JOHN KEATS. A life

by Stephen Coote

John Keats is described as the last of the great romantic poets, and his brief life, full of poetry, epitomizes the image of tragic genius. The author here reveals Keats to be a man of his time, rediscovering a poet who reacted strongly against an authoritarian state and tried to find a spiritual life free from the repressive Christianity of 19th-century England. Stephen Coote throws much new light on the poems, showing why they were so bitterly attacked, and reveals Keats as a man of real vitality, profoundly original and deeply human.

Genres: Biography, Poetry, Nonfiction

353 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 1996

About the author

Stephen Coote is the author of several acclaimed biographies including Royal Survivor: The Life of Charles II, Samuel Pepys, and John Keats: A Life. He was educated at Magdelene College, Cambridge and at Birkbeck College, University of London. He lives in Oxfordshire, England.

Reviews

[Munderoon · Rating 5 out of 5]

John's life was short, but eventful. Undoubtedly, most of these events were frustrating, horrible and life altering. What he learned from Death and Nature, he gave to us in his wonderful poetry and in his even more beautiful and meaningful letters. And, as Joseph Epstein said, “He died, in other words, out of an act of purely selfless good. He also died in pellucid awareness that his great promise had not come to fruition. What he couldn’t know, of course, was that, in substantial part, it already had […]” This book gives a great overview over this magnificent poet's life and puts emotion before science in the right places. Very good!