Book Description

'I think I shall be among the English Poets after my death,' John Keats soberly prophesied in 1818 as he started writing the blankverse epic Hyperion. Today he endures as the archetypal Romantic genius who explored the limits of the imagination and celebrated the pleasures of the senses but suffered a tragic early death. Edmund Wilson counted him as 'one of the half dozen greatest English writers,' and T. S. Eliot has paid tribute to the Shakespearean quality of Keats's greatness. Indeed, his work has survived better than that of any of his contemporaries the devaluation of Romantic poetry that began early in this century. This Modern Library edition contains all of Keats's magnificent verse: 'Lamia,' 'Isabella,' and 'The Eve of St. Agnes'; his sonnets and odes; the allegorical romance Endymion; and the five-act poetic tragedy Otho the Great. Presented as well are the famous posthumous and fugitive poems, including the fragmentary 'The Eve of Saint Mark' and the great 'La Belle Dame sans Merci,' perhaps the most distinguished literary ballad in the language. 'No one else in English poetry, save Shakespeare, has in expression quite the fascinating felicity of Keats, his perception of loveliness,' said Matthew Arnold. 'In the faculty of naturalistic interpretation, in what we call natural magic, he ranks with Shakespeare.' ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Incredible
Pertaining to Keats himself, I could scarcely lavish enough praise upon his poetry. I must confess an extreme partiality to the High Romantics (Blake, Wordsworth, Keats, Shelley, Coleridge, etc.), and, among them, Keats vies with Wordsworth for the best verse.

Many of his poems are quite famous--if you have studied only a little poetry, you likely have passing familiarity with his great odes (especially the sublime "To Autumn," "To a Nightingale," and the wonderful, deep "On a Grecian Urn") or with his strangely dark "La Belle Dame sans Merci." If you have studied poetry and none of these poems even rings a bell, well... you have been missing out! Take this brief snippet of a stanza from his "Ode on a Grecian Urn":

"...
Thou, silent form, dost tease us out of thought
As doth eternity: Cold Pastoral!
When old age shall this generation waste,
Thou shalt remain, in midst of other woe
Than ours, a friend to man, to whom thou say'st
`Beauty is truth, truth beauty, --that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.'"

The odes are not his only great poems, of course; I daresay almost every poem in this volume is invaluable. They are, however, his most famous lyrics, and for good reason!

Some, critic/poet T.S. Eliot, for example, detest the Romantics**. Eliotian criticism for the first half of last century dismissed them frequently, and tried to deny their lyrical power and the influence of Romanticism on all poetry thereafter. I will admit that among the Romantics, there are some who are often weak: Lord Byron, for example, ranges from marvelous to quite tawdry, and I can't say I'm an overly enthusiastic fan of Shelley. Keats, however, who lived only to be twenty-five, suffers none of the faults of his more fortunate contemporaries. He is deeper than any save Blake, and his only rival in lyrical beauty (an intentionally vague term...) I have yet read is Wordsworth.

Anyone who loves poems, who has a reverence for life and a wonder for its mysteries and sorrows, anyone who is enthralled with the power of a well-turned phrase or well-craft lyric; anyone of such a nature with fall in love with John Keats.

[**: I must note, upon reading the hidden appendix of criticism on Keats pointed out by the wonderful review above, that Eliot is not critical of Keats. Among the Romantics, he seems to regard Keats fairly highly; I know for a fact, however, that this is not the case with most other Romantic poets]

Excellent For College Study or Independent Reading
In his short life John Keats created some of the finest poetry in the English language.I have read his shorter poems and odes many times, not for study, but simply for enjoyment. I am not a Keats expert, but I can now easily recognize quotations from Keat's odes, sonnets, and other poems. I especially like "The Eve of St. Agnes", a story of romance and danger in a medieval setting that illustrates Keats' remarkable command of language.

Keats is not difficult, but footnotes help with archaic words and references to more obscure Greek mythology. I prefer to read Keats unaided, then read the footnotes (best if tucked away in an appendix), and then return and read the poem again. For longer poems I jump to footnotes more quickly.

Initially, the inexpensive Dover edition "Lyric Poems", was exactly what I needed.Later, as I tackled longer poetry like "Endymion", I migrated to more complete collections with commentary and footnotes.

Keats" works are widely available in hardcover and paperback. Which collection is best for college study or independent reading? I have two favorites, one by Penguin Classics and the other by Modern Library. Both are available in softcovers.

The first is "The Complete Poems" by Penguin Classics, edited by John Bernard and a standard choice for college classes. I have the second edition, 1977. Barnard's extensive footnotes and commentary are quite good and offset his somewhat brief introduction. Additionally, the appendix discusses textual variations in Keats' manuscripts and has a useful guide to Greek mythology names. The third edition, 1988, adds 20 pages of selected letters, Keats' notes on Milton's Paradise Lost, and his notes on a Shakespearean actor.

