John Keats (Oxford Poetry Library)

by JohnKeats (Author), ElizabethCook (Editor)

• Used

  Paperback
  1994

  $3.48

  This is an entirely new selection of Keat's finest poetry containing all his best known work as well as a sample of less familiar pieces. Keats published three volumes of poetry before his death at age twenty-five of tuberculosis and, while many of his contemporaries were prompt to recognize his greatness, snobbery and political hostility led the Tory press to vilify and patronize him as a Cockney poet. Financial anxieties and the loss of those he loved most had tried him persistently, yet he dismissed the concept of life as a vale of tears and substituted the concept of a vale of Soul-making. His poetry and his remarkable letters reveal a spirit of questing vitality and profound understanding and his final volume, which contains the great odes and the unfinished Hyperion, attests to an astonishing maturity of power.

• Used

  Paperback
  1996

  $3.48

  John Keats's abiding poetic legacy is one of extraordinary and triumphant richness. Before the moment of self-will when he declared his intention to be a poet, Keats (1795-1821) had chosen the medical profession. His apothecary's training influenced his conception of poetry as an art that could mitigate the world's suffering. Keats's generous spirit triumphed over personal sadness, finding expression in his concept of life as a vale of soul-making rather than a vale of tears. He published only three volumes before his death at the age of 25, and, while many of his contemporaries quickly recognized his genius, snobbery and political hostility led the Tory press to vilify him. This selection demonstrates the remarkable growth in maturity of his verse, from early poems such as Imitation of Spenser and Ode to Apollo to later work such as The Eve of St Agnes , Ode to a Nightingale , and To Autumn . Elizabeth Cook's introduction, notes and glossary of classical names offer helpful insights into Keats's life and work.