Selected Poems and Letters

by John Keats, Douglas Bush (Editor)

This series presents complete poems and generous excerpts from longer works. Each book includes a biographical and critical introduction, a commentary and notes on the poems.

Genres: Poetry, Classics, Nonfiction, British Literature, Romanticism

360 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1954

About the author

Rich melodic works in classical imagery of British poet John Keats include " The Eve of Saint Agnes ," " Ode on a Grecian Urn ," and " To Autumn ," all in 1819.

Works of Percy Bysshe Shelley include "Adonais," an elegy of 1821 to John Keats.

Work of the principal of the Romantic movement of England received constant critical attacks from the periodicals of the day during his short life. He nevertheless posthumously immensely influenced poets, such as Alfred Tennyson. Elaborate word choice and sensual imagery characterize poetry, including a series of odes, masterpieces of Keats among the most popular poems in English literature. Most celebrated letters of Keats expound on his aesthetic theory of "negative capability."

Wikipedia page of the author

Reviews

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

his poetry is of course among the best written so i won't dwell there. i read this in college for a class where we focused on the form and style of particular poets. we read keats, stevens, and and gerard manly hopkins. part of the reading were journal entries and letters of these poets. better than reading a biography or even autobiography of someone is to read his letters or journals in my opinion. they are likely to be more insightful and honest. in all three cases we read about each poet's own thoughts on his craft. but this book had an added depth. here we get a glimpse into the knowledge keats had of his own coming death due to tb. he is young, he is frightened, but also resigned.

[Lindsay · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Keats has been my favorite Romantic poet since I read "Ode on a Grecian Urn" in high school. His poetry is so delicious. It's like reading a painting. They are heartbreaking and beautiful, a reflection of his very short and sad life. I also love "Bright Star, were I steadfast as thou art", "Ode to a Nightingale", "When I have Fears that I may Cease to Be", and "La Belle Dame Sans Merci".
I must confess that now, having read this book, I think I might prefer his letters. Oh MY goodness, that man could write a love letter. Reading them was like having a conversation with him. Whereas his poetry is gorgeous and accomplished, his letters are bursting with color and life, offering a glimpse of a man behind the poetry.

[Wyatt Reu · Rating 5 out of 5]

The volume I read had a more handsome cover than this profile lets on and as a further note on this specific edition, I enjoyed having the poems in chronology and interspersed with letters. Keats is a striving and intimate poet and one benefits from reading his formal and informal work in tandem. The poems themselves, as you all probably know, are beautiful and astounding.

[Justin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Didn’t text no bitch until I memorized:

This living hand, now warm and capable
Of earnest grasping, would, if it were cold
And in the icy silence of the tomb,
So haunt thy days and chill thy dreaming nights
That thou wouldst wish thine own heart dry of blood
So in my veins red life might stream again,
And thou be conscience-calm'd - see here it is
I hold it towards you.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Keats' poetry is, in my opinion at least, one of the most understated forms of romantic lyricism of his time. If I wanted someone to get into romantic, or even earlier forms of poetry, my first recommendation to them would be John Keats without hesitation.

[Feda Thumairy · Rating 4 out of 5]

How could you not just immediately fall in love with Keats?

[Jacob Hurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

the 5 odes were excellent but in general i think its more interesting to trace his development

[Kate Hoffland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me 🤝 romantic poets. I, too, would like to lie in the woods for 18 hours a day.

[H]

In my experience, people who quote from Ode on a Grecian Urn -- "Beauty is truth, truth beauty, -- that is all / Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know." -- tend to do so declaratively and forget the larger context of his works. This collection smartly follows with Ode on Melancholy: "She dwells with Beauty -- Beauty that must die; / And Joy, whose hand is ever at his lips / Bidding adieu; and aching Pleasure nigh, / Turning to poison while the bee-mouth sips".

The Fall of Hyperion: A Dream is marvelous and doesn't sound like Keats at all. It is his poem of transcending himself and his own voice; maybe we're all just granted one per lifetime.