The second choice (my favorite) is the newly published "Complete Poems and Selected Letters of John Keats", Modern Library 2001 edition (not the earlier 1994 hardcover version).Apparently as a directchallenge to Penguin Classics, this edition offers a longer introduction (22 pages) by Edward Hirsch and excellent footnotes (not too many, nor too few) by John Pollock. Also, as the title implies, it has selected letters by Keats, some 25 pages in total. Somewhat hidden in the appendix is commentary by six well-known literary critics such as T. S. Eliot, Mathew Arnold, and Keats' biographer Walter Jackson Bate. Lastly, the font is larger and more crisp in the Modern Library version (but is still quite acceptable in the Penguin edition).

Overall, I prefer Hirsch to Barnard, but both are good choices. Both are 5-stars. ... Read more

Book Description

'I think I shall be among the English Poets after my death,' John Keats soberly prophesied in 1818 as he started writing the blankverse epic Hyperion. Today he endures as the archetypal Romantic genius who explored the limits of the imagination and celebrated the pleasures of the senses but suffered a tragic early death. Edmund Wilson counted him as 'one of the half dozen greatest English writers,' and T. S. Eliot has paid tribute to the Shakespearean quality of Keats's greatness. Indeed, his work has survived better than that of any of his contemporaries the devaluation of Romantic poetry that began early in this century. This Modern Library edition contains all of Keats's magnificent verse: 'Lamia,' 'Isabella,' and 'The Eve of St. Agnes'; his sonnets and odes; the allegorical romance Endymion; and the five-act poetic tragedy Otho the Great. Presented as well are the famous posthumous and fugitive poems, including the fragmentary 'The Eve of Saint Mark' and the great 'La Belle Dame sans Merci,' perhaps the most distinguished literary ballad in the language. 'No one else in English poetry, save Shakespeare, has in expression quite the fascinating felicity of Keats, his perception of loveliness,' said Matthew Arnold. 'In the faculty of naturalistic interpretation, in what we call natural magic, he ranks with Shakespeare.'Download Description
"I think I shall be among the English Poets after my death," John Keats soberly prophesied in 1818 as he started writing the blankverse epic Hyperion. Today he endures as the archetypal Romantic genius who explored the limits of the imagination and celebrated the pleasures of the senses but suffered a tragic early death.

Edmund Wilson counted him as "one of the half dozen greatest English writers," and T. S. Eliot has paid tribute to the Shakespearean quality of Keats's greatness. Indeed, his work has survived better than that of any of his contemporaries the devaluation of Romantic poetry that began early in this century.

This Modern Library edition contains all of Keats's magnificent verse: "Lamia," "Isabella," and "The Eve of St. Agnes"; his sonnets and odes; the allegorical romance Endymion; and the five-act poetic tragedy Otho the Great. Presented as well are the famous posthumous and fugitive poems, including the fragmentary "The Eve of Saint Mark" and the great "La Belle Dame sans Merci," perhaps the most distinguished literary ballad in the language.

Customer Reviews (6)

Beauty with a Capital B
Keats was the Romantic poet who cared most about art and beauty. He didn't allow himself to get mixed up in religion and politics like Shelley or Byron. But in quiet ways, he did comment on political, religious, aesthetic, and sexual beliefs, sometimes in ways that were less traditional than his poetic style. Above all, he was supremely conscious of beauty in the world, as well as the world's suffering.

David Rehak
author of "Poems From My Bleeding Heart"

my fav. poem - ode on melancholy (analysis)
¡§She dwells with Beauty¡XBeauty that must die.¡¨

¡§His soul shalt taste the sadness of her might, and be among her cloudy trophies hung.¡¨

These beautiful lines are written by John Keats (1795-1821), one of the most talented Romantic poets on par with Shelley, Wordsworth, and Bryon. Why would a charismatic Romantic, who cherishes beauty and life, write such sad and crestfallen lines?

It all began in the summer of 1819 when Keats went on a tour of Scotland, where his first symptoms of tuberculosis emerged. However, at the same time, Keats became engaged to the love of his life, Fanny Brawne, a girl next door. Tragically, doctors diagnosed that the tuberculosis was eroding his health, and eventually would end the life of the brilliant poet. Due to this unfortunate calamity, his marriage with Fanny became an impracticality. Amidst his depression and misery, he wrote the poem ¡§Ode on Melancholy.¡¨

The theme of the ode is that Happiness is transient and when Joy passes, all that is left is the bitter core of Melancholy. The rendezvous with Melancholy is inevitable because it will always be there when delightful moments depart. Keats felt that one must embrace sorrow in order to fully experience pleasure. John Keats grasped this philosophy of life during his years of malady and encourages the reader to enjoy life when possible and be ready to come across Melancholy in certain stages of one¡¦s life.

