Ideas of landscape in John Keats’ Teignmouth poems
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Date
2006
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Adam Mickiewicz University
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Abstract
In the spring of 1818 John Keats journeyed to Teignmouth in Devon to care for his dying brother.
This essay explores his idea of landscape in three poems of the period. The term “landscape”
designates not only the geographical sense of land but also the meanings that are imposed upon or
emanate from issues concerning land. Keats made clear in letters to close friends that he held
Devon and its people in low esteem. Yet, in his poetry, he curiously rejoices in the beauties of
Devon and its people, assuming even the idiosyncrasies of a south-west country brogue. What
accounts for these extraordinary shifts in mood? The essay argues that even when the reality of
Devonshire failed him, Keats’ poetry reflected a willingness to reach for an imagined landscape
where, free of the tribulations of actual existence, he lay kissing a milk maiden in the fields and
embracing the images of country life.
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Studia Anglica Posnaniensia, vol. 42 (2006), pp. 501-510