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Poems
Over the course of his short life, John Keats (1795-1821) honed a raw talent into a brilliant poetic maturity. By the end of his brief career, he had written poems of such beauty, imagination, and generosity of spirit. This selection of Keats's poetry has been selected by Claire Tomalin.
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1817
About the author
John Keats
1,266 books2,411 followersRich melodic works in classical imagery of British poet John Keats include "
The Eve of Saint Agnes
," "
Ode on a Grecian Urn
," and "
To Autumn
," all in 1819.
Work of the principal of the Romantic movement of England received constant critical attacks from the periodicals of the day during his short life. He nevertheless posthumously immensely influenced poets, such as Alfred Tennyson. Elaborate word choice and sensual imagery characterize poetry, including a series of odes, masterpieces of Keats among the most popular poems in English literature. Most celebrated letters of Keats expound on his aesthetic theory of "negative capability."
Wikipedia page of the author
Work of the principal of the Romantic movement of England received constant critical attacks from the periodicals of the day during his short life. He nevertheless posthumously immensely influenced poets, such as Alfred Tennyson. Elaborate word choice and sensual imagery characterize poetry, including a series of odes, masterpieces of Keats among the most popular poems in English literature. Most celebrated letters of Keats expound on his aesthetic theory of "negative capability."
Wikipedia page of the author
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews
January 15, 2018
"Quando osservo sul volto stellato della notte
I segni profondi e nuvolosi d’una grande storia
E penso che potrebbe non toccarmi mai la gloria"
John Keats è morto temendo di non aver lasciato nulla di sufficientemente grande e bello al mondo della poesia e noi con lui rimpiangiamo tutto quello che avrebbe ancora potuto creare se non fosse morto a soli 25 anni. Consoliamoci con quello che ci resta, che è bastato per rendere questo giovane poeta inglese uno dei più grandi.
Le sue poesie mi hanno tenuto compagnia in queste prime due settimane del nuovo anno che a livello di letture non poteva iniziare meglio. Come con ogni raccolta di poesie faccio fatica a staccarmene dopo averla terminata, non so bene il perchè. Non so bene quando le poesie di Keats ritorneranno al loro posto nella mia libreria per lasciare libero lo spazio sul mio comodino. Ma va bene così.
Ammetto che ci sono state alcune poesie che non mi hanno entusiasmato, ma questa raccolta è ben fornita e il numero di quelle che ho adorato è nettamente superiore. Ciò che più mi incanta sono le atmosfere medievali di molte sue poesie come "La belle dame sans merci" o "Fossi tu vissuta nei giorni andati". Per non parlare dei dolci versi d'amore a Isabella o a Fanny.
Voglio sperare che John Keats sappia, ovunque si trovi adesso, quanta bellezza ha lasciato in questo mondo.
"Quando l'età avrà devastato questa generazione,
Ancora tu ci sarai, eterna, tra nuovi dolori
Non più nostri, amica dell'uomo, cui dirai
Bellezza è verità, verità bellezza - questo solo
Sulla terra sapete, ed è quanto basta."
I segni profondi e nuvolosi d’una grande storia
E penso che potrebbe non toccarmi mai la gloria"
John Keats è morto temendo di non aver lasciato nulla di sufficientemente grande e bello al mondo della poesia e noi con lui rimpiangiamo tutto quello che avrebbe ancora potuto creare se non fosse morto a soli 25 anni. Consoliamoci con quello che ci resta, che è bastato per rendere questo giovane poeta inglese uno dei più grandi.
Le sue poesie mi hanno tenuto compagnia in queste prime due settimane del nuovo anno che a livello di letture non poteva iniziare meglio. Come con ogni raccolta di poesie faccio fatica a staccarmene dopo averla terminata, non so bene il perchè. Non so bene quando le poesie di Keats ritorneranno al loro posto nella mia libreria per lasciare libero lo spazio sul mio comodino. Ma va bene così.
Ammetto che ci sono state alcune poesie che non mi hanno entusiasmato, ma questa raccolta è ben fornita e il numero di quelle che ho adorato è nettamente superiore. Ciò che più mi incanta sono le atmosfere medievali di molte sue poesie come "La belle dame sans merci" o "Fossi tu vissuta nei giorni andati". Per non parlare dei dolci versi d'amore a Isabella o a Fanny.
Voglio sperare che John Keats sappia, ovunque si trovi adesso, quanta bellezza ha lasciato in questo mondo.
"Quando l'età avrà devastato questa generazione,
Ancora tu ci sarai, eterna, tra nuovi dolori
Non più nostri, amica dell'uomo, cui dirai
Bellezza è verità, verità bellezza - questo solo
Sulla terra sapete, ed è quanto basta."
