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I was so very moved in the final chapters, ticking towards the inevitable and sad end. It has also inspired me to pick up other biographies in future, probably starting with some of Keats' poetic contemporaries. I do have to hope that Keats, who felt sure that memories of him and his work would fade away as if "writ in water", would take some heart in knowing that his name is now irrevocably placed as one of the all-time great English poets. I never had the privilege of studying John Keats at school, so I came to him via a less expected path: In that futuristic tale, the historical Keats has been cloned and augmented as a 'cybrid', and goes on an adventure with a detective named Brawne Lamia.
I was intrigued enough to want to know more! I soon stumbled across this biography by Andrew Motion, which has been my key text for years. I came to really love the feisty and engaged y I never had the privilege of studying John Keats at school, so I came to him via a less expected path: I came to really love the feisty and engaged young man that Motion depicted - and while Keats was as fallible and conflicted as any human must be, I feel that he is one of the best and most interesting people who've ever lived.
Motion gives the appropriate weight to Keats' gift for friendship, to the power of his love for Fanny Brawne cause of both ardent joy and deathly despair , and to his deeply felt vocation as a poet. I can't recommend this tome highly enough. Mar 30, Alexander rated it really liked it. Andrew Motion's greatest achievement lies not in vivifying Keats the Poet a dubious task: John's letters already achieve that or extolling imaginary facets of his verse to speciously induce 'freshness', but with ripping the consumptive varnish off Keats the Man.
Motion enumerates Keatsian cliches and antagonisms — vulgar effete, floral cockney, a perpetually etherealized depressive — and vigorously dismantles them, claiming the catastrophic influence of Shelley's seraphic Adonais , contrary to Andrew Motion's greatest achievement lies not in vivifying Keats the Poet a dubious task: Motion enumerates Keatsian cliches and antagonisms — vulgar effete, floral cockney, a perpetually etherealized depressive — and vigorously dismantles them, claiming the catastrophic influence of Shelley's seraphic Adonais , contrary to immortalizing Keats, "emasculates" him; Keats, as friends attest, was a pugnacious street fightin' man who wasn't averse to beating animal abusers he brawled with a butcher's boy caught "tormenting a kitten" or yielding to galvanizing rage, as he did upon learning who began deceptive love-correspondence with his ailing brother: I do not think death too bad for the villain.
I will hang over his head like a sword by a hair. I will be opium to his vanity -- if I cannot injure his interests -- He is a rat and he shall have ratsbane to his vanity -- I will harm him all I possibly can -- I have no doubt I shall be able to do so -- Let us leave him to his misery alone except when we can throw in a little more. As a fan of Nabokov, I can't help but exclusively adore Keats's assured and subversive Burtonian phase, the period wherein he portrayed his ambitions as "making a as great a revolution in modern dramatic writing as Kean had done in acting -- another to upset the drawling of the blue stocking literary world," and his responses to indictments of pride were self-affirming: I feel every confidence that if I choose I may be a popular writer; that I will never be.
I shall ever consider People as debtors to me for verses, not myself to them for admiration -- which I can do without. I have of late been indulging my spleen by composing a preface at them: I know it does but this Pride and egotism will enable me to write finer things than any thing else could -- so I will indulge it -- Just so much as I am humbled by the genius above my grasp am I exalted and look with hate and contempt upon the literary world -- A Drummer boy who holds out his hand familiarly to a field marshall -- that Drummer boy with me is the good word and favour of the public -- Who would wish to be among the commonplace crowd of the little-famous -- who are each individually lost in the throng made up of themselves?
To beg suffrages for a seat on the benches of a myriad aristocracy in Letters? This is not wise -- I am not a wise man-- Fortunately, Andrew Motion recognizes the potency of Keats's letters and doesn't attempt besting them; structurally, they are the cynosures, and Motion both scrupulously elaborates and genuflects when appropriate. I can't speak for Walter Bate's acclaimed biography, but this is pretty good.
I'm at a bit of a loss for words.
This book has been somewhere on my person pretty much wherever I've gone for the past three months, and I feel like I've been put into close conversation with Keats and his contemporaries as if they were all people I really knew. Motion is such a good biographer that explaining how poignant and fair and strikingly detailed this life story is is almost impossible.
First, a little background: I spent my senior year of undergrad deeply immersed in Keats's poetry, it I'm at a bit of a loss for words. I did not expect to have the privilege of so fully experiencing his everyday life--and we're talking about pretty much every week of his short 25 years.
Because of faithful record-keeping on the part of Keats's circle and Keats himself, we know what their evening meal consisted of the day a certain idea was first discussed; we know shocking and intimate things, we know specific puns that Keats only shared with Severn. Motion is protective of Keats as a strong, high-minded individual, but also refuses to refrain from thoroughly discussing his flaws and weaknesses he was poor and short, as well as deeply ambivalent about women.
