TRAGIC ENDINGS
Gone Too Soon: The Tragic Endings of Three Romantic Poets
The sad fates of famous romantic poets
There is something truly enchanting about reading Romantic poetry; as we immerse ourselves in a few verses, it feels like we’ve transported to a new realm where nature whispers its secrets to us, deep emotions are evoked within us, and our imagination takes a new flight. And this is exactly what happens when we read the poems of Keats, Shelley, and Byron. Whenever we read their poems, we feel like we’ve entered into a world where truth and nature blend, where our imagination elevates, and where our souls find solace in the embrace of their poetic words that deeply touch us.
However, beneath the surface of their timeless works lies a dark reality of their tragic deaths. While reading this article, you would be really surprised to know that three of the most influential romantic poets, Keats, Shelley, and Byron, met with tragic ends and died at an alarmingly young age.
John Keats
“A thing of beauty is a joy forever; its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness”.
This is the famous line by one of the most celebrated poets in the history of English literature, John Keats. Leaving his medicine career aside, he decided to follow his heartfelt passion for poetry. He was drawn towards the beauty of poetry, and he wrote poetry on Beauty: “Beauty is truth, truth beauty, — that is all/ Ye know on earth, and all ye need to know.”
As a romantic poet, Keats poured his soul into his poems and used his imagination to celebrate the beauty in all forms of nature, art, and human emotions. Unfortunately, this romantic poet succumbed to tuberculosis and left for the heavenly abode at the tender age of just 25 on February 23rd, 1821.
Keats was not widely recognised as a poet during his lifetime; he gained fame after his death. This lack of recognition, along with personal hardships and deteriorating health, further contributed to his sufferings.
During his last days on his deathbed in Rome, Keats spoke his final words to his friend Joseph Severn:
“Severn — I — lift me up — I am dying — I shall die easy; don’t be frightened — be firm, and thank God it has come.”
Keats feared that he would never be recognised, that his works would be forgotten, and that his identity as a poet would fade into oblivion. He accepted this and made peace with his fate. His last request was that the epitaph on his tombstone should carry no name or date but only the words, “Here lies One whose Name was writ in Water.”
However, his friends, Joseph Severn and Charles Brown, knew of his struggles and the painful life he had endured. They decided to alter the epitaph on his tombstone by adding a few more phrases. The addition to Keats’s gravestone was intended to remind future generations of the pain and suffering that marked John Keats’s life.
Inscription on Keats’s Tombstone:
“This Grave/ contains all that was Mortal,/ of a/ Young English Poet,/ who,/ on his Death Bed,/ in the bitterness of his Heart,/ at the Malicious Power of his Enemies,/ Desired/ these Words to be engraven on his Tomb Stone/
“Here Lies One Whose Name Was Writ In Water.”’
It has been over 200 years, and we now know that Keats was mistaken about his unworthiness. Today, people across the globe admire him and thousands of his fans visit his tomb each year to pay tribute to him. Keats has undoubtedly become one of the most beloved poets of all times.
Percy Bysshe Shelley
Much like John Keats, PB Shelley found fame after his death. Famous for his revolutionary fervour, Shelley was driven by deep sense of justice and boundless imagination. Due to his political views, atheism and radical ideas, he faced backlash and criticism from the public. Shelley was expelled from the University College, Oxford for writing a pamphlet The Necessity of Atheism. After his unorthodox second marriage with Mary Godwin, Shelley was further placed in conflict with society.
Just a month before his thirtieth birthday, Shelley died tragically in a drowning boat accident on July 8th, 1822. While he was sailing his boat, the Don Juan, in Italy, an intense storm struck, and the ship sank in the sea. Shelley, along with his two companions, drowned in the sea. It took ten days for their badly decomposed bodies to reach the shore.
Poetry is a mirror which makes beautiful that which is distorted.
In his essay A Defence of Poetry, Shelley wrote this line to express that, just like a mirror, poetry reflects the world with all its imperfections. However, in its reflection, poetry has the power to transform the distorted image, making it look more beautiful and richer.
Just like this quote, the tragic and sudden death of Shelley is reflected in the poetic epitaph on his tomb. Although it reflects the harsh reality of his passing, the use of “Ariel’s Song” from Shakespeare’s The Tempest as the epitaph for his gravestone adds a touch of poetic grace to his death.
Epitaph on Percy Shelley’s Gravestone:
Nothing of him that doth fade
But doth suffer a sea change
Into something rich and strange.
Lord Byron
The most scandalous of all romantic poets, Lord Byron has been a public figure of fame and controversies throughout his lifetime. With the publication of just the first two cantos of Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage, Byron gained fame overnight.
However, with popularity, also came scandals and controversies. He gained notoriety and backlash for his private life which included his immoral behaviour, debauchery, incestuous relationship with his half- sister, sexual promiscuity and liberal ideas. Nevertheless, his fierce writings and rebellious spirit inspired and intrigued his readers.
At the age of 35, Byron became actively involved in the Greek War of Independence against the Ottoman Empire. He supported the Greeks and provided financial assistance to them. He wrote in favour of Greeks and used his fame to raise funds, recruit soldiers, and provide necessary supplies to the Greek forces.
However, tragically Byron’s health deteriorated with a fever and he died on April 19th, 1824, at the age of 36. His death was mourned across Europe, especially amongst Greeks who hailed Byron as their hero.
Before dying, Byron said his last words on his deathbed:
“Come, come, no weakness! Let’s be a man to the last!”/“Now, I shall go to sleep.”
After his death, some controversies arose regarding his burial. Much against Greeks’ wish to have some part of their hero with him, Byron’s body was brought back to England for burial in Westminster Abbey amongst revered writers and poets. According to some resources, his heart may have been buried at Missolonghi in Greece and his rest of the body would have been brought to England.
However, his reputation in England was such that no one wanted him and Westminster Abbey denied his burial due to his “questionable morality”. After much resistances, Byron was finally buried at the Church of St. Mary Magdalene in Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, England.
Since his tomb bears no memorial, a marble slab was donated for his tomb by the King of Greece in 1881, which bears a quote from his poem, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage:
But there is that within me which shall tire
Torture and Time, and breathe when I expire;
Well, this is how the famous Romantic poets met their untimely ends. But, despite the tragic deaths of Keats, Shelley, and Byron, their poetry continues to live as a testament to their endless legacy. They left a lasting impact on the world with their timeless poetry, and their poems still continue to inspire and captivate readers.
