John Keats: Major Works by John Keats

John Keats: Major Works by John Keats

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John Keats: Major Works by John Keats

This authoritative edition was originally published in the acclaimed Oxford Authors series under the general editorship of Frank Kermode. It brings together a unique combination of Keats's poetry and prose - all the major poems, complemented by a generous selection of Keats's letters - to give the essence of his work and thinking. In his tragically short life Keats wrote an astonishing number of superb poems; his stature as one of the foremost poets of the Romantic movement remains unassailable. This volume contains all the poetry published during his lifetime, including Endymion in its entirety, the Odes, 'Lamia', and both versions of 'Hyperion'. The poetry is presented in chronological sequence, illustrating the staggering speed with which Keats's work matured. Further insight into his creative process is given by reproducing, in their original form, a number of poems that were published posthumously. Keats's letters are admired almost as much as his poetry and were described by T. S. Eliot as 'certainly the most notable and most important ever written by any English poet'. They provide the best biographical detail available and shed invaluable light on Keats's poems. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.
among the many virtues of this edition is the fact that it puts the question of Keats and politics high on the agenda* Jonathan Bate *
there is much to recommend Elizabeth Cook's carefully devised and generously inclusive edition. * Keats-Shelley Journal *

John Keats was born in Moorfields in October 1795, the son of a livery stable manager. His father died of TB in 1804 and his mother in 1810. He had gotten a good education at John Clarke's Enfield private school by that time. He began his professional training as an apprentice to a surgeon in 1811 and completed it at Guy's Hospital in 1816. His decision to devote himself to poetry rather than a medical profession was bold, based more on a personal challenge than any genuine achievement. Early Mends like Charles Cowden Clarke and J.

H.Reynolds, and he met Leigh Hunt, whose Examiner had already published Keats' first poem, in October 1816. Poems (1817) was published only seven months later. Despite the Hunt circle's great hopes, it was a flop. By the time Endymion was published in 1818, Keats' name had become synonymous with Hunt's Cockney School, and the Conservative Blackwood's Magazine attacked him as a lower-class vulgarian who had no right to aspire to 'poetry.'

Yet, Keats' fame was based on posterity rather than contemporary literary politics. His inspiration and challenge came from Spenser, Shakespeare, Milton, and Wordsworth. From his letters, it is clear that Keats matured at an incredible rate. He wrote The Eve of St Agnes, La Belle Dame sans Merci, The Major Odes, Lamia, and the deeply exploratory Fall of Hyperion in 1819, after working on the magnificent epic fragment Hyperion in 1818.

Whilst preparing the 1820 book for the press, Keats was already ailing, and by the time it was published in July, he was very ill. In 1821, he died in Rome. Although Keats' final volume received considerable critical acclaim at the time, it wasn't until the later half of the nineteenth century that his place in English Romanticism became clear, and it wasn't until this century that it was fully realized.

SKU Unavailable
ISBN 13 9780199554881
ISBN 10 0199554889
Title John Keats: Major Works
Author John Keats
Series Oxford World's Classics
Condition Unavailable
Binding Type Paperback
Publisher Oxford University Press
Year published 2008-12-11
Number of pages 704
Cover note Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.