Many people may have thought Keats as a successful and accomplished poet. However, Melancholy was his frequent visitor and deprived Keats of Happiness. Tuberculosis took the lives of his mother, his brother and eventually himself, but emotionally, Keats was marred by the criticism toward his works and the departure of his lover. It seemed that the author lost his faith to overcome Melancholy and decided to advise the readers to not fall victim but respectfully accept and not evade it. I believe that people who choose to end their lives become Melancholy¡¦s trophies because they help to spread the powers of sorrow and grief. By killing oneself, one will be leaving loved ones with burdens of Melancholy to bear, and therefore winning more ¡§cloudy trophies¡¨ for the Goddess. In conclusion, one should recognize that Melancholy will eventually appear and by being prepared to embrace the arrival of Melancholy one can truly taste the sweetness of Happiness.

Read it, then see it!
A wonderful companion book to "The Complete Poems of John Keats " is the photo-essay collection, "Walking North With Keats," which recreates a 44-day walking tour that the poet made with his writer-friend Charles Brown in 1818 through northern England, Ireland, and Scotland---which unfortunately was THE walk where he fell ill with the tuberculosis that would finally kill him at 25!

The author extensively, but joyfully, highlights Keats's early life, reviews the period's travel literature, photographs the locations & introduces Keats' odes & ballads as well as his letters written during the journey (which helps put into context the poems presented in this book)!

One of Britain's Brightest Stars
Next to Shakespeare I can not think of a Brittish poet who inspired me more than John Keats.His lyrical phrases, his sense of music and metaphor, and his visionary splendor dazzles one and leaves a reader in awe of his gift.My favorites are the Odes, especially the Ode To Psyche, and the Ode To A Nightingale.One can only wonder what great works might have come into existence from this great literary genius had he lived beyond the age of twenty six.Still, he did manage to distill from the heavens some of the finest poems of the English language.

Puzzled...
Overall this book is a great value, as would any book be that contains so many of Keats poems and puts them in a durable binding at an attractive price.However, I'm puzzled by the first two lines in the poem, " La Belle Dame Sans Merci" that read, " Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight,/ Alone and palely loitering; ". In every book I've ever seen this poem in, or these two lines quoted , including my college Literature Text book, they read, " O what can ail thee, knight at arms,/ Alone and palely loitering ? " There is no information to tell us what the text of the poems for this volume are based on. And, I seem unable to find an e-mail address from The Modern Library's Web Site so I can ask.I would accept a response from The Modern Library if they cared to comment( e-mail at: stephenmccoy@cbnnow.com ) ... Read more

Book Description
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. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

"Arise, good youth, for sacred Phoebus' sake..."
This review is of -John Keats: The Major Works-,
edited by Elizabeth Cook (Oxford World's Classics)
ISBN: 0192840630, 2001, 667 pp.
There are now 3 major editions of the complete poems
of John Keats.Each of them has its own excellencies.
There is the -John Keats: Complete Poems-, edited by
Jack Stillinger (Belknap Press, Harvard) ISBN: 0674154312,
-John Keats: The Complete Poems-, edited by John Barnard
(Penguin Classics) ISBN: 0140422102, and also this
present volume, edited by Elizabeth Cook, ISBN: 0192840630.
A fact which both John Barnard and Elizabeth Cook point out
as editors is their debt, as well as the debt of all Keats
scholars, to Jack Stillinger.As she says in her "Note on
the Text": "In deciding which source text to use I am deeply
indebted to Jack Stillinger who in -The Text of Keats's
Poems- (1974) and in his subsequent edition of Keats's
-Poems- (1978) presents his informed and considered arguments
for and against each transcript and state of text.Prior
to his work editors had frequently created Keats's poems
from a patchwork of different source texts."
The glories of this Oxford Classics edition are the
same as with many of their editions, the fine "Introduction",
the wondrous notes to the poems (pp. 557 - 641), an excellent
selection of "Further Readings", Glossary of Classical
Names, Index of Keats's Correspondents (with much helpful
background information about them), and an Index of Poem
Titles and First Lines.In this volume, there are also
Appendix I, "St. Agnes' Eve" as found in George Keats's
manuscript, and Appendix II, "La Belle Dame sans Mercy",
as printed in the -Indicator-, 10 May 1820.Some editors
and Keats lovers feel the changes that Keats made to
the latter poem to publish in the -Indicator- mar the
wondrous tone and atmosphere, so they print the first
version.
In her "Introduction," Elizabeth Cook stresses several
important aspects of Keats's psyche and his reverences
toward other authors (Spenser and Milton, in particular).
From the side of the aspect of his psyche, she states:
"Keats conceived of history as a process of *actualizing*
the world's sum total of what is knowable and thinkable.
In Stoic fashion he postulates a finite quantity of
world-stuff of which Milton has used up an unfairly
large portion, therby depleting not only his contemporaries,
but posterity [later writers] as well.
* * * He writes with the assumption that a certain quota
of qualities, capacities, and experiences is allotted to
each individual."In relating of Keats's sensitivity,
sense of dedication, and love, she says: "In June 1818,
when one brother, Tom, was dying of tuberculosis and
the other, George, planning to sail with his new bride
for America, Keats wrote to his friend Bailey, 'My Love
for my Brothers from the early loss of our parents and
even for earlier Misfortunes has grown into a affection
"passing the Love of Women"."This was a section of
verse from the Old Testament regarding the love of
Jonathan, King Saul's son, and David, the exiled,
hunted song singer, which Herman Melville was also
attracted to.
The formatting in this edition is very readable,
the font is medium, not small, the layout of the
pages is uncrowded and accessible, so that even with
the longer poems one is not presented with a complicated
task by smaller type.
The excellence of this Oxford edition is the inclusion
of 87 (!) of Keats's letters to various correspondents
(pp. 348 - 543), as well as the prose pieces, "When
Alexandre the Conquerore was wayfayring" (which according
to the Notes was "Composed probably late 1815 while Keats
was a student at Guy's [Hospital].The only source for
this fragment is Walter Cooper Dendy, -The Philosophy of
Mystery- (London, 1841), pp. 99-100 where it is quoted at
the end of a chapter on the pathology of 'Poetic Phantasy
or Frenzy."The other prose pieces are "Keat's Marginalia
to the Shakespeare Folio", "Keats's Marginalia to Milton's
-Paradise Lost-", a piece on "Mr. Kean" [the actor], and
the "Rejected Preface to -Endymion-." Keats's letters are
a very valuable source of information of his views on
poetry as a craft and an avocation, as well as providing
commentary on his times.
The only caution with these large-size Oxford Major
Works is that one should be very careful not to crease
the outside binding, as the pages if not sufficiently
glued, might tend to come apart. Otherwise the Oxford
Classics editons, and this one in particular, are
treasured resources of fine works as well as extremely
helpful scholarship.
-- Robert Kilgore. ... Read more