November 17, 2016
Keats has such a beautiful balance in his poetry. It's not too flowery, but not plain either. It has a cohesive storyline or a point to make, and doesn't go off on too many tangents, but still has deliciously descriptive lines, vivid imagery, and elaborate language to enhance the experience of poetry.
I like to read his work in small bits, a page or two at a time. I let it sink in, and bathe my mind in the wordage.
His tone is often melancholy, dwelling on death and cosmic defeat, but it's so full of sweet pathos, that it strikes a peaceful note. Beautiful!
This particular edition gives some of his shorter poems, and some excerpts from his larger works. I don't like reading excerpts, because they leave you hanging in the middle of the poem. I would rather have a larger book with all his poetry intact.
I like to read his work in small bits, a page or two at a time. I let it sink in, and bathe my mind in the wordage.
His tone is often melancholy, dwelling on death and cosmic defeat, but it's so full of sweet pathos, that it strikes a peaceful note. Beautiful!
This particular edition gives some of his shorter poems, and some excerpts from his larger works. I don't like reading excerpts, because they leave you hanging in the middle of the poem. I would rather have a larger book with all his poetry intact.
November 25, 2010
Un desiderio soddisfatto nel giro di poche ore. l'unica copia rimasta. "La Temeraire" di Turner in copertina...
Una bella cosa è una gioia per sempre:
La sua bellezza aumenta e mai
Sparirà nel nulla.
Non ho mai provato sensazioni così intense fino ad ora. Ogni volta che ripenso alla sua storia e alla sua fine, non posso fare a meno di piangere e di sentirlo sempre più vicino a me. Credeva di essere un fallito. Credeva che non sarebbe riuscito a lasciare un segno del suo passaggio. La sua morte prematura ha fatto sì che fosse ricordato per sempre come uno dei più grandi poeti romantici della storia. Dal mio piccolo posso solo ringraziarlo e cercare di porgergli tutti gli onori possibili.
Keats è la forma della mia felicità, il mio faro, la mia consolazione.
Una bella cosa è una gioia per sempre:
La sua bellezza aumenta e mai
Sparirà nel nulla.
Non ho mai provato sensazioni così intense fino ad ora. Ogni volta che ripenso alla sua storia e alla sua fine, non posso fare a meno di piangere e di sentirlo sempre più vicino a me. Credeva di essere un fallito. Credeva che non sarebbe riuscito a lasciare un segno del suo passaggio. La sua morte prematura ha fatto sì che fosse ricordato per sempre come uno dei più grandi poeti romantici della storia. Dal mio piccolo posso solo ringraziarlo e cercare di porgergli tutti gli onori possibili.
Keats è la forma della mia felicità, il mio faro, la mia consolazione.
May 2, 2013
Keats non può avere meno di 5 stelle. E questo è un dato di fatto.
Più specificamente, la raccolta contiene una splendida selezione (solo, avrei voluto includesse anche il primo libro di Endymion); la traduzione di Mario Roffi, però, per quanto buona, non mi ha soddisfatto a pieno, rendendo spesso in maniera blanda le immagini magnificamente evocative di Keats. Ho avuto il piacere di leggere alcune traduzioni di tutt'altro effetto, e quanto prima le ricercherò in diverse edizioni italiane.
Ma non per questo posso valutare meno del massimo una tale poesia. Mi colma l'anima e mi fa stringere il cuore.
Più specificamente, la raccolta contiene una splendida selezione (solo, avrei voluto includesse anche il primo libro di Endymion); la traduzione di Mario Roffi, però, per quanto buona, non mi ha soddisfatto a pieno, rendendo spesso in maniera blanda le immagini magnificamente evocative di Keats. Ho avuto il piacere di leggere alcune traduzioni di tutt'altro effetto, e quanto prima le ricercherò in diverse edizioni italiane.
Ma non per questo posso valutare meno del massimo una tale poesia. Mi colma l'anima e mi fa stringere il cuore.
April 6, 2024
“... O for a Life of Sensations rather than of Thoughts!”
Indeed, John, indeed
Indeed, John, indeed
Read
December 10, 2017Da leggere e rileggere...
March 5, 2021
I saw pale kings and princes too,
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci
Thee hath in thrall!’
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gapèd wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
Pale warriors, death-pale were they all;
They cried—‘La Belle Dame sans Merci
Thee hath in thrall!’
I saw their starved lips in the gloam,
With horrid warning gapèd wide,
And I awoke and found me here,
On the cold hill’s side.
And this is why I sojourn here,
Alone and palely loitering,
Though the sedge is withered from the lake,
And no birds sing.
