The New York herald. [volume] (New York, N.Y.) 1920-1924, 1921-02-20
"A Readers Tribute
By WILLIAM H. KEATS.

John Keats was born in London Oc-
tober 81, 1795, and died in Rome Feb
ruary %, 1921, victim of tuberculosis.
in his twenty-sixth year. George
Keats. the poets eldest brother. set
tied in America in 1918.
Cut off in what seemed the begin
ming of his promise, the poet has been
the subject of many themes of re-
greet and disappointment throughout
the century. But are not all these
regrets unworthy of posterity? Though
he never married, the name of John
Keats is immortal through the chill
dren of his verse.
| Beauty is truth. truth beauty-that is
all
Ye know on earth, and all We need to
/ know.
No more fitting epitaph could be
inscribed upon the tomb of John
Keats. in the shadow OF the pyramids
of Gaius Cestius in Rome, where the
poet was buried century ago. For If
Keats had a creed it was love of
beauty he worshipped at the shrine
of nature In all her loveliness.
His genius for the felicitous use
of words is no less unerring than his
instinct for the beautiful in the world
of tastes and smells, sights and
sounds" says Charles Mills Gayley,
who adds: Like Spenser and Shelley,
he is one of the most truly poetical OF
| poets; like the former he drew his in
| spiration from the enchanted regions
| of the past"
In the popular mind Keats is often
linked with Byron and Shelley. Yet
aside from the fact that he was a
contemporary of these two poets and
like them was cut off in early life
he has little in common with thom.
A poet of the aesthetic transition. the
Influence Of Keats is seen in the work
of Tennyson. Unlike Tennyson. how
ever, who often rewrote single line
a thousand times. Keats worked rap
idly under the spell of the witchery of
his ina gination. 1t was on the spur
of the moment that he wrote THAI
| matchless sonnet:
ON FIRST LOOKING INTO CHAP
MANS HOMER.
Much have Travelled i'm the realms or
| gold
And many goodly states and KINGDOMS
Round many Western islands have /
Which bards in fealty to Apollo hold.
Oft of one wide expanse had ] been told
That deep-b row'd Homer ruled Ger his
demesne
Yet did | never breathe its pure serene
Till / heard Chapman speak out LOUD
and bold;
Then feIt I like some watcher of the
When a new planet swims into his
Or like stout Cortez. when with eagle
| eyes ,
He stared at the Pacific-and all his
men -,
Looked at each other with Wild sur
| mise
silent. upon peak In Darien.
Keats has been called a true cniio
Of the Elizabethans. Matthew Arnoio
speaks of his work as "Shakespearlan
mot initiative. indeed, of Shakespeare
but OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES It's eH-
preston has that rounded perfecton
and felicity of loneliness OF whlch
Shakespeare is the great master.
Sidney Colvin says of him: AFTER
or together with Coleridge, Keats mas
contributed most among Engnsh
writers to the poetic method and locals
of Rossetti and his group"
Among the best known of Keats's
poems are the odes ION a Grecian
Urn" and ITO a Nightingale, ana
that beautiful romance. THE Eve OF
st Agnes" "Endymion" is probably
his most imposing poem and pegins
with that well known line, "A tning
of beauty is a joy forever. AS
master OF lyrical verse Keats STANDS
preeminent. Few, indeed. nave IN
herited his genius for fiuency OF Ian
puage and melodious expression.
listen To the music of these lines:
r-harn,,d magic easements. opening on
the foam
or perilous seas. in faery lands forlorn.
Faultless as pearls on velvet. each
word greets the ear like tone from
a cadence of Chopin or Schumahn.
The reader without special literary
training is inclined to quote from the
long line Of critics who have expressed
the worlds admiration. But this poet
is not for scholars alone. He belongs
to all Of us.
Early in life | was attracted 10 tne
work of my illustrious namesake. ~
was my habit to read him nightiy ~
the interval of quiet after fretlui
day or a festive evening. He became
my companion and friend. His poems
were my prayers. I found in tneH
inspiration and exaltation. The sea
solitude. music. flowers and the things
/ loved most. woven into a fancitul
fabric OF language. were the constan'
images of my thought and the pleas
ure of my life.