John Keats  31 October 1795 – 23 February 1821

(A Celebration of Beauty, Love, Mother Nature and Life) 

'It's hard – no, it's impossible – to think of another writer who suffered and achieved so much in such a short time at such an early age...

'The man we discover is fierce in his dislikes, generous in his friendships, passionate in his loves.'-Sir Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate, 1999 to 2009

‘The loveliest and the last,

The bloom, whose petals nipped before they blew

Died on the promise of the fruit.’- Percy Bysshe Shelley, ‘Adonais: An Elegy on the Death of John Keats.’

Joseph Severn's painting of Keats 'Listening to the Nightingale on Hampstead Heath',

c1845. Picture: Keats House Hampstead - Credit: Archant

‘Teenagers often discover poetry through Keats because he was so romantic and tender and evocative of the emotions he was feeling at the time.

You feel tearful at the sadness of knowing that he died so young, yet his poems celebrate life and beauty and have a wonderful sense of joy.’- Judith Chernaik