January 16, 2024
2024:
3,5 Stars
Almost a four star for his first poetry collection. Maybe on re-read it will be. I enjoyed most the malancholy parts.
3,5 Stars
Almost a four star for his first poetry collection. Maybe on re-read it will be. I enjoyed most the malancholy parts.
March 22, 2018
Other than the few most famous poems in Lit class, I hadn't read much Keats. This immersion helped me hear and feel the beauty and rhythm of his words and hear his pathos-filled call to life and beauty.
March 26, 2015
I enjoyed some of the poems and sonnets. To Autumn was a favorite. The longer poems were too long. lol
I do feel he was a gifted poet and I'm glad I got acquainted with his works.
I do feel he was a gifted poet and I'm glad I got acquainted with his works.
September 20, 2019
C'est là que je regrette de ne pas avoir un meilleur niveau en anglais : Mon édition est une édition bilingue donc pas de problème de compréhension mais on perd forcément de l'original quand on ne voit pas toutes les subtilités et les jeux du poète avec sa langue maternelle.
Rythmiquement et mélodiquement ce sont des poèmes très doux. J'aime beaucoup la façon qu'a Keats d'évoquer la nature. Seul petit bémol : Le pathétique... Oui, je sais c'est Keats, c'est normal.
Bref, je recommande; et si vous aimez le "plan-plan", je recommande chaudement.
Rythmiquement et mélodiquement ce sont des poèmes très doux. J'aime beaucoup la façon qu'a Keats d'évoquer la nature. Seul petit bémol : Le pathétique... Oui, je sais c'est Keats, c'est normal.
Bref, je recommande; et si vous aimez le "plan-plan", je recommande chaudement.
March 20, 2023
1.5 stars
This has confirmed for me that poetry is not my thing. I've given it a little over 1 star because it was marginally more fun than other poetry I have read.
This has confirmed for me that poetry is not my thing. I've given it a little over 1 star because it was marginally more fun than other poetry I have read.
August 14, 2023
Oh, fret not after knowledge-I have none,
And yet the evening listens. He who saddens
At thought of idleness cannot be idle,
And he's awake who thinks himself asleep.
And yet the evening listens. He who saddens
At thought of idleness cannot be idle,
And he's awake who thinks himself asleep.
March 27, 2015
The Poems by John Keats is now published in hardback by Penguin Classics. The Poems have been selected by Claire Tomaline. Its ISBN is 1846141435. She provides us with an introduction and a wide selection of Keat's Poems. Although while alive John Keats (1795-1821) was heavily critized he has since his death become a very popular poet. He was a key poet in The Romantic Movement in the early 19th century and his poems heavily influenced later poets like Tennyson and Owen. Keats' Odes are still the most popular poems in English literature. His poems have such beauty, imagination and kindness and a maturity of writing that has set him aside from most poets. In this collection there is a ballad : La Belle Dame Sans Merci and the a selection of sonnets including: To My Brother, To Sleep and On Fame. The next section is Keat's Odes including: Ode to Psyche, Ode to Nightingale, Ode on Melancholy and To Autumn. There follows sections on a song To Sorrow, some narrative poems including : The Eve of St.Agnes, From Lamia and From Hyperion. The last three sections are : the natural world, light hearted and nonsense poems and finally Letters. This collection is beautifully compiled and introduced for the general reader. I highly recommend it. This book was reviewed by Annette Dunlea author of The Honey Trap and Always and Forever
November 4, 2012
Though this is Keats at his earliest and rawest, this still has some great moments, especially "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer" and "Sleep and Poetry." Keats still has his best work to come, but these two poems alone solidify him as at worst a good poet. It doesn't hurt that Peter Gabriel transforms "Chapman's Homer" into "Watcher of the Skies." Keats's expression "Realms of Gold" is unquestionably the best description of all that is superlative of the classical artistic world (which welcomes new members with each passing year, which now includes Keats himself, surely). "Sleep and Poetry" is raw but still impressive: "O for ten years, that I may overwhelm / Myself in poesy" - I wish (as many others do) he had received those ten years, instead of the 4 he got - but what a four years! His remaining output fulfills precisely what he wants poesy to be: "a friend / To soothe the cares, and lift the thoughts of man." Most likely readers will be reading this in a collected works format (as I did), whose brevity belie its beauties.
