Oscar Wilde
(1854-1900)
English writer & poet
The Grave of Keats
(from Poems, 1881)
Rid of the world's injustice, and his pain,
He rests at last beneath God's veil of blue:
Taken from life when life and love were new
The youngest of the martyrs here is lain,
Fair as Sebastian, and as early slain.
No cypress shades his grave, no funeral yew,
But gentle violets weeping with the dew
Weave on his bones an ever-blossoming chain.
O proudest heart that broke for misery!
O sweetest lips since those of Mitylene!
O poet-painter of our English Land!
Thy name was writ in water--it shall stand:
And tears like mine will keep thy memory green,
As Isabella did her Basil-tree.
He rests at last beneath God's veil of blue:
Taken from life when life and love were new
The youngest of the martyrs here is lain,
Fair as Sebastian, and as early slain.
No cypress shades his grave, no funeral yew,
But gentle violets weeping with the dew
Weave on his bones an ever-blossoming chain.
O proudest heart that broke for misery!
O sweetest lips since those of Mitylene!
O poet-painter of our English Land!
Thy name was writ in water--it shall stand:
And tears like mine will keep thy memory green,
As Isabella did her Basil-tree.
Rome.
John Keats died in Rome at 11 pm on 23rd February 1821. He was buried in the Non-Catholic Cemetery in that town. At that time this cemetery was an open field and it contained only about thirty graves. One of the oldest in Europe, the Non-Catholic Cemetery is still active and is a popular tourist destination. It is placed just inside the Aurelian walls and it is overlooked by a pyramid, the ancient Roman monument dedicated to Caius Cestius. Nowadays, while most of its monuments commemorate citizens of Protestant countries, people of Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Jewish, Islamic, Catholics and other faiths are also buried here.
Shortly before his death, Keats asked Severn to go to see this cemetery because he wished to have a description of it. And so his friend Severn went there and after Keats's death he wrote: "He expressed pleasure at my description... about the grass and the many flowers, particularly the innumerable violets... Violets were his favourite flowers, and he joyed to hear how they overspread the graves. He assured me that he already seemed to feel the flowers growing on him".
Oscar Wilde visited the Non-Catholic Cemetery in April 1877 and prostated himself on the grass in front of John Keats's grave, declaring it to be 'the holiest place in Rome'. Soon after his visit, he wrote the beautiful sonnet "The Grave of Keats' to commemorate the occasion.
Shortly before his death, Keats asked Severn to go to see this cemetery because he wished to have a description of it. And so his friend Severn went there and after Keats's death he wrote: "He expressed pleasure at my description... about the grass and the many flowers, particularly the innumerable violets... Violets were his favourite flowers, and he joyed to hear how they overspread the graves. He assured me that he already seemed to feel the flowers growing on him".
Oscar Wilde visited the Non-Catholic Cemetery in April 1877 and prostated himself on the grass in front of John Keats's grave, declaring it to be 'the holiest place in Rome'. Soon after his visit, he wrote the beautiful sonnet "The Grave of Keats' to commemorate the occasion.
WHAT A BEAUTIFUL SONNET ON JOHN KEATS'GRAVE! THANK YOU FOR POSTING I LOVE KEATS AND WILD
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