John Keats John Keats is one of the finest poets ever to write inEnglish. By the time of his death at the age of 25, he hadaccomplished more than all but the finest writers haveachieved in a full lifetime."Endymion", the poem was thefirst major work he undertook.(Microsoft) Keats was born to a family of humble means, the eldestof four children. The Keats children were orphaned at anearly age and placed in the care of a relative who withheldtheir inheritance and treated them badly. John, who had beenan enthusiastic students, was removed from school at the ageof fifteen and apprenticed to local surgeon.(Microsoft) Keats continued his reading, however, and throughfriends he had made while still at school, was introduced tothe new work being written in England at the time. He soon

began writing poetry of his own, and his first publishedpoem appeared in 1816.(alston) Written in 1817, the year John turned 21,"Endymion" isover four thousand lines long, with an extremely complicatedmythological story. Keats himself was not satisfied with itsfinished form, and thought of it mostly as a long exerciseto gain experience. It was not well reviewed when it waspublished, and Keats' friends believed that the criticism itreceived was a factor in his death (this is probablyromantic legend; Keats actually died oftuberculosis).(alston) Work Cited" Microsoft (R) Encarta. Copyright (c) 1993 Microsoft Corporation. Copyright (c) 1993 Funk & Wagnall's Corporation. keats John Alston, Robin. keats 7.0176 (23 october. 1997):3 pp.online.Internet.