"None can usurp this height," returned that shade,
"But those to whom the miseries of the world
Are misery, and will not let them rest.
All else who find a haven in the world,
Where they may thoughtless sleep away their days,
If by a chance into this fane they come,
Rot on the pavement where thou rotted'st half."
"Are there not thousands in the world," said I,
Encourag'd by the sooth voice of the shade,
"Who love their fellows even to the death,
Who feel the giant agony of the world,
And more, like slaves to poor humanity,
Labour for mortal good? I sure should see
Other men here, but I am here alone."
"Those whom thou spak'st of are no visionaries,"
Rejoin'd that voice, -- "they are no dreamers weak;
They seek no wonder but the human face,
No music but a happy-noted voice --
They come not here, they have no thought to come --
And thou art here, for thou art less than they.
What benefit canst thou do, or all they tribe,
To the great world? Thou art a dreaming thing,
A fever of thyself -- think of the earth;
What bliss, even in hope, is there for thee?
What haven? every creature hath its home;
Every sole man hath days of joy and pain,
Whether his labours be sublime or low --
The pain alone, the joy alone, distinct:
Only the dreamer venoms all his days.
Bearing more woe than all his sins deserve. ..."

-from the first Canto

[Kelvin Eng · Rating 4 out of 5]

An anthology of brilliant, exquisite poetry, alongside a small collection of letters that sheds some light on the inspiration spurring Keats into the construction of some of his best-known works.

Woe be me to have initially read Endymion erroneously by perceiving the eponymous protagonist to be a deity, when he is, in fact but a mere mortal; this led to some unsavory confusions as to how it is possible for there being punitive restrictions against the bonding between two deities in love.
Also, while the entire composition is undeniably beautiful in the vividness of the imagery employed to create the setting and represent a variety of emotions and mythological references, Keats has this tendency to be rather periphrastic, causing the narrative to be one that can be difficult to read and interpret at regular intervals. I found myself having to reread lines repeatedly in order to ensure that I fully comprehend exactly what he is attempting to convey before moving on.

One aspect of Keats' poetry that has haunted me immensely is the fact that he is constantly in a state of aporia; he constantly questions whether he is worthy of taking up pen and paper and devoting his soul towards the creation of verse. This fact is apparent through his shorter poems ("Fade far away, dissolve, and quite forget...The weariness, the fever, and the fret" - Desire to be free of the torment that naysayers of his craft visit upon him) various sections of Endymion ("For quenchless burnings come upon the heart, / Made fiercer by a fear lest any part / Should be engulphed in the eddying wind" - Herein lies a fear that his sanguine passion for creating verse will be stifled by harsh, merciless critics, as represented by the eddying wind); there is this vibe of pent-up frustration that can be detected as a result, one that is confirmed through his letters to his friends.

[ZaRi]

As Hermes once took to his feathers light
When lulled Argus, baffled, swoon'd and slept,
So on a Delphic reed my idle spright
So play'd, so charm'd, so conquer'd, so bereft
The dragon-world of all its hundred eyes,
And, seeing it asleep, so fled away:
Not to pure Ida with its snow-cold skies,
Nor unto Tempe where Jove griev'd a day;
But to that second circle of sad hell,
Where 'mid the gust, the whirlwind, and the flaw
Of rain and hail-stones, lovers need not tell
Their sorrows. Pale were the sweet lips I saw,
Pale were the lips I kiss'd, and fair the form
I floated with, about that melancholy storm.

[Valerie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strangely enough, no one else is reviewing these Victorian poets.

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some beautiful things in here if you have the patience and inclination for poetry.

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this on my work shift as it was on the bookshelves in the charity shop, and it's really good. It made me want to do English A-Level, especially as the copy I read had all the annotations left in.

Great choices in here.

[KarhuAnderson · Rating 2 out of 5]

Horrible layout, and in need of a better editor. Does not do it's subject justice.

[Ryan Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enchanted me with his enigmatic springs season.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ah, a young man after my own heart! I fell in love with Keats when I was 16 and the love affair has never waned. This collection was my first experience of Romanticism and romanticism from high school. Yes, it was required reading and I thank my lucky stars I had a teacher who was passionate about his work because I went on to write my dissertation on Keats. A dissertation has to be something you love, something you know a lot about, something that has a lot to explore and something you can manage to talk about for a long time. John Keats is that to me. His modesty, beauty and delicacy entwined in his youthfulness and melancholia spoke to my sensitive soul, and they still do.

'Poetry should be great and unobtrusive, a thing which enters into one's soul, and does not startle it or amaze it with itself, but with its subject'

[Drew · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in high school, we read "Ode on a Grecian Urn." Now having finished this Keats primer, I wish we'd read "Isabella; or the Pot of Basil" or "Lamia" instead. While both are longer than the well-known ode, they're also much more seductive with their twisted tales of thwarted love and their galloping verse. An intro to one of the great English Romantic poets, this concise collection hasn't a bad poem in it. Kudos to editor Roger Sharrock who made the picks and wrote the preface.