1795-1821. English poet, a leading figure of
the Romantic movement. He published his first
volume of poetry 1817; this was followed by
Endymion, Isabella, and Hyperion 1818, `The
Eve of St Agnes', his odes `To Autumn', `On a
Grecian Urn', and `To a Nightingale', and
`Lamia' 1819. His final volume of poems
appeared in 1820. Born in London, Keats
studied at Guy's Hospital 1815-17, but then
abandoned medicine for poetry. Endymion 1818
was harshly reviewed by the Tory Blackwood's
Magazine and Quarterly Review, largely
because of Keat's friendship with the radical
writer Leigh Hunt (1800-65). In 1819 he fell
in love with Fanny Brawne. Suffering from
tuberculosis, he sailed to Italy in 1820 in
an attempt to regain his health, but died in
Rome; the house he died in is now a museum.
Valuable insight into Keats's poetic
development is provided by his Letters,
published 1848.