The Greatest Literary Ideas John Keats - 1860 Words

John Keats presented one of the greatest literary ideas, negative capability, in the most casual way possible – a few loose lines in a personal letter to his brothers in 1817: â€Å"The excellence of every art is its intensity, capable of making all disagreeable evaporate, from their being in close relationship with beauty and truth†¦I had not dispute but a disquisition with Dilke, on various subjects. Several things dovetailed in my mind, and at once it struck me what quality went to form a man of achievement, especially in literature, and which Shakespeare possessed so enormously. I mean negative capability; that is, when man is capable of being in uncertainties, mysteries, doubts, without any irritable reaching after fact and reason. Coleridge, for instance, would let go by a fine isolated verisimilitude caught from penetralium of mystery, from being incapable of remaining content with half-knowledge. This pursued through volumes would perhaps take us no further than this: that with a great poet the sense of beauty overcomes every other consideration, or rather obliterates all consideration.† A poet’s capability of being negative is in a sense of being able to resist the instinct of seeking concrete certitude and closure and being able to accept the full-extended experience that poems aim to capture is no way to be theorized or simplified by words or stanzas. Being negatively capable requires a poet to give up the rational pursuit of conceptualizing complex experienceShow MoreRelatedJohn Keats Elusive Concept Of Negative Capabilities 943 Words   |  4 Pagesnumerous problems one encounters when attempting to study John Keats’ elusive concept of ‘negative capability’. There has been endless scholastic studies done on the topic, which have resulted in almost as many interpretation of the concept as there are studies. Scholars have often cited an influence from other Romantic authors, dominantly Wordsworthâ₠¬â„¢s treatment of the sublime and Shelley’s expressive emotionalism. Yet, it has been noted that Keats’ intention was to create something great, to create anRead MoreEssay on To Autumn1390 Words   |  6 Pages John Keats, an English Romantic poet, is considered one of the most beloved of all English poets. His work is known for sensuous descriptions of the beauty of nature and deep philosophic questions that it often brought up. This can be observed in his six odes written in 1819. The complexity and profundity behind the poems are the reason that they are considered to be among Keats greatest works, although the last ode composed in the sequence, â€Å"To Autumn† seems to stand out from the others. â€Å"To Autumn†Read MoreAnalysis Of John Keats s Poetry1013 Words   |  5 Pagesimagery. John Keats uses a different aspect of fall in each stanza. He describes the ripening of fruit, processes of the harvest, and sounds of insects and animals. Each asp ect was expressed in such a way it was as if I was experiencing the aspects of autumn myself. There is something sublime about the things he is describing. His words take what I would see as ordinary and make it seem exceptional. Historical content Keats, a romantic poet, wrote â€Å"To Autumn† in 1819. Although literary critics ofRead MoreEssay about John Keats: Amazing Poet and Hero1357 Words   |  6 Pages John Keats is not only one of the greatest poets in English literature, but he is also one of its few heroes. Despite being relatively unknown during his life, Keats became the defining symbol of the late Romantic time period in which he lived Even after his premature death at the young age of twenty-five, Keatss poetry was scrutinized. If not for several profound occurrences in John Keats’s lifetime, and without the friendships that he made, he never would have been able to address the politicalRead MoreThe Great Poets Of The Early Nineteenth Century Essay1780 Words   |  8 PagesChapter1: Introduction Of all the great poets of the early nineteenth century, John Keats (1795-1821) was the last to be born and first to die. Born in London, England, on October 31, 1795, to a poor stable keeper, John Keats devoted his short life to the perfection of poetry marked by intense imagery, great sensuous appeal and an attempt to express a philosophy through classical legend. Although he was brought up amid surroundings and influences by no means calculated to awaken poetic genius. RenderedRead More John Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale Essay2270 Words   |  10 PagesJohn Keats’ Ode to a Nightingale As a poem, distinguished by a beauty that contrasts real melancholy with imaginary relief (Wullschlager, 4, quoting Leigh Hunt), Ode to a Nightingale was written at a time in his life when Keats found himself caught at the junction between two worlds. Published in the spring of 1819 (May, 1819), Keats poem is written soon after a previous December that marked both the death of his brother Thomas Keats and an engagement to Fanny Browne. Struggling betweenRead MoreTaking a Look at John Milton1988 Words   |  8 Pages Often being ranked side by side with William Shakespeare and John Keats, John Milton is considered one of the most renowned English poets in the world of literature, as journalist and politician Joseph Devlin states, â€Å"... [T]he three greatest works are those of Homer, Dante and Shakespeare. These are closely followed by the works of Virgil and Milton.† Many make the misconception that Milton is part of the Romanticism movement along with Mary Shelly and William Blake but Milton’s career took placeRead More The Effect of John Keats Health on His Work Essay1999 Words   |  8 PagesThe Effect of John Keats Health on His Work      Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   In his elegy for the poet John Keats, Adonais, his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley writes: With me / Died Adonais; till the Future dares / Forget the Past, his fate and fame shall be / An echo and a light unto eternity (6-9).   Shelley speaks of the eternal nature of Keats poetry, which, although written at a specific time in literary history, addresses timeless issues such as life, death, love,Read MoreSimilarities and Dissimilarities Between Shelley and Keats6975 Words   |  28 PagesSimilarities and dissimilarities Though P. B. Shelley and John Keats were mutual friends, but they have possessed the diversified qualities in their creativity. These two are the great contributors of English Literature, though their lifecycle were very short. Their comparison are also little with each other, while each are very much similar in thoughts, imagination, creation and also their lifetime. 01)  Attitude towards the Nature P. B. Shelley: Whereas older Romantic poets looked at nature asRead MoreMajor Movements Of Poetry : Poetry, Comedy, Ode And Lyric Essay1383 Words   |  6 Pagesreligious subjects were written about during these parallel eras, and sonnets were widespread. Due to the increased interest in academic and literary pursuits, large, new audiences who were interested in poetry developed. It was also during this time that poetry was introduced into the educational system. †¢ Metaphysical poets –The metaphysical poets began with John Dryden and used topics such as love, nature and philosophy to define and compare their subjects. Writing about the afterlife became a common