Book Description
John Keats survives today as the archetypal Romantic genius who died tragically early. The rapid development of Keats's poetic skills is powerfully displayed in this selection, which includes his first major poem, "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer," as well as "Endymion," "The Eve of St. Agnes," "La Belle Dame sans Merci," and "The Fall of Hyperion." Throughout, Keats's preoccupying themes of love, art, sorrow, the natural world, and the nature of the imagination magnificently emerge. In his superb Introduction, John Barnard discusses the focus of the anthology, which emphasizes Keats's place as a "second-generation Romantic." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

An Excellent Collection - See Alternatives Also
There are many good collections of the poetry of John Keats. This selection by John Barnard is quite good and has long served as a text for college classes.

Barnard writes that the poetry of John Keats is uniformly serious and always poetic. Keats' prime concern was art and beauty. The casual reader may not even notice certain passages that resulted in severe political criticism by the Tory press and other supporters of Charles II.

The real popularity of this particular collection is the poetry of Keats himself. Barnard has assembled an excellent collection, one that is fully representative of Keats' remarkable genius. He largely avoided the longer poems of John Keats with the exception of Endymion in which he offers Book 1 in its entirety, but only extracts from Books 2, 3, and 4. Nonetheless, this abridged version of Endymion still exceeds 2000 lines.

Looking for alternative collections?John Barnard has also compiled John Keats, The Complete Poems. It was also published by Penguin Classics. It is about 750 pages, more than three times as long as Selected Poems. For example, the full Endymion is some 50 pages longer than the abridged version in Selected Poems. Barnard's explanatory notes in this collection are quite extensive, totaling nearly 200 pages in reduced print size. There is also a wide ranging appendix exceeding 50 pages, including selected letters of John Keats.

Another good choice is published by Modern Library. Complete Poems and Selected Letters of John Keats is actually a very good choice and is indeed my favorite. The introduction by John Hirsch is more than 25 pages and is quite helpful. I particularly like the explanatory notes by Jim Pollock. They are less extensive than those in Barnard's The Complete Poems, but I found them most useful.

