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In 1795, John Keats was born at 85 Moorgate in London, where his father worked as a hostler, or stable-keeper, and was baptized the same year. In 1804, Keats’s father fractured his skull after falling off of a horse; the fall was fatal. One year later, in 1805, Keats’s grandfather passed away. Keats’s mother, Frances Jennings, quickly remarried. However, her marriage proved to be short-lived since she moved herself and her four children to Keats’s grandmother’s home. Keats’s developed his love of literature here when he attended school. Then, in 1810, his mother died of tuberculosis, which left both himself and his siblings in his grandmother’s custody. Since Keats’s grandmother could not take care of the children, she appointed two guardians to care for the children, whom which then took Keats from the school which inspired love of literature in him and he became a surgeon’s apprentice. This apprenticeship continued on until 1814 when he quarreled with his master and left to become a student at Guy’s Hospital, where he found more time to devote to his study of literature. Soon, Keats found his brother, Tom Keats, entrusted to him. Tom had tuberculosis and Keats began to show signs of tuberculosis. On December 1, 1818, Tom died and John moved to Hampstead to live with his friend, Charles Armitage Brown. When he lived there, he met Fanny Brawne, who had been staying with her mother. John quickly fell in love with Fanny and wrote her numerous letters. Upon his death, the letters were destroyed, at his wishes. The relationship fell apart when, in 1820, Keats’s tuberculosis became more serious. His doctors advised he move to Italy, and so he left London to live with a friend of his. Keats’s death occurred in 1821. He is buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome. He wished for “Here lies one whose name was writ in water” to be written on his tombstone without his name on the stone. However, his friends added the following: “This grave contains all that was mortal, of a YOUNG ENGLISH POET, who on his death bed, in the bitterness of his heart, at the malicious power of his enemies, desired these words to be engraved on his tomb stone.” 
 * John Keats ( October 31, 1795- February 23, 1821) was one of the most ionic English romance poets. During his life, he received much criticism from periodicals of his time. Keats’s poetry is distinguished by his use of elaborate words and sensual imagery, as portrayed in a series of odes which continue to be among the most favored poems of English literature. **

Poetry links

 * * [|Ode to a Nightingale]
 * [|To Sleep]
 * [|To Autumn]
 * [|Last Sonnet]
 * [|When I Have Fears That I May Cease to Be] ||>  ||

Explication
Explication of "When I Have Fears That I may Cease to be"

In John Keat's "When I Have Fears That I may Cease to be" he predicted an early death. In this poem, Keats expresses his fear of an early death, because he worries that he will not have enough time to fufill himself as a writer. Keats showed that he longed to be a famous writer, and feared pehaps death would get in the way of this. In the first line, it seems Keats is trying to say he is scared of dying before he is able to get everything out of his brain and onto paper.In the last two lines, Keats suggests until he finds love and fame, he will be alone in this world. However, not necessarily a romantic love, but a fame-like love. Keats is trying to say, if the world sinks to nothingness, the two things most desired by men are love and fame. Until the world begins to value other things, love and fame are meaningless. Shortly before Keats died it seemed, he realized poetry is not all about love and fame. It is about sharing your thoughts and experiences with those around you. The true love does not come from being famous, but comes from those who respect your work and admire you, not for your image, but for who you are as a writer. John Keats was lucky to realize and write about this shortly before his young death, (age 25).