John Keats: The Great Odes Part I

John Keats (1795-1821) is regarded as the greatest of the English Romantic poets. He was despised by some of his colleagues because of his humble origins, calling him ‘Cockney Keats.’ He died young and death and art are key issues in his poetry. Many of his greatest poems are in the form of the ode, a poem of address. In 1819, which has sometimes been called his year of miracles (annus mirabilis in Latin) he composed six great odes and at this meeting we will be reading three of them (texts can be found at poteryfoundation.org ): ‘Ode on a Grecian Urn’, ‘Ode on Indolence’ and ‘Ode on Melancholy’.