John Keats (1820–1821)
- Musleh Saadi
- Nov 20
- 3 min read
A Year of Love, Illness, and Farewell
By 1820, John Keats was already weakened by grief, financial strain, and overwork. The death of his younger brother Tom Keats from tuberculosis in December 1818 had left him emotionally shattered. Keats had nursed him day and night — and in the process, he inhaled the same infection that would now begin to destroy his own lungs.
Early 1820 — The First Signs of Fatal Illness
In February 1820, Keats returned home after walking in cold rain. That night he coughed violently and saw bright red blood on his handkerchief.
He said quietly to his friend Charles Brown:
“That drop of blood is my death warrant.”
He knew immediately that he had tuberculosis — the same disease that had killed his mother and his brother.
Keats was just 24.
Love and Separation: Fanny Brawne
During this period, Keats was deeply in love with Fanny Brawne, the young woman who lived next door. Their love was intense, but now it became painful:
He could not work due to weakness.
He could not earn enough to marry.
He could not promise her a future.
Yet their love continued — passionate, letter-filled, and heartbreaking.
Keats wrote:
“I cannot exist without you. I am forgetful of everything but seeing you again.”
But, to prevent infecting her, he could not even hold her hand.
They lived next door — but separated by disease, poverty, and fate.
Summer 1820 — Collapse
Keats suffered continuous fever, night sweats, coughing blood, and exhaustion. His doctor advised him to leave the cold English winter and go to Italy, where the warm climate might help his lungs.
September 1820 — The Voyage to Italy
Keats left England on 17 September 1820, accompanied by his loyal friend, Joseph Severn, an artist.
He left behind:
His family
His unfinished poetry
And Fanny, whom he loved more than life
He carried with him only:
A few books
Letters
And a lock of Fanny’s hair
As the ship sailed away, Keats refused to look back at the shore.
He said:
“I feel the flowers of death already blooming in me.”
Rome — The Final Months
Keats and Severn rented a small apartment overlooking the Spanish Steps in Rome.
There, Keats grew weaker:
He could not eat solid food
He could barely speak
Pain wracked his chest
He cried out in despair, at times begging for death
Yet Severn cared for him with devotion, refusing to leave his side.
Keats’s poetry had ended — but his love for Fanny had not.
He would ask:
“Has she forgotten me?”
He wore her ring until the day he died.
The End — 23 February 1821
Keats died peacefully at dawn, in Severn’s arms, whispering:
“Don’t be frightened. I feel as if I were going to sleep.”
He was 25 years old.
He was buried in the Protestant Cemetery in Rome.
On his gravestone, by his own wish, there is no name — only the words:
“Here lies One Whose Name was writ in Water.”
He believed the world would forget him.
But the World Did Not.
Keats is now one of the greatest English poets, remembered not for how long he lived, but how deeply he felt and how beautifully he understood the human soul.
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