John Keats (c.1822). William Hilton, after Joseph Severn. Oil on canvas. © National Portrait Gallery, London.
The poet Keats (1795-1821) developed his natural gifts for language and imagery and, in a tragically short career, became a mature and reflective poet. One of the second generation of Romantic poets, he is best known for the series of great odes that includes To a Nightingale (1819).