The Complete Poetical Works of John Keats

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In the early eighteenth century, the poets Byron, Shelley and Keats―heirs to the Romantic legacy of Wordsworth, Coleridge, Burns, and Blake―formed a trio of poetic revolution. The three were unwavering in their hatred for authoritarianism, their disdain for conventional morality, and their outspoken support of radical causes. John Keats―the perfectionist of the Romantics―was fascinated by life's transience and by the contrast between beauty's permanence and the mortality of man. Drawing on these fascinations, Keats crafted poems of exquisite melancholy and poignancy, such as "Ode to a Nightingale" and "To Autumn," as well as the masterful "Ode to a Grecian Urn." Throughout his works, the beauty Keats immortalizes in theme is underscored by the exquisite grace of his language. From the fantastical richness of "The Eve of St. Agnes," a ballad evoking the passionate union of the maiden Madeline and her lover Porphyro, to "Lamia," a tragic tale of love and loss, Keats's poetry is presented in this complete collection in all its gemlike brilliance.