Last week our Lower Sixth English pupils enjoyed a trip to Keats House, Wentworth Place in Hampstead.
Keats House was the home of John Keats from December 1818 until he left for Rome in August 1820. It was at Wentworth Place that Keats composed his mysterious and magical lyric ‘La Belle Dame sans Merci’, finished his wonderful narrative poem ‘The Eve of St Agnes’, and wrote his great odes of spring 1819 including ‘Ode to a Nightingale’.
Now over two hundred years old, Keats House has always welcomed poets; Keats was visited by his poet-friends John Hamilton Reynolds, Leigh Hunt, and Barry Cornwall. Keats also fell in love with his ‘bright star’ Fanny Brawne at Wentworth Place.
Year 12 English students are currently studying the poetry of John Keats and they had the opportunity to spend an afternoon in the house. The group attended a talk from a Keats expert, had a guided tour of the house and saw artefacts from Keats’ life including padded pliers Keats used to extract teeth when he worked as a surgeon, and a ring he gave to his fiancé which she wore for the rest of her life after his death.
“The trip provided us with insight into Keats’ life including his time working as a surgeon, his career as a poet and his illness with tuberculosis. Seeing the space where Keats wrote and lived proved to be very interesting and will really help to inform our analysis of his poems later in the course.”Pravani, Year 12 pupil
