Who are you? Introduce yourself

[Montmorenci]

Hello all! I have posted on here a few times, but I will go ahead and introduce myself. My name is Melanie, 35 yrs old, married. I have dabbled in poetry in the past, but have jumped in here of late, and have fallen in love with John Keats. I am in the middle of reading his complete works, have read all of his letters to Fanny and some to his siblings and friends. I still have much to read and to learn and am loving the journey. I just discovered that Keats is my 17 yr olds favorite poet, it's wonderful to see his works appreciated in the next generation. I look forward to the day when I can go to Hampstead and then back to Rome with a renewed sense of purpose.

Thanks for being so nice and welcoming. Oh, and I really wish there was a way we could change our screen names on here!!

[Raphael]

Hello all! I have posted on here a few times, but I will go ahead and introduce myself. My name is Melanie, 35 yrs old, married. I have dabbled in poetry in the past, but have jumped in here of late, and have fallen in love with John Keats.

He is so amazing isn't he?

I am in the middle of reading his complete works, have read all of his letters to Fanny and some to his siblings and friends. I still have much to read and to learn and am loving the journey.

He will take you on a life long journey... Have you read Fanny B's letters to his sister yet?

I just discovered that Keats is my 17 yr olds favorite poet, it's wonderful to see his works appreciated in the next generation.

Wow- she has good taste!

I look forward to the day when I can go to Hampstead and then back to Rome with a renewed sense of purpose.

I have never been to either myself- I plan to go to Keats House in the summer. As for Rome- no I would find it too sad...


[quote]Thanks for being so nice and welcoming. Oh, and I really wish there was a way we could change our screen names on here!! [quote]

It is great to have you here Melanie! I have no idea how to change screen names tho.

[Saturn]

Thanks for being so nice and welcoming. Oh, and I really wish there was a way we could change our screen names on here!!

I can help you out there, send me a PM and I'll see what I can do.

[Montmorenci]

Raphael, no, I haven't read Fanny Brawne's letters to FK's yet, I don't have a copy of them. I think I have read one or two. I'll have to get my hands on a copy of them!

Saturn, thanks. I will see what I come up with and then will send you a PM. I'll keep my same avatar! Thank you!

[Malia]

Great to see you on the forum, Melanie It's great to see your interest in Keats. I only hope it grows! As far as biographies go, my favorite is Aileen Ward's John Keats: The Making of a Poet. That might be in part because it was the first bio I read, so it has sentimental value--but it is also a richly written, solid piece of work. Ward takes a more psychological view of Keats (his work and his life) than do other authors. I think it is great for someone just beginning to study Keats who wants a good biography, but not one loaded down with technical analyses of his poems.

[Raphael]

Ward takes a more psychological view of Keats (his work and his life) than do other authors.

I noticed that when I borrowed it from the library- did she study psychology?

[Malia]

I have no idea if she studied psychology, Raphael. She was a professor of English when she wrote the book. I personally enjoyed her perspective--it was really very much a study of Keats's growing identity as a person and a poet. That perspective seemed to fit him perfectly, especially when we remember how young he was.

[Raphael]

I have no idea if she studied psychology, Raphael. She was a professor of English when she wrote the book. I personally enjoyed her perspective--it was really very much a study of Keats's growing identity as a person and a poet. That perspective seemed to fit him perfectly, especially when we remember how young he was.

Yes- we often forget how young he was- he had such depth and in many ways maturity unusual for his age.

[Malia]

I guess, given the many difficult and painful circumstances of his life, in many ways he had to grow up quickly.

[Saturn]

Boys were men so to speak a lot earlier in that time; most [if they had any schooling at all] left by about fourteen or younger and were straight into work and toil.

[Raphael]

I guess, given the many difficult and painful circumstances of his life, in many ways he had to grow up quickly.

Yes, I was thinking about him last night ( in between reading about John Clare)and it suddenly hit me fully how awful it must have been for him when his mother vanished to come back ill with TB then die ( after she had doted on him all his life up til then)- he must have felt so abandoned and even betrayed. Don't get me wrong I am not doing her down, but just musing about the effect it must have had upon him. He was the oldest and his siblings must have looked up to him for comfort, when he was feeling so sad himself.

[Raphael]

Boys were men so to speak a lot earlier in that time; most [if they had any schooling at all] left by about fourteen or younger and were straight into work and toil.

True- look at John Clare- he had to support his family around the age of 13-14.

[Saturn]

Well exactly, and he was much, much worse off financially than Keats, even in his greatest penury, he always had just enough to get by, he was never really going to be destitute. To be a poor middle-class well educated man like Keats in the city was very different to being poor in the countryside, a peasant and manual worker.

[Raphael]

Well exactly, and he was much, much worse off financially than Keats, even in his greatest penury, he always had just enough to get by, he was never really going to be destitute. To be a poor middle-class well educated man like Keats in the city was very different to being poor in the countryside, a peasant and manual worker.

All true Saturn- BUT I just got up the part in John Clare's biography to find out he had rich lords giving him money- sponsoring him. So at one point he may have had more money in his hand than Junkets. Interestingly John Clare sold way more poetry books than Junkets- I can only assume it was the damage done to Junkets's reputation by his association with Hunt that meant his low sales- after all his poems as we know are brilliant. (J Bate seemed to think this was the case)

P.S There was one time in Shanklin when John writes he and Charles B only had a shilling ( I think it was ) between them! And he worried that he might end up in the Winchester Jail ( I think it was Winchester) due to his money problems- he wrote it with dry humour.I did laugh a little reading that then felt a bit guilty for laughing- the way he words it is funny and it came across to me he was trying to be light hearted about his money worries.

[harvest]

hello

i found this forum after a online search that had me looking up whatever i could about john keats. i was aware of him of course, but after seeing bright star, i am intrigued, curious & admittedly a bit smitten

i'm a married mama to 3, i live in western pa.

i have a few books on order, but would welcome suggestions as to where to look for more info on keats, is there a specific biography i should read, and is there another film?

also, where can i find out more about the people in his life, his inner circle if you will, do they have writings about keats as well?

also, are fanny's letters to fanny keats listed here?

thanks you in advance for any guidance, i appreciate it! you all seem so knowledgeable & i am just beginning my keats journey.

truly,
~nicole