John Keats began coughing up blood in February 1820, five months before the publication of the last book of poems that appeared in his lifetime.
This week marks the 200th anniversary of that collection, "Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes and Other Poems," now recognized as one of the greatest books of poetry.
The young poet's previous book, "Endymion," a romantic epic, had been mercilessly ripped by critics.
But Fleet Street publishers Taylor and Hessey agreed to publish Keats' new collection, which received better reviews. Despite the warmer welcome, the book quickly disappeared from public attention.
Mortally ill with tuberculosis and despondent over his doomed love for Fanny Brawne and what he perceived as his failed poetry career, Keats sailed to Italy in September 1820 with his friend Joseph Severn, hoping to regain his health in Rome.
But the disease worsened, and he died in February 1821 in a small apartment overlooking the Spanish Steps. His friend Severn, who had nursed him until the end, drew his deathbed portrait.
Nearly forgotten at the time of his death, Keats received posthumous recognition as one of the Romantic era's major poets. "Lamia, Isabella, The Eve of St. Agnes and Other Poems" contained his most celebrated work, the six great odes he wrote in a bust of genius beginning in the spring of 1819.
While the title poems "Lamia and Isabella" are not considered among his best poems now, "The Eve of St. Agnes" is one of his masterpieces. The collection also includes the ambitious, unfinished epic "Hyperion."
But the appearance of "Ode to a Nightingale," "Ode to a Grecian Urn," "To Autumn" and three other magnificent odes makes the book a hallmark of Romanticism.
Keats' gravestone in Rome's Protestant Cemetery contains the inscription, "here lies one who's name is writ in water," as he requested. Those words bring a deep sadness to those who love his work 200 years later.
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