Very Well written and Literely Breath taking.
I loved this book. It is truly a classic. Keats is long before my time, however his work that he left behind is still here and leaves a big mark on the world of poets. Wanting to be a journalist myself, and having a hungerfor literature, Keats' book was quite inspiring. I recommend it for anypoet. One of my favorites is, of course, "When I have fears that I mayCease To Be." ... Read more

Book Description
These are the words John Keats chose to epitomize his short, frustrating, and tragic life. They appear as his epitaph in Rome's Protestant cemetery. Often called the greatest English poet after Shakespeare, Keats had a lifelong preoccupation with early death. This sense of mortality, along with the poet's famous, unrequited love for Fanny Brawne, sparked dozens of finely written sonnets and lyrics of love.This beautifully crafted collection contains some of the most heartfelt of Keats' personal poems. "La Belle Dame Sans Merci A Ballad" and "The Eve of St. Agnes" are paragons of the gothic lyric, wherein mysterious lovers, dream visions, and late-night fantasy come magically to life. Lighter verse, such as "Where be ye going, you Devon maid?" and such passionate, pensive poems as "When I have fears that I may cease to be" provide a personal glimpse of the young poet's dreams and dreads.This selection of twenty-six poems also presents an introduction to the life of John Keats, notes on the indivdual poems, and ten illustrations, half of which are of biographical interest and half underscore thematic elements contained in the poems. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

High quality Product for the price
I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the poem book and the speed with which it arrived.Good reading ... Read more

Book Description

Here is the first reliable edition of Keats's complete poems designed expressly for general readers and students.

Upon its publication in 1978, Stillinger's The Poems of John Keats won exceptionally high praise: "The definitive Keats," proclaimed The New Republic--"An authoritative edition embodying the readings the poet himself most probably intended, prepared by the leading scholar in Keats textual studies."

Now this scholarship is at last available in a graceful, clear format designed to introduce students and general readers to the "real" Keats. In place of the textual apparatus that was essential to scholars, Stillinger here provides helpful explanatory notes. These notes give dates of composition, identify quotations and allusions, gloss names and words not included in the ordinary desk dictionary, and refer the reader to the best critical interpretations of the poems. The new introduction provides central facts about Keats's life and career, describes the themes of his best work, and speculates on the causes of his greatness.

Customer Reviews (9)

greatest poet in English
Keats not only rivals Shakespeare in the beauty of his verse and the enchanting pictures he conjures but he is a cut above Shakespeare in the value of his art. The two odes 'on a nightingale' and 'on a Grecian urn' surpasses any piece of English literature I have come across so far. In its conception and philosophy ,in its expression of the ephemeral and impermanent nature of human life,its exposition of the permanance of ideal art and in its realization of the principle of the identity of truth and beauty it takes poetic thought to a plane that has never been approached, before or hence in English literature.

The greatness of Keats
One of the most musical of the great poets, whose language has a richness next to Shakespeare's, a most romantic soul whose annus mirabilis 1819 brought forth the five great odes, the tremendous long lines still memorable, Beauty is truth/Truth is Beauty' That is all ye know on earthAnd all ye need to know/ the pain of beauty or the beauty in pain in the nightingale's song, the lyric of the Grecian urn, the dying at twenty-six ' his name writ in water', much had he travelled in realms of gold, the great letters of negative capability, the ostler's son in a surgeon's hospital , Fanny Brawne, the alien corn of Ruth, all the music which would one day be heard again in the lines of Wallace Stevens, the complexity of beauty dying , hearing more than one voice as the page echoes on, one of the poets' poets surely , upon a peak in Darien, like all the great masters he only gains in rereading.

"...exceptionally keen sensitivity... "
There are two editions of Keats's Complete Poems which I
admire very much. This one edited by Jack Stillinger
and published by The Belknap Press of Harvard University
(ISBN: 0674154312) and the Penguin Classics, 3rd
edition, edited by John Barnard (ISBN: 0140422102).
I very much like the fuller notes and 6 Appendices
and the blunt, full, but suggestive chronology in
the Penguin, along with the complete writing and
publishing information fully written out rather
than abbreviated into initials one might have to
look up.

The importance of Jack Stillinger to Keats studies is cited
by both John Barnard (Penguin classics edition of -The
Complete Poems-) and Elizabeth Cook (Oxford World's
Classics edition of -The Major Poems-, ISBN:
0192840630).John Barnard says in his "Introduction":
"Jack Stillinger's -The Poems of John Keats- (Cambridge,
Mass., 1978) and his -The Text of John Keats- (Cambridge,
Mass., 1974) now give the fullest available account of
Keats's text, and are based on a comparision of the
printed texts with the wealth of manuscript material,
now mainly in American libraries."
And this edition compiled and edited by Jack
Stillinger has it glories, too.The first of these
is the excellent "Introduction," which has meaningful
insights in it concerning Keats, but which can also
be related to one's own experiences in life, though
Stillinger does not himself so relate them. A few
of these I like very much are: "Obviously Keats had
an exceptionally keen sensitivity to the minute
particulars of objects, sounds (as well as various
shades of silence), and motions in the world around
him." *** "He nursed his brother Tom in a lengthy
illness that ended in death on December 1st of this
year [1818], and as an added complication he met and
fell in love with Fanny Brawne.More than anything
else, I think, it is this combined experience of
suffering, death, and love all at once, against a
background of serious conversation, reading, and
thinking, that accounts for Keats's sudden rise to
excellence in his poetry."
There is no way, of course, to share Keats's
poetry in a review of this sort.To read it,
experience it, think about it, and realize
the Beauty -- and also the Truth -- in it
is the reward.
-- Robert Kilgore.

