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Early Years

Keats was born in the outskirts of London on October 31, 1795. The son of Frances and Thomas Keats, the first nine years of his life were happy and prosperous. In 1804, his father fell from a horse and died from a fractured skull. His mother soon remarried to William Rawlings, but the marriage only lasted a year. Keats and his three siblings were sent to live with their grandmother in Enfield, and it was during that period of his life that he first acquired his love for literature. Educated at Clarke’s School in Enfield, he was introduced to the works of Edmund Spencer, Mozart, and Handel by a classmate. The Keats brothers were popular at school, and classmates remembered John as being generous and brave, but sensitive. That year, his grandfather died as well and left an ill-written will which was vague and open for interpretation. His grandmother’s struggles with money marked the beginning of Keats’s own financial turmoil which would last for the rest of his adult life. In 1810, Keats’s mother died of tuberculosis, and four years later, his grandmother died as well. Keats’s grandmother left the children under the guardianship of Richard Abbey, who would greatly influence their lives.

Poetic Years

Abbey withdrew John and his younger brother George from school and apprenticed John to a surgeon. Abbey did not believe that John could become a successful poet, and preferred him to study medicine. In fact, a saying at the time was that "Poets are born, not made." Only the upper class had the leisure to write poetry, and such a luxury was unknown to Keats. Having very little respect for the Keats children, Abbey often withheld money from them, believing that they would waste it. However, this left the children very poor, and the physical and psychological effects of poverty were profound. After his apprenticeship with the apothecary Thomas Hammond, Keats enrolled at Guy’s Hospital in London, where he continued his studies. However, despite his skills in the area, his attention for the subject waned as his interest for poetry grew. In 1816, Keats published his first poem, “To Solitude,” in The Examiner, a weekly newspaper. Though it did not garner critical acclaim, Keats attracted the interests of new friends Leigh Hunt, Benjamin Haydon, and John Reynolds. Later in the year Keats wrote his most famous work of 1816, “On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer.” Keats’s first book was published in 1817, and simply entitled Poems, but it hardly sold and was not critically successful.

The years 1818 and 1819 were the most productive for Keats as he slowly built self-confidence about his own genius. He spent much time in solitude, working on his poetry and studying the works of others—his heroes Wordsworth and Coleridge, and his contemporaries Lord Byron and Percy Shelley. As he developed and perfected his poetical voice, he was able to criticize the works of others for their innate value. Endymion, his first long work, contains elements of Keats’s development. Though not well received, Keats did not regret writing it, remarking to Haydon, “I would sooner fail than not be among the greatest.” However, personal tragedy mixed with his poetic success. His brother George moved to America, and a few months later, his youngest brother Tom died of tuberculosis. The siblings, being orphans, had been very close, and their separation caused John to withdraw into seclusion. During the summer of 1819, Keats composed some of his most famous works, including the Odes—“Ode on a Grecian Urn,” “Ode to a Nightingale,” “Ode on Melancholy,” “Ode to Psyche,” and “To Autumn.” Often critically analyzed, they are the ultimate expression of Keats’s genius, and they secured his reputation as a poet.

The Last Years

Keats moved back to London after time spent in Oxford, and met Fanny Brawne, with whom he fell in love with. However, they were unable to marry because he lacked financial stability, exacerbated by his brother George’s constant pleas for money. In February 1820, Keats suffered a lung hemorrhage, a sign of tuberculosis. With his health declining, Keats still managed to publish his last volume of poetry, Lamia , Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems. He aspired to write plays, as Shakespeare had done, thinking that his poetical works were preparation for his true calling, but his health prevented him. John Keats and his close friend Joseph Severn sailed for Italy late in 1820, hoping that the warmer climate would soothe Keats’s health. However, he suffered many more hemorrhages and finally died in his friend’s arms on February 23, 1821 at the age of twenty-five.