What are the features that most distinguish the poetry of Keats.
The last of the great romantic poets to be born, and the first to die was John Keats. Having suffered an exceptional amount of personal trauma in his short life that it is almost inevitable that he became, and still remains one of the great romantic poets in history. Besieged by family loss after loss in his younger days would have made him more susceptible to gaining an acute sensitive mindset against the outside world. For someone who was not initially recognised as having a strong artistic capability, either by himself or the others around him; he took to it with such ease, it's amazing. One can accept Keats' poetry without any further word about it, that is the beauty. That may even be the best way to get in contact with any piece of art standing alone leaving behind all prejudice, opinion and theory. However, in reality we will often feel rather helpless when confronted with a poem in all its mysterious beauty, staying silent at our awe.
One of the many things that attracts us to the poetry of John Keats is his extraordinary ability to inspire the reader to greater understanding of his works. "La Belle Dame Sans Merci" may be considered one of the most successful ballads in the language since the popular border ballads of the later middle ages and further emphasises his subtle teaching ability. The points of interest raised throughout Keats life of poetry still creates debate and argument around the world today. In "La Belle Dame Sans Merci", we are met with the very dark notion of death, whether in nature imagery, emphasising decay and desolation; in the "woe-begone" condition of the knight or in the dream sequence. The grotesque image of the 'death-pale' warriors, with their 'starved lips' and gaping mouths, warning the knight that he is in captivity to death, conveys a sense of loss and terror.