn”