I just read some background biography on Keats (Wikipedia) and wow, if you read the time periods in parallel with the context of the poem, you can see many similarities. Supposedly Keats had a relationship with a fellow poet Isabella Jones in the winter 1818-19 where he "frequented her room often". She was a successful, attractive, and well-known poet and may have looked upon her for motivation and material for some of his works.
Around spring 1819, Keats begin seeing Fanny Brawne regularly since she and her widow mother moved in next to him. He desired to marry her but his lack of financial gains and reputation prevented him from achieving his own standards and slowly sunk into depression and eventually disease (tuberculosis). He wrote this to her 13. Oct. 1819...
"My love has made me selfish. I cannot exist without you – I am
forgetful of every thing but seeing you again – my Life seems to stop
there – I see no further. You have absorb'd me. I have a sensation at
the present moment as though I was dissolving – I should be exquisitely
miserable without the hope of soon seeing you ... I have been astonished
that Men could die Martyrs for religion – I have shudder'd at it – I
shudder no more – I could be martyr'd for my Religion – Love is my
religion – I could die for that – I could die for you."
My intuition tells me that La Belle Dame sans Merci is a trope to Keats life because of the similarities of distress and darkness. Keats died 2 years later so his age was, in a way, old like the Knight. Just an interesting thing saw that you guys might like. Check out the full story http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Keats
-Luke
No comments:
Post a Comment