In five pages the ways in which John Keats' poems were influenced by the deaths of those nearest and dearest to him as well as his own brief life are discussed. Seven sources are cited in the bibliography.
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grieving over the death of a loved one, over an unrequited love, or suffering through his own torturous illness and confronted by his own premature demise. Art cannot exist
in and of itself; it is a reflection of the life and experiences of its creator. Keats poetic works, which often featured the theme of death, was undoubtedly shaped
by his own frequent encounters with the grim reaper. That is why Keats poetry has become so representative of the romantic literary genre of the nineteenth century, for it
often concerned with a poet who wishes to retreat from the world and embrace the ideal of what he wishes this world to be (John Keats). When he discovers
he must return to the real world because one cannot permanently reside in an ideal, he does so but with a deep and unshakable sense of melancholy because of his
disillusionment (John Keats). Keats sought to create immortality through his poetry because, perhaps, he instinctively knew that his life would be short and sought to leave a part of
his intensity behind that would remain untouched by the ravages of time or illness. John Keats was the eldest of four children, and his first brush with death came at
the age of eight, when his father, a livery-stableman by trade, died of a fractured skull after being thrown from a horse (Fletcher 38). His beloved mother Frances hastily
remarried but left her husband and children for the next five years (Fletcher 38). This had a profound effect on the young Keats, for he was, in essence, confronted
with the loss of both parents in a short span of time. When Frances finally returned, when Keats was 14, it was only to die of tuberculosis, and her