Keats on the beeb

[Simon]

There is a new series that starts on bbc2 tonight 'Romantics' about the romantic poets including keats.
i dont think that anyone has mentioned it so i thought id let you all know.
dont know how you guys outside the uk can see it though.

[Saturn]

I've already mentioned it on the 'Miscellaneous' part of the forum but thanks for reminding us Simon

[Simon]

sorry, i have a really bad habit of posting without checking existing threads.
Then again ive always engaged my mouth before my brain!!

[Saturn]

No problem - did you watch the show?

[Simon]

yeah i did and i have to say i was a bit let down by it. it didnt seem to know who it was aimed at, as anyone with more than a passing interest in any of the poets featured would have been aware of much of the content and info already, so i assume it was aimed at a 'virgin' audience. which is strange because if it was attempting to encourage interest in the poets then why the almost complete lack of advertising?
Besides getting into poetry is something you discover for yourself i doubt if any but the very very best tv programmes could 'convert' anyone at all, and judging by this programme, if the bbc cant do it i doubt anyone else will be able to.
one more thing, the one ad i did see put the programme across as kind of like a semi dramatisation.
Instead we got Tinker from Lovejoy.
As a talking head.

[Saturn]

Yes that was the biggest disappointment - I wanted actors dressed in the period dress and looking like the poets etc but all we got was Doctor Who, the Dad out of Shameless and as you say Tinker

[Discovery]

There is an interesting discussion of the later Romantics on the 'In Our Time' website, which can be found from the Radio Four site. I think it is a couple of years old, so go to the listen again bit.

It talks about the differences between the earlier and later Romantics, and the differences between the later Romantics themselves.

Also, in the Review section of the Guardian today (4th February) is a small piece at the back called Deja Vu, which talks about a poetry contest between Keats, Hunt and Shelley, that took place on this day in 1818.

Finally, the Saturday poem on the previous page made me think about how much of history is forgotton by the modern world, and how some people don't seem to care about it.

Hope this is of some interest to you all, I'm avoiding work as you can see!
Nat

P.S, I put this in the Keats on the Beeb section, but then I moved on a bit, didn't I? Oh, the final part of the Romantics is on tonight on BBC2. Have read here that the first two were a little disappointing, lets hope for better things today!

[Saturn]

Last week's episode was surprisingly effective as it explored the Romantics' rebellion against the Industrial Revolution and mechanisation.

It focused mostly on Blake, poignantly exploring the outrage he felt at the exploitation of children.
Wordsworth and Coleridge made up the rest of the programme and it was very powerful in conveying the great disillusion of the early Romantics with the French Revolution, particularly Wordsworth.

Tonight's final part was the best of them all [as it heavily featured Keats of course]. Keats was rightly shown as a very different Romantic poet than Byron [portrayed as a pleasure loving self-publicist] and Shelley [an idealistic radical exponent of free-love] and Keats who abandoned Science and wished to heal with words.

Keats was played by a young actor who, although not similar looking to Keats, managed to convey something of his sensitivity which was quite pleasing.

There were readings from Hyperion, Ode On a Nightingale, Ode On A Grecian Urn and some of the letters.

The Keats House Hampstead was shown, as was the Keats-Shelley Memorial House in Rome. One slight quibble I have was that they said that Keats's epitaph was one chosen by himself. By my recolllection Keats wanted a very different epitaph than "Here lies one whose name was writ in water'.

Answers on a postcard - I can't remember what he wanted himself.

[Discovery]

I enjoyed it, wish I had seen the other two. I'm glad they let the poetry speak for itself; the part of the presenter didn't clash with the readings but complimented them, I thought. I agree with Saturn, Keats and Byron were set up in opposition to one another. They showed this visually, with the Byron sections being colourful and the actor flamboyant, whereas the Keats sections were an altogether more sombre affair. The way they dealt with Keats' death was actually quite moving.

I'm not sure about the epitaph, I've always assumed that it was chosen by Keats

Nat

[Malia]

One slight quibble I have was that they said that Keats's epitaph was one chosen by himself. By my recolllection Keats wanted a very different epitaph than "Here lies one whose name was writ in water'.

Saturn, Keats did indeed wish to have "Here Lies One Whose Name Was Writ in Water" on his gravestone and he wanted no mention of his name on the tombstone nor did he want any engraving made of any of his portraits after his death. Keats made this request to Severn while he was on his deathbed.

The long preface that is written above the ledgend Keats wanted was prepared by Charles Brown by way of explaination (if you will) for the line. Brown eventually regretted "embellishing" Keats's chosen epitaph and thought (rightly) that it ruined the power of Keats's chosen words. But the preface was never removed.

[Saturn]

There's me getting all mixed up again about the epitaph - thanks for correcting me Malia

[Becky]

I thought the beeb Keats was rather good - small (if you've noticed, he wasn't much taller than the headstone) without being silly, passionate without being undisciplined and very, very young without being a boy.

Top marks for that bit, anyway.

But, given the proportion of time given to Blake and particularly Wordsworth, the k section was fleeting....

but not as fleeting as the 10 mins en toto given to Mary Shelley, the only woman mentioned....where was Hemans? and the other arts? Mozart, Beethoven, Palmer, Friedrich...

it all seemed a ploy to feed Akroyd's ego and give him the chance to make terrifyingly sweeping statements (with really gory special effects)...

[Discovery]

Clearly a short television series is not the ideal media for a subject such as the Romantics, so this may account for the sweeping statements. Also, the programme was about the Romantic poets rather than Romantic art in general.

I agree with you about the marginalisation of Mary Shelley. However, there was obviously limited time to play with.
Nat

[Becky]

[quote]the programme was about the Romantic poets rather than Romantic art in general

But it didn't really say that. Were they afraid of putting poetry in the title?

[Discovery]

Yes I think they might have been. I went to some charity shops and second hand bookshops today to look for poetry, but it was very thin on the ground. I could have bought any number of Jordan's autobiography though...