Essential
No personal library can be complete without at least a sampling of Keats, and this is the book that everyone should get.All the poems -- even the fragments -- are here, with line numbers included.The several appendices and letter excerpts make the collection even more valuable.If you are trying to decide which Keats collection to get, you have found the best.

The definitive edition of the poetry of Keats.
Jack Stillinger devoted much of his professional life to establishing the definitive texts of Keats's poems. This painstaking work has resulted in a number of changes to the poems.As to the quality of the poetry itself, at his best Keats approaches Shakespeare, as in the Odes.Stillinger is also an excellent teacher; I had his course on Keats 26 years ago, and it was fascinating.While the other reviewers have done a very good job of describing the beauty of Keats's poetry, one point Stillinger made about Keats as a person is worth repeating:Keats was the one English romantic poet that you would want to ask for advice about a personal problem you had.All the rest, Blake, Wordsworth, Shelley (especially!), and Byron would have given you advice that, if followed, would have been wildly impractical.Keats, as shown by his letters, was not pretentious and had a large degree of human decency and common sense.While these characteristics are not one usually associated with romantic poets, I think that they contribute to the strength of his poetry. ... Read more

Book Description
This volume gathers together some of the best criticism devoted to John Keats to have been written during the second half of the 20th century. Several of his works are analyzed, including Endymion, Hyperion, Lamia, To Autumn, and Ode on Indolence.

This title, John Keats, part of Chelsea House Publishers' Modern Critical Views series, examines the major works of John Keats through full-length critical essays by expert literary critics. In addition, this title features a short biography on John Keats, a chronology of the author's life, and an introductory essay written by Harold Bloom, Sterling Professor of the Humanities, Yale University. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Blends a biography with extracts of major critical essays
John Keats (5934-0, $19.95) adds to the research guides in the 'Major Poets' series, blending a biography with extracts of major critical essays examining the poet's works. New to the Major Short Story Writers series ($19.95 each) is D. H. Lawrence (5947-2) and Henry James (5943-X), which use similar approaches to examine the major themes and ideas of each writer. All are recommended as basic library acquisitions. ... Read more

Book Description

Helen Vendler widens her exploration of lyric poetry with a new assessment of the six great odes of John Keats and in the process gives us, implicitly, a reading of Keats's whole career. She proposes that these poems, usually read separately, are imperfectly seen unless seen together--that they form a sequence in which Keats pursued a strict and profound inquiry into questions of language, philosophy, and aesthetics.

Vendler describes a Keats far more intellectually intent on creating an aesthetic, and on investigating poetic means, than we have yet seen, a Keats inquiring into the proper objects of worship for man, the process of soul making, the female Muse, the function of aesthetic reverie, and the ontological nature of the work of art. We see him questioning the admissibility of ancient mythology in a post Enlightenment art, the hierarchy of the arts, the role of the passions in art, and the rival claims of abstraction and representation. In formal terms, he investigates in the odes the appropriateness of various lyric structures. And in debating the value to poetry of the languages of personification, mythology, philosophical discourse, and trompe l'oeil description, Keats more and more clearly distinguishes the social role of lyric from those of painting, philosophy, or myth.

Like Vendler's previous work on Yeats, Stevens, and Herbert, this finely conceived volume suggests that lyric poetry is best understood when many forms of inquiry--thematic, linguistic, historical, psychological, and structural--are brought to bear on it at once.

Customer Reviews (3)

Vendler offers deepening insight into Keats' art & heart
After five years since I first studied this work on Keats' Odes (and after continual feasting on her "Art of Shakespeare's Sonnets"), I have returned to Vendler's volume to renewed appreciation of her respectful insight into Keats' creations and processes.The same respectfulness and confident humility that graces her Shakespeare criticism flourishes here - and warrants at least a brief expression of consensus with earlier laudatory reviews.

Most significantly for the lover of Keats, Vendler integrates the life and creativity of the seven or so months during which he produced odes that "belong to that group of works in whch the English language finds an ultimate embodiment."She makes explicit the implicit signs of connection among and growth through the Odes (and a key portion of Fall of Hyperion).Connections with Shakespeare, Spenser, and Milton are interwoven skillfully -- as integral parts of Keats' context as were the works of nature and art that are explicitly addressed in the poems.

Vendler's work extends much deeper than I can fully follow, and some of it will leave all but English majors in the dust.Let's not let that discourage the rest of us amateur Keats enjoyers - the Introduction alone plus the initial discussion of each of the Odes contain indispensable caresses for the heart of mere mortals.

