28 Sep John Keats

John Keats’ life spanned only 25 years (1795-1821) during which he wrote some of England’s best loved Romantic poetry. His most memorable works include On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer (1816) and Bright Star, The Eve of St Agnes, Ode on a Grecian Urn, Ode to a Nightingale and To Autumn (all 1819). Jane Campion used Bright Star as the title of her 2009 film, which tells the story of Keats’ friendship with Fanny Brawne during his last two years in London.

Keats is commemorated by a bronze sculpture in the grounds of Guy’s Hospital, London, where he trained as a surgeon, and a memorial tablet in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey. His last London home, close to Hampstead Heath – he lived in one half, while Fanny and her mother lived in the other half – is now known as Keats House. This handsome Regency villa is a fine museum devoted to Keats’ life and work, including original manuscripts and other artifacts. It deserves to be included in any literary tour of England.