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John Keats Facts & Worksheets

John Keats (1795-1821), who died at the age of twenty-five, was an English Romantic lyric poet known for his sensual imagery. During his short life, Keats’ works was often criticized, but his reputation only grew after his death. Since then, he’s become one of the greatest English poets of all time.

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See the fact file below for more information on John Keats or alternatively, you can download our comprehensive worksheet pack to utilise within the classroom or home environment.

Early Life

  • John Keats was born on October 31, 1795, in London, England. He was the first born son of stable-keeper, Thomas and his wife Frances Keats. In 1803, young John attended school in Enfield. When he was eight years old, his father died in a horse riding accident. Shortly after, his mother remarried and incurred a series of financial losses. After the unsuccessful second marriage, Frances left her three children in the care of her parents.
  • While attending Enfield Academy, Keats was a voracious reader. His interest in literature flourished after he was supported by the school’s headmaster, John Clarke.
  • In 1810, Frances returned to her children but died shortly thereafter of tuberculosis.
  • A year later, Keats left school to work as an apprentice to an apothecary-surgeon in Edmonton. It was in Edmonton that he wrote his first stanzas entitled, Imitation of Spenser. Keats was particularly mesmerized by Edmund Spenser’s Faerie Queene.
  • In 1815, Keats’ apprenticeship led him to pursue medical studies. He registered at Guy’s Hospital and became a licensed apothecary a year later.

Keats’ Career in Poetry

  • Even though Keats was working as a surgeon, his devotion and passion to arts and literature grew. By 1816, he met Leigh Hunt, publisher of The Examiner. His sonnet, O solitude! If I must with thee dwell, was published on May 5, 1816.
  • Hunt became instrumental in Keats’ literary career. He introduced him to English poets such as Percy Bysshe Shelley and William Wordsworth.
  • In 1817, John, together with his brothers, Tom and George, decided to move in Hampstead. He then wrote his first volume of poetry entitled, Poems of John Keats.
  • In May 1818, his work, Endymion: A Poetic Romance, was published. The poem was about the mythical love story between a shepherd and the moon goddess. Keats work was a product of his imagination encompassing the boundary of human experience. Critics saw the similarities of Keats’ Endymion with Shelley’s Alastor, published in 1816.
  • By the summer of 1818, Keats met and fell in love with Fanny Brawne. With a new inspiration, he wrote his first Shakespearean sonnet. In addition, Isabella, a romantic poem based on one of Giovanni Boccaccio’s work, was written. Isabella was a poem telling the story of the forbidden love of a woman for a man with lower social class. Moreover, his sonnet, Bright Star, also gained prominence.
  • Keats started working on his romantic piece, Hyperion, that was inspired by Greek mythology. Unfortunately, the writing was halted by the death of his brother. Later in 1819, Keats began rewriting his unfinished poem with the new title, The Fall of Hyperion.
  • His works were heavily criticized by two of the most prominent publications in England, Blackwood’s Magazine and the Quarterly Review.

Death and Legacy

  • During Keats’ lifetime, he managed to publish three volumes of poems. The final volume of his poetry includes Isabella, Lamia, The Eve of St. Agnes, and Other Poems, which were all published after his death.
  • His 1920 work To Autumn, revealed much of Keats sensuality in writing Romantic poetry.
  • In 1819, upon the publication of his last poetry volume, Keats contracted tuberculosis. Together with his friend, Joseph Severn, Keats went to Italy because his deteriorating health needed a warmer climate.
  • Keat started to feel depressed because of his health, career and failed relationship with Fanny Brawne.
  • After becoming bedridden, at the age of 25, Keat died, on February 23, 1821, in Rome.
  • Some of Keats most famous works include the great odes (1819): Ode to Psyche; Ode on a Grecian Urn; Ode to a Nightingale; Ode on Indolence; and Ode on Melancholy. He explored the relationship of contrasting experiences and aspirations. He delivered the ideas of art and reality, life and dreams, truth and romance, and death and immortality.
  • Together with some of his friends, Keats wrote his only drama, Otho the Great, in 1819.
  • In 1963, Walter Jackson wrote the first standard biography of John Keats.

John Keats Worksheets

This bundle includes 11 ready-to-use John Keats worksheets that are perfect for students to learn about John Keats (1795-1821), who died at the age of twenty-five who was an English Romantic lyric poet known for his sensual imagery. During his short life, Keats’ works was often criticized, but his reputation only grew after his death.

This download includes the following worksheets:

  • John Keats Facts
  • Poet’s Biography
  • The Romantics
  • Series of Odes
  • Matching Works
  • Keats and Poetry
  • Literary Genres
  • Text Analysis
  • Canvas and Letters
  • Romanticism
  • Bright Star

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Use With Any Curriculum

These worksheets have been specifically designed for use with any international curriculum. You can use these worksheets as-is, or edit them using Google Slides to make them more specific to your own student ability levels and curriculum standards.

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