Insightful, Intriguing, Thought-Provoking Analysis
Helen Vendler has created a scholarly, insightful look at the odes of John Keats.The odes comprise about a dozen pages; Vendler's analysis is nearly 300 pages. She analyzes in thoughtful detail six classic odes of Keats, not in isolation, but by emphasizing their complex interrelationships. She argues that each poem reflects the odes preceding it and shaped the subsequent odes.As she states, "For the poet, the completion of one poem is the stimulus for the next; this is particularly true for poems of the same genre."

Not surprisingly, Vendler assumes that the reader is reasonably familiar with Keats' better known poetry (Hyperion, Endymion, and, of course, the Odes).As Spenser, Milton, and Wordsworth significantly influenced Keats, some familiarity with these poets is helpful. I found that Vendler requires attention and thought, but in return she provides insightful commentary that leads to a deeper appreciation of Keats' poetic genius.

On occasion Vendler's style becomes unnecessarily convoluted. But these instances are rare lapses; her writing is characterized by a clarity that is often absent in modern criticism.

She scrupulously credits ideas originating with others, explicitly identifies points of disagreement and differences in interpretation and in the process introduces the reader to a wide range of Keatsian studies. I gained a greater appreciation for modern literary criticism.I even enjoyed reading Vendler's detailed footnotes.

Exceptional examination of both the Odes and their creation.
Helen Vendler" The Odes of John Keats' gives the reader anopportunity to see how the six great odes written in 1819 came to be. Sheshows how the poems are linked together through words, images, and ideas,starting with the 'Ode to Psyche" and ending with the greatode"To Autumn." Through a close reading of each poem, anexamination of each image, and a view of the rhetorical trope, fromreduplication to enumeration, which underlies each poem, Vendler providesthe reader with a deep understanding of Keats's artistic concerns andmeanings.. She demonstrates why Keats' achievement is so extraordinary andprovides the critical reader with a method by which s/he may enter into themind of the poet. For any lover of Keats' poetry, and for any lover ofbelles lettres, this is a book which belongs in your library. ... Read more

Book Description

The letters of John Keats are, T. S. Eliot remarked, "what letters ought to be; the fine things come in unexpectedly, neither introduced nor shown out, but between trifle and trifle." This new edition, which features four rediscovered letters, three of which are being published here for the first time, affords readers the pleasure of the poet's "trifles" as well as the surprise of his most famous ideas emerging unpredictably.

Unlike other editions, this selection includes letters to Keats and among his friends, lending greater perspective to an epistolary portrait of the poet. It also offers a revealing look at his "posthumous existence," the period of Keats's illness in Italy, painstakingly recorded in a series of moving letters by Keats's deathbed companion, Joseph Severn. Other letters by Dr. James Clark, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Richard Woodhouse--omitted from other selections of Keats's letters--offer valuable additional testimony concerning Keats the man.

Edited for greater readability, with annotations reduced and punctuation and spelling judiciously modernized, this selection recreates the spontaneity with which these letters were originally written.

Book Description

The letters of John Keats are, T. S. Eliot remarked, "what letters ought to be; the fine things come in unexpectedly, neither introduced nor shown out, but between trifle and trifle." This new edition, which features four rediscovered letters, three of which are being published here for the first time, affords readers the pleasure of the poet's "trifles" as well as the surprise of his most famous ideas emerging unpredictably.

Unlike other editions, this selection includes letters to Keats and among his friends, lending greater perspective to an epistolary portrait of the poet. It also offers a revealing look at his "posthumous existence," the period of Keats's illness in Italy, painstakingly recorded in a series of moving letters by Keats's deathbed companion, Joseph Severn. Other letters by Dr. James Clark, Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Richard Woodhouse--omitted from other selections of Keats's letters--offer valuable additional testimony concerning Keats the man.

Edited for greater readability, with annotations reduced and punctuation and spelling judiciously modernized, this selection recreates the spontaneity with which these letters were originally written.

Book Description
All 64 sonnets of one of the greatest English poets, John Keats, are collected here, from the first, which he wrote at age 18, to the last, written just five years later. Presented with an introduction and explanatory notes, the sonnets combine sensuous imagery with an eager voice full of passionate yearning. Keats's strongest feelings and his refined appreciation of nature and the rich world of his imagination find words and fulfillment in the abiding form of the sonnet. Some of the sonnets are written in play, some in seriousness; in some he experiments with form; and in others he is completely free within the form. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Each poem is accompanied by a commentary
With an informative introduction by Edward Hirsh, this edition of John Keats' The 64 Sonnets will well serve to introduce a new generation of readers to the poetic genius of John Keats. It would also be an excellent replacement for shelf worn copies in personal, academic, and public library collections. Each poem is accompanied by a commentary providing context and background information on the sonnet. Nature withheld Cassandra in the Skies: Nature withheld Cassandra in the skies/For meet adornment a full thousand years;/She took their cream of beauty, fairest dyes,/And shaped and tinted her above all peers./Love meanwhile held her dearly with his wings,/And underneath their shadow charm'd her eyes/To such a richness, that the cloudy kings/Of high Olympus utter'd slavish sighs./When I beheld her on the earth descend,/My heart began to burn--and only pains,/They were my pleasures,/ they my sad life's end;/Love pour'd her beauty into my warm veins.
... Read more

