John Keats and the Romantic Revolution in English Poetics

Abstract

This paper examines the role of John Keats in the Romantic revolution in English poetics, situating his works within the broader context of nineteenth-century Romanticism. It explores how Keats, through his philosophy of “Negative Capability,” his celebration of beauty, and his meditations on mortality, reshaped the aims and methods of poetry. Unlike neoclassical ideals of order and rationality, Keats emphasized sensation, ambiguity, and imaginative intensity, thereby advancing the Romantic transformation of English literature. Through close readings of his major odes and letters, this study highlights Keats’s distinctive contribution to the Romantic aesthetic and his enduring influence on the evolution of lyric poetry.

Keywords- John Keats; Romanticism; English poetics; Negative Capability; Romantic revolution; beauty and mortality; Romantic aesthetics; lyric poetry.