The themes and style of Keats poetry due to his personal experiences set him apart from other poets. In the majority of Keats poems he attempts to free himself from the real harsh world, his own problems and situations. Keats's poetry often deals with trying to escape this harsh rapidly changing world, through transgressing into the immortal worlds of music, beauty and the arts. The use of such symbols as a means of escape can be particularly seen in the odes, 'Ode on a Grecian Urn' and 'Ode to a Nightingale, and also in his shorter poem 'Bright Star'. Keats poetry is distinctive his is trying to escape his own real life problems. His fear of death was due to his fatal disease melancholy, which killed his brother and was slowing killing him. Keats's own personal experiences and his emotions are displayed in his poems. The ways Keats deals with these feelings and problems and the answers he receives after transgressing between worlds of morality and immorality, are a unique characteristic of his poetry.
Illustration of poem by John Keats by W. J. Neatby
English: Portrait of Keats, listening to a nightin...
A Drawing keats rendered of an engraving of the So...Keats's disease which caused his brothers death, and was slowing killing him, caused Keats poems to consider and fear death. Melancholy showed Keats the mortality of the real world, which greatly influenced his writing. This is the main reason Keats's poems often discuss the negative aspects of his temporary world, death. Keats reason for wanting to escape, to leave behind reality can be most clearly seen in Ode to a nightingale. In this ode, Keats attempts to enter the immortal world of the nightingale's song. In stanza three the reader gains a greater appreciation and understanding of the way Keats viewed the world and his own personal situation. In this stanza Keats poses to the nightingale the aspects of the world which it does...