February 10, 2015
Am not here to give a rating or review for Keats Poetry,Just wanted to share my experience. When i am sixteen, first time read the 'La belle dame sans merci' a ballad by Keats..Amazing imagination....Before reading Keat's poetry...i never know that poetry can have such a powerful impact on a person. I haven't read all the poems of Keats but after reading 'La belle dame sans merci' and 'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever' he has become one of my favourite. 'A thing of beauty is a joy for ever' comes in 'Endymion-Book1'.I have read few poems they are good. Endymion is a handsome Greek youth who was visited every night by the moon goddess Selene, who loved him. How Romatic....!!!!! . If u likes romantic poetry , for english read 'The Poems of John Keats' . If you want to read something similar in Telugu, read 'amrutham kurisina ratri' by Devarakonda Balagangadhara Tilak.
September 10, 2016
"Heard melodies are sweet, but those unheard
Are sweeter"
I have taken my sweet time in reading this. I wanted to allow the legendary words of Keats to sink in - because the thing is, his beautiful and perfectly lyrical poems demands to be felt in order to be understood.
His writing is eloquent and filled with imaginative power. Every single word of his is so persuasive and tempting; so blissfully seductive. And in the end he of course won me over. With all of my heart. Five stars and all the praise in the world still wouldn't be enough.
To read Keats is an irresistible delight.
"Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomèd mine—
Unweave a rainbow, as it erewhile made
The tender-person'd Lamia melt into a shade."
Are sweeter"
I have taken my sweet time in reading this. I wanted to allow the legendary words of Keats to sink in - because the thing is, his beautiful and perfectly lyrical poems demands to be felt in order to be understood.
His writing is eloquent and filled with imaginative power. Every single word of his is so persuasive and tempting; so blissfully seductive. And in the end he of course won me over. With all of my heart. Five stars and all the praise in the world still wouldn't be enough.
To read Keats is an irresistible delight.
"Philosophy will clip an Angel's wings,
Conquer all mysteries by rule and line,
Empty the haunted air, and gnomèd mine—
Unweave a rainbow, as it erewhile made
The tender-person'd Lamia melt into a shade."
March 14, 2007
Some of Keats's longer poems are terribly resistant to light reading, and the excerpts here aren't very illuminating. His shorter verse is, of course, digestibly brilliant, and I'm glad I forced myself to partake of the medium-length narrative poems "Lamia" and "The Eve of St Agnes". Shimmering, mysterious, sexy stuff.
April 6, 2014
Ammetto che ho acquistato il libro solo per saperne di più dell'opera di Keats, dopo aver letto Hyperion e successivi romanzi di Dan Simmons. Che cosa spinse un giovane poeta inglese a scrivere, a visitare l'Italia per morire di tisi in una casa su Piazza di Spagna a Roma forse non lo capirò mai, come non comprenderò appieno la sua opera. Però è stata una buona lettura.
February 25, 2017
I haven't read poetry for a long time and I picked this book up on a recent visit to the house Keats lived in for a while in London's Hampstead (it's a great museum by the way). I found that I needed to read the poems out loud to get to grips with the flowery language but it's really beautiful (and clever) stuff and I enjoyed my dip back at the hands of this well-known 'master of the art'.
February 8, 2009
As when of healthful midnight sleep bereft,
Thinking on rugged hours and fruitless toil,
We put our eyes into a pillowy cleft,
And see the spangly gloom froth up and boil
ISABELLA; or, The Pot of Basil
Thinking on rugged hours and fruitless toil,
We put our eyes into a pillowy cleft,
And see the spangly gloom froth up and boil
ISABELLA; or, The Pot of Basil
March 27, 2014
I enjoyed this collection of poems. All in all not my most favorite poet, but his works did lend to some very interesting quotes that make you think and reflect on... Just what true poetry should do.
July 17, 2017
Sono rimasta un po' delusa, anni fa ho adorato, e adoro ancora, Ode sopra un'urna greca e La belle dame sans merci, ma il resto della selezione non mi ha dato lo stesso.
Il traduttore mi è piaciuto poco.
Il traduttore mi è piaciuto poco.
February 10, 2009
I have the Heritage Club edition. I have read so many English authors who quote Keats that I just had to give him a try! ;-)
January 15, 2013
Una bellissima edizione economica per uno dei grandi poeti romantici inglesi. Consigliatissima a tutti gli appassionati di poesia.
April 29, 2013
Keats' natural flow of words when coupled with his interest for knowledge creates the most enjoyable poems for anyone with a love for poetry.
August 21, 2013
So che mi attirerò scapellotti da almeno due carissime amiche (ciao, Antebra e LadyDoor!), ma a me Keats dice poco.
October 20, 2014
The sonnets, songs & short poems collection is good and interesting but the longer poems are quite boring or in other words unrelated.
September 27, 2015
Some poems I couldn't get into such as myself skipping through the narrative poems however the ones that I could interpret into my own perception, I adored.
August 21, 2020
romantics be like.. am I in love or do I just have a fever? lmao true story
Displaying 1 - 30 of 74 reviews