Thanks for this, Rebecca. I'm interested in Neressian's book. There has been considerable discussion (see Nicholas Roe and Andrew Motion) of Keats' politics as it relates to his work, and I will admit to some skepticism about a claim that "Keats is not asking us to do anything about the world’s horrors." As Morris Dickstein has pointed out "Hyperion," for example, tells of the overthrowing of an old order by a newer more vital one. It's interesting to think about where his ideas and poetics might have headed if he had not been trapped in the doom cycle of TB in his family and in his own life.
Thanks for this, Rebecca. I'm interested in Neressian's book. There has been considerable discussion (see Nicholas Roe and Andrew Motion) of Keats' politics as it relates to his work, and I will admit to some skepticism about a claim that "Keats is not asking us to do anything about the world’s horrors." As Morris Dickstein has pointed out "Hyperion," for example, tells of the overthrowing of an old order by a newer more vital one. It's interesting to think about where his ideas and poetics might have headed if he had not been trapped in the doom cycle of TB in his family and in his own life.