Book Description
Written in a fraction over four years, 1816 to 1820, the large body of Keats's letters forms the most complete portrait we have of any English poet.With extraordinary candour and self-knowledge Keats gives us his experience of almost everything that can happen to a young man between the ages of twenty-one and twenty-five; an all but day-to-day account of the working processes of a poet; and finally as Robert Gittings says, `some of the most profound comments on art, philosophy, and the human condition that any single person has produced'. Robert Gittings has selected 170 letters, each printed in full, with invaluable explanatory notes, and an Appendix containing new readings and textual discoveries based on his own study of the manuscripts. ... Read more

Book Description
These Everyman's Library Pocket Poets hardcover editions are popular for their compact size and reasonable price which do not compromise content. Poems: Keats contains a full selection of Keats's work, including his lyric poems, narrative poems, letters, and an index of first lines. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

All ye need to know on earth- For Keats Beauty is Truth
It is possible to argue that the greatest Keats is that of the annus mirabilis 1819 when he wrote the Odes. This work contains the great Keats' lyrics among the most musical , sensuous poetry in the English language. The sense that' beauty may not be truth' for everyone, but that for Keats it certainly is. This is of course one of many different editions which contain the great
lyrics of Keats. It is pleasant, light , compact a pleasure to hold and to read.

Better than I imagined.
The arrival of this book came sooner than expected, which was very welcome, and the shipping packaging was very strong and sturdy. The book was in perfect condition, and is a beautiful edition of Keat's poems. Thank you. I couldn't have asked for more.

Milky white cream or soap to the tongue?
Keats' message is abstruse. He points at the illusion of "I" as being an intertwining of "we". Opposites are illusions. The highest aspect of human existence is in love: the personal contact and the breaking of the illusion of "I" in connection, transcendence, created in union or fellowship with others. No other poet wrote so creamy white to the tongue, but was he cheating by not being as forward and clear, or substantive; over stepping the allowance given to poetry of form supportingmeaning. Beauty is its own vindication is another message of Keats "truth is beauty, beauty is truth" and I think by his writing style he felt the slippery smooth qualities would override the illusive aspects, beauty would be its own vindication, if not add a mysterious spell-binding quality to his writing -- but is it just smoke and mirrors? Life is a dream within a dream, within a dream... (sounds like the mocked priest in "The Princess Bride" but this is Keats). This a general feeling for his longer poem, among his shorter poems he has gems like "autumn". Change is a constant, life is an enigma, so is Keats.

Oscar Wilde's openning treatis in the "Picture of Dorian Grey" seems to be in-line with Keats or is it an attack on Keats in the the end?

Keats was not on the mega superstar status as Byron, in his day. Keats is as much for our time as his own. He gained, apparently, the energy and will to take up poetry due to being youthfully influenced by Byron, wearing his shirt open and such, but any comparison stops there. Byron was a driving force for his time and could be argued to be the first modern super pop star of the young generational angst, outsider sort, as well as having a significant mark on thinking to come. He was not the athiest as Shelly but closer to the agnostic/Pagan sympathizer of Byron.

I have mixed feelings about Keats, mostly on the negative side. In the end I guess Keats was clear: beauty is its own reward, over substance, over philosophy, what are these things, to him, but illusions, all is illusion, the closest thing to truth, if there is such a thing, is beauty, and Keats did write beautiful words in beautiful ways. Maybe I will read him again someday.

Keats Poems
If you're a true Keats fan this is a must to add to your collection.Contains all of Keat's best work.Or enrich somone's life who is not familiar with Keats.A great gift idea. ... Read more

Book Description
'Do you not see how necessary a World of Pains and troubles is to school an Intelligence and make it a soul?'Keats's letters have long been regarded as an extraordinary record of poetic development and sout-making.They represent one of the most sustained reflections on the poet's art we have from any of the major English poets.Yet quite apart from the light they throw on the poetry, they are great works of literature in their own right. Written with gusto and occasionally painful candour, they show a powerful intelligence struggling to come to terms with its own mortality.Sometimes bitterly jealous in love and socially and financially insecure, at others playful and confident of his own greatness, Keats interweaves his personal plight with the history of a Britain emerging from the long years of the Napoleonic Wars into a world of political unrest, profound social change, and commercial expansion.This selection of 170 letters, written between 1816 and 1820, includes a new introduction and notes by Jon Mee explaining both the personal and political contexts that brought them to life. ... Read more

Product Description
Edited by Buxton Forman.This Elibron Classics book is a facsimile reprint of a 1895 edition by Reeves & Turner, London. ... Read more