John Keats on the Isle of Wight
Island’s Poetic Legacy
The Isle of Wight holds a significant place in British literary history through its connection with John Keats. The English Romantic poet spent meaningful periods between 1817 and 1819 at two residences: a house along Castle Road in Carisbrooke and Eglantine Cottage in Shanklin.
John Keats was an English Romantic poet who died at the age of 25. During his short career, he published fifty-four poems, ‘in three slim volumes and a few magazines’. Having only become a poet in the last six years of his short life, retrospectively, he has become one of the best-loved and often-studied English poets. He stayed on the Isle of Wight from 1817 to 1819.
Islanders are proud of their island’s artistic heritage.
John Keats (October 31, 1795– February 23, 1821) His usage of sensual imagery and statements like “beauty is truth and truth is beauty” made him a precursor of aestheticism. Islanders still hold great pride in his connection to the region.
The natural splendour of Shanklin made a profound impression on Keats. He marvelled at the dramatic Shanklin Chine, a deep coastal gorge stretching nearly 300 feet deep. The cleft featured dense clusters of trees and bushes, whilst primroses carpeted one side down to the sea’s edge. Modest fishermen’s huts dotted the opposite slope, nestled amongst verdant hedgerows that led to the sandy shore.
The maritime environment sparked Keats’s creativity. His poem “On the Sea” emerged from his time in Shanklin, capturing the eternal whispers of waves against desolate shores and the mystical caverns they created. The verse paints vivid pictures of gentle waters barely disturbing fallen shells whilst encouraging readers to feast their eyes upon the sea’s vastness.
The Isle’s landscape features prominently in his correspondences. Writing to his friend John Hamilton Reynolds, Keats described the picturesque blend of sloping woodlands and meadow grounds surrounding Shanklin. He noted the striking views of St Catherine’s Hill and the pastoral scenes of sheep grazing in meadows alongside cows in cornfields.
Yesterday I went to Shanklin, which occasioned a great debate in my Mind whether I should live there or at Carisbrooke. Shanklin is a most beautiful place – sloping wood and meadow ground reaches round the Chine, which is a cleft between the Cliffs of the depth of nearly 300 feet at least. This cleft is filled with trees & bushes in the narrow parts; and as it widens bedomes bare, if it were not for primroses on one side, which spread to the very verge of the Sea, and some fishermen’s huts on the other, perched midway in the Ballustrades of beautiful green Hedges along their steps down to the sands. – But the sea, Jack, the sea – the little waterfall – then the white cliff – then St. Catherin’s Hill – “the sheep in the meadows, the cows in the corn.
John Keats
During his Island sojourn, Keats embarked upon his ambitious 4,000-line poem “Endymion”. Despite the inspiring surroundings, he struggled with anxiety and depression while working on this challenging project. Though the majestic seascapes moved him deeply, he departed before completing the work.
The physical settings that influenced Keats remain essentially unchanged:
Key Locations
- Shanklin Chine
- Carisbrooke Castle
- St Catherine’s Hill
- White cliffs
- Coastal caverns
Natural Features
- Ancient woodlands
- Rolling meadows
- Sandy beaches
- Green hedgerows
- Small waterfalls
The poet’s presence endures through commemorative sites such as Keats Green. His brief yet productive time on the Isle of Wight exemplifies the area’s ability to inspire artistic greatness, cementing its place in Britain’s cultural heritage.
On The Sea
It keeps eternal whisperings around
Desolate shores, and with its mighty swell
Gluts twice ten thousand Caverns, till the spell
Of Hecate leaves them their old shadowy sound.
Often ’tis in such gentle temper found,
That scarcely will the very smallest shell
Be moved for days from where it sometime fell.
When last the winds of Heaven were unbound.
Oh, ye! who have your eyeballs vexed and tired,
Feast them upon the wideness of the Sea;
Oh ye! whose ears are dinned with uproar rude,
Or fed too much with cloying melody—
Sit ye near some old Cavern’s Mouth and brood,
Until ye start, as if the sea nymphs quired!By John Keats 1795-1821