In addition, he provides a thorough examination of Keats's works in context with his moods and the events that were taking place at the time he wrote them, both political and personal, also including fragments of popular criticism of these works. In short, by the time Keats's lungs are disintegrating in a small room in the Piazza di Spania and he's raving about how lovely the violets will look over his grave, you feel like you're watching every second of it, and you feel like you're losing a dear friend. Motion uses the first pages to establish the value of a life cut short, and then, like Dante, uses the last 50 pages to guide the reader slowly through hell.
This isn't to say that the ending is necessarily bitter. In fact, it is quite redeeming to know that someone who swam against the current of bad fortune his whole life, and died thinking "[his] name is Writ in Water," has actually become immortal. And with ample justification.
Editorial Reviews. From the Publisher. Founded in by J.M. Dent, the Everyman Library Look inside this book. John Keats: Poems Selected by Andrew Motion (Poet to Poet Book 11) by. John Keats: Poems Selected by Andrew Motion (Poet to Poet Book 11) eBook: John Keats, Andrew Motion: www.farmersmarketmusic.com: Kindle Store.
My own review written for Amazon UK: I really need not have worried. This is a really approachable text, obviously within the parameters of its subject matter. Motion amply discusses these poems within a biographical context. View all 11 comments. Dec 10, Mark rated it liked it Shelves: John Keats perhaps is my favorite of the Romantic poets.
I favor Keats for the poetry and Chopin for the music- although they perhaps each alone bookmark the era. I see there are some similarities between him and Jim Morrison from our own era- however, differences perhaps outweigh the similarities. Both men died young too young- Keats at 25, Morrison at Both died foreign deaths, due to natural causes. Both were perhaps arguably the most talented of their peers, and here I would argue, Mor John Keats perhaps is my favorite of the Romantic poets. Both were perhaps arguably the most talented of their peers, and here I would argue, Morrison the lesser power.
Lines such as "what have we done to the earth, what have we done to our fair sister? There perhaps the similarities end. While Morrison represented a rebellion against traditions, Keats only seemed to hearken to a more refined Classicism. And while Morrison walked up easily into his crown of laurels, with mass popularity and gold albums, Keats struggled hard for his brief life to earn both acceptance and love- neither of which found him in time.
A tragically noble and nobly tragic figure, John Keats did a lot in his short time, and for 'one whose name was writ in water', achieved in poetry at the very least a place amongst the heroic. This is a very good and scholarly book, perhaps not for the general public, maybe more for the academe, but the initiate and devotee of Keats will be quite satisfied by it. Feb 21, Charlotte rated it liked it Shelves: The full disclaimer is, I have not read this whole book, and I'm never going to.
This is really a book for Keats scholars, not post-grad school The full disclaimer is, I have not read this whole book, and I'm never going to. This is really a book for Keats scholars, not post-grad school people who think they maybe could dabble in Keats scholarship.
But I read the last 30 pages or so the other day it gets MUCH more interesting after he meets Fanny and gets consumption, so sad--is that a spoiler? Maybe sometime, Andrew Motion, but probably not. Sep 21, Susan rated it really liked it. Jane Campion on Charlie Rose said that when she turned 50 she felt that she needed to revisit and really understand poetry-referring to poetry as planting a garden in the mind.
Keats being her focus and this biography being her first foray into understanding the poet. This is a biography well worth delving into. An excellent, thorough biography interspersed with solid readings of the poems -- Keats died at age 26, and somehow Motion's biography runs to nearly pages without ever seeming unnecessarily detailed.
Nov 01, Naji Mokh added it. Dec 31, Jen rated it it was amazing. This is a fascinating, incredibly detailed biography. I would highly recommend this to anyone who wants to learn more about Keats, his circle, and his family. For those interested in Fanny Brawne, Motion is a bit condescending towards her at first but he is generally balanced in his approach to her unlike the vast majority of biographers before him.
His poetry and letters are often at odds on first glance, and Motion draws insightful connections and explanations. It's rare when a biography can make you feel attached to the subject. I don't mean as in an emotional attachment, which certainly was part of it for me, but I mean attached to their world as if you were there with them, seeing it for yourself instead of just reading about it.
That is exactly what Andrew Motion has done with this biography of Keats. Through literary analysis, accounts of those who knew Keats, and through Keats' own letters, Motion makes Keats feel very real. While reading this I It's rare when a biography can make you feel attached to the subject. While reading this I felt acutely aware of Keats' few triumphs as well as his despair, his passion, and his final agonies as he lie dying in Rome.
Keats was more than just one of the great Romantic Poets, Keats was a complex young man having to face the world's trials at an early age. As the oldest sibling, losing both parents early on, he was burdened with constant worry over money and the wellbeing of his younger siblings. He sought shelter in poetry, creating worlds of myth, urns, and nightingales. Keats never swayed from his beliefs even under fierce criticism. Keats was a man looking for his place in the world and Andrew Motion does a stunning job of allowing us to search with him. I would recommend to anyone new to Keats, to read this book first before reading his poetry.
