John Keats

John Keats. . This sculpture, by Vincent Gray, depicts John Keats contemplative on a bench, with his notebook, looking up towards the city centre and cathedral - almost certainly the inspiration for his epic poem, The Eve of St Agnes., Keats and Chichester , One cold winter in January 1819, the youthful poet, John Keats, found himself staying with the parents of his friends, Charles Dilke in Chichester at 11 Eastgate Square. The house can be seen behind the sculpture with a grey plaque attached. Keats got into the habit of taking tea with an elderly lady who lived in the Vicar's Hall in South Street. The crypt below the building - which still exists today is believed to be the oldest domestic building in the city, dating back to the twelfth century., Keats the poet , John Keats was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley, despite his works having been in publication for only four years before his death from tuberculosis at the age of 25., Although his poems were not generally well received by critics during his lifetime, his reputation grew after his death, and by the end of the 19th century, he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of poets and writers. Jorge Luis Borges stated that his first encounter with Keats' work was the most significant literary experience of his life., The poetry of Keats is characterised by sensual imagery, most notably in the series of odes. This is typical of romantic poets, as they aimed to accentuate extreme emotion through an emphasis on natural imagery., Today his poems and letters are some of the most popular and most analysed in English literature. Some of the most acclaimed works. of Keats are 'Ode to a Nightingale', 'Sleep and Poetry, and the famous sonnet 'On First Looking into Chapman's Homer'., John Keats died of tuberculosis on 23 February 1821 in Rome. He was 25 years old. He was buried at the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. Since his death, Keats' reputation has grown far beyond anything the poet experienced in his lifetime. The few poems he composed in his short life are recognised as masterpieces of English Romanticism., Vincent Gray, the sculptor had long had the vision for this piece and his passion and desire to bring this to fruition was finally rewarded with its unveiling by Dame Patricia Routledge DBE on 31st August 2017. The sculpture was part-funded by public donations.