1795-1821 Protestant Cemetery in Rome, Italy

Keats’ basic bio From a labor class family, with stableman father and “affectionate but ___________” mother Apprenticeship in medicine/ apothecary studies “The __________ and sureness of Keats’ development [ as a poet] has no match.” “For even while his health was good, Keats felt a foreboding of early _________ and applied himself to his art with a desperate urgency” (901).

Keats’ basic bio Strove to be “independent” in the development of his voice/style Many contemporary literary critics were “brutal to Keats.” He was “severe” in his the “judgment” of his own poetry as well. Ultimately, his style was recognized for its “slow-paced, gracious movement; a concreteness of description in which all the senses…combine to give the total apprehension of an experience; a _______ at the sheer ___________ of things outside himself…” (902). “…he aspires at the same time to aesthetic detachment and to social responsibility.” “…tragic waste of an extraordinary intellect and genius cut off so early” (903).

“Sleep & Poetry” Died 5 years after it was written How is nature used? Note the sensory imagery. How is the Romantic “autobiographical ‘I’” seen in the poem? Think about that “hallmark” or “tenant” of Romanticism from our introduction…

“When I Have Fears that I May Cease to Be” Note the form of the sonnet. Again, how is the “autobiographical ‘I’” seen?

“La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Phx7Emktmj4 Art ballad – like Coleridge’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” Medieval imagery/focus Note the use of the supernatural – think about the “hallmarks” or “tenants” of Romanticism from our introduction

“La Belle Dame sans Merci: A Ballad” Note the literary frames Knight & Speaker Knight & La Belle

“Ode on a Grecian Urn” See footnote on page 925 http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/173742 See footnote on page 925 Note the classical ( Greco-Roman ) reference Line 49 is one of the most famous lines of Romanticism Does the poem seem to claim that it is better to age and deal with the results of aging, or to be suspended in time, via art – as done here, thus never age? Think about Keats’ own “sense of foreboding and early death” re. himself…

“Ode on Melancholy” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ywBEYFKgEbM Note the classical and supernatural references, again Line 21 states that “beauty…must die.” Why is that? How are the last two lines like “La Belle…”?