ENGLISH PROJECT FILE
Topic: Life and Works of John Keats
Subject: English (Core)
Submitted To: [English Teacher’s Name]
Submitted By: Arpit Singh
Class: XII – Charak
School Name: Suditi Global Academy
Session: 2025–26
Acknowledgement
I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my English teacher for guiding me in
preparing this project on John Keats, one of the most celebrated Romantic poets of
English literature. I am also thankful to my school and my classmates for their continuous
encouragement and support.
— Arpit Singh
Introduction
John Keats was one of the greatest poets of the Romantic Age. His works are known for
their beauty, emotion, and deep connection with nature and art. Although he lived a short
life, his poetry has left an everlasting mark on world literature.
Keats’s central themes include the transience of life, the power of imagination, and the
beauty of nature. He believed that poetry should appeal to the senses and convey truth
through beauty — expressed in his famous line: “A thing of beauty is a joy forever.”
Early Life
John Keats was born on October 31, 1795, in London, England. His father, Thomas
Keats, worked at a stable, and his mother, Frances Jennings Keats, came from a
prosperous family. Keats faced many hardships early in life. He lost both his parents at a
young age and was forced to take responsibility for his younger siblings. Initially, Keats
trained as a surgeon, but his passion for literature and poetry soon took over.
Literary Career
Keats’s literary career began around 1814. His early poems were influenced by classical
mythology and nature. Some of his well-known early works include “Endymion” and “The
Eve of St. Agnes.”
His poetry matured quickly, and in just a few years, he produced masterpieces such as:
• Ode to a Nightingale
• Ode on a Grecian Urn
• To Autumn
• Ode on Melancholy
• Bright Star
Despite harsh criticism during his lifetime, his reputation grew immensely after his death.
Themes in Keats’s Poetry
1. Beauty and Truth: Keats believed beauty reveals truth — the two are inseparable.
2. Nature: He celebrated the beauty and harmony of nature.
3. Transience of Life: His poems often reflect the sadness of life’s brevity.
4. Imagination: He used imagination as a means to escape reality.
5. Mortality and Art: Many poems explore how art preserves beauty beyond death.
Analysis of 'Ode to a Nightingale'
In “Ode to a Nightingale”, Keats contrasts the immortality of the bird’s song with human
suffering and mortality. He longs to escape the pain of the world and join the bird’s eternal
melody through imagination and poetry. However, he realizes that beauty and art can only
offer temporary relief. This poem shows his mastery of sound, imagery, and emotional
depth.
Analysis of 'Ode on a Grecian Urn'
In “Ode on a Grecian Urn”, Keats meditates on the timelessness of art. The figures carved
on the urn remain forever young and happy, unlike real people who age and die. The
poem ends with the famous line:
“Beauty is truth, truth beauty,—that is all
Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
It expresses Keats’s belief that beauty captures the eternal truth of existence.
Death and Legacy
John Keats died tragically young at the age of 25, on February 23, 1821, in Rome, from
tuberculosis. Despite his short life, he left behind some of the most beautiful poetry ever
written in English.
Today, Keats is celebrated as one of the greatest Romantic poets, alongside
Wordsworth, Shelley, and Byron. His tombstone bears the moving words he chose
himself:
“Here lies one whose name was writ in water.”
Conclusion & Bibliography
Conclusion:
John Keats’s poetry remains a timeless expression of beauty, imagination, and human
emotion. His verses remind us that art and nature can make life meaningful even in the
face of death.
Bibliography:
1. The Complete Poems of John Keats — Penguin Classics
2. Abrams, M.H. — The Romantic Period
3. Wikipedia — “John Keats”
4. www.poetryfoundation.org
5. www.britannica.com