Having insight into the "one whose name was writ in water," will make reading his poetry all the more meaningful. Dec 04, Benjamin Clow rated it really liked it. Long and comprehensive depiction of Keat's life from his childhood to his devasting early death. Motion includes detailed background and analysis of Keat's poetry as well as heavily researched details on Keat's wide friend group.
Its said to be less scholarly than Nicholas Roe's biography and an excellent introduction to the man. Motion does a fantastic job at revealing the transition of Keat's poetry from political pieces and Immature ramblings to a sincere overflow of his heart. Its nice to kn Long and comprehensive depiction of Keat's life from his childhood to his devasting early death.
Its nice to know that great art doesn't need to be polemical as such, as long as it is both truthful and feeling. Motion also does a lot to combat the ideas of Keat's as a foppish, sentimental romantic poet who wrote all milk and honey. Keats faced death from an early age, he experienced great pain and was also highly sceptical of women and marriage. I do admit that Motion did have the tendency to go on seemingly irrelevant historical tangents, which do a lot to contextualise the man, but also made my eyes wander across the page mindlessly at some points.
Worth a read, but also a text which wetted my appetite for Keats. Dec 14, Melody Nelson rated it liked it. Way too much literally criticism. Jul 18, Laura rated it it was amazing. This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Continuing with my Keatsian summer, I became absorbed in this wonderful biography. I found it to be moving, insightful and extremely detailed. Andrew Motion is not a cold, detached biographer, but a fellow poet who reflects with sentiment about the experiences and achievements of Keats.
This biography is also a great introduction to the literary life of the times. I have been particularly interested in the relationships between all the different artists and writers who became Keats's friends, and Continuing with my Keatsian summer, I became absorbed in this wonderful biography. I have been particularly interested in the relationships between all the different artists and writers who became Keats's friends, and who were successful to a varying degree.
Not many of the names were familiar to me before maybe Leigh Hunt , and I have been fascinated by all their meetings, correspondence and amateur literary competitions, not dissimilar to the one that gave way to the creation of Frankenstein in Lake Geneva. A favourite anecdote has been the painting of "Christ's Entry", where Keats features in a crowd of artists and thinkers that surround Jesus in his entry to Jerusalem: He is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature.
Andrew Motion is also the author of several acclaimed biographies including The Lamberts: A Writer's Life , which won the Whitbread Biography Award; a life of John Keats published in ; and Wainewright the Poisoner , an account of the life of Thomas Wainewright, critic, forger, painter and suspected murderer. Andrew Motion lives in London and received a knighthood in Award-winning biographer and poet, with a career stretching over four decades, Motion will always be remembered for his decade as Poet Laureate. Often seen as a thankless post, it was one that he grasped with notable vigour.
As he declared, it was as much about promoting the poetry of others as himself: Yet he was also cautious about taking the role, and rightly so, since the inevitable compromises of his stint under royal patronage has enabled people- unfairly- to dismiss his large body of often low-key critical, poetic and biographical writings. There are two prevailing views on Motion. The first is that he is the Establishment made flesh, a traditionalist whose devotion to the conservative English lineage of Edward Thomas made him a dispiriting choice for champion of British poetry as it entered a new millennium.
I want readers to be able to see all the way down through its surfaces into the swamp. Yet there is a second view, one that has grown in currency since he ended his stint as laureate in That is of a subtler poet with a flair for enigmatic narrative verse that is observant, empathetic, unsentimental, and metrically useful. This richer second side to Motion comes out strongly at various points in his career. They were collected in The Pleasure Steamers that recalled moments such as her failing to return from the ride:. But my childhood had ended suddenly. But when he turns off the road into a field it is not like Essex at all.
This is all he can find. As Motion shifts from the imagery of poison gas over France to the hunting of a hare, he combines the personal, political and national in a manner that is engrossing and jarring. Then came the Laureate phase, a chapter that Motion admits he felt stifled by.
Optimised for larger screens. However, he hits his stride, and the book becomes impossible to set down. About thirty years after his death. His grief and anguish were never from a place of self-pity or fear. I will be opium to his vanity -- if I cannot injure his interests -- He is a rat and he shall have ratsbane to his vanity -- I will harm him all I possibly can -- I have no doubt I shall be able to do so -- Let us leave him to his misery alone except when we can throw in a little more. Its nice to know that great art doesn't need to be polemical as such, as long as it is both truthful and feeling.
There was criticism from the poetry community- some of it very vocal when he was appointed. Share your thoughts with other customers. Write a customer review. Most helpful customer reviews on Amazon. What a wonderful anthology of John Keats' poetry. The selections in this book range from his well known and loved pieces like "Lamia" and " To Autumn" to less familliar but still gracefully written "On the Sea" and "To Leigh Hunt, Esq.
Many critics wonder what he would've accomplished had he lived longer, and by reading this collection of his poems, one can only image the brilliant works he might have given us to further his powerful legacy. Get to Know Us. Amazon Web Services Goodreads Shopbop. Optimised for larger screens. Not Enabled Word Wise: Not Enabled Screen Reader: