V : Winchester and John Keats
John Keats , a member of the second generation of the Romantics , displayed sympathies for the Wartonian side . In his early ‘ Sleep and Poetry ’ ( 1816 ) he denigrated the school of Pope , thus unfortunately attracting the animosity of Byron . ‘ On First Looking into Chapman ’ s Homer ’ ( composed the same year ) is thought to be indebted to Bowles , with what one critic has called its “ performative play of historical perspectives that mediate between the past , the present , and the future ”.
In his ‘ Journal ’ letter to George and Georgiana Keats , written in September 1819 , Keats described his daily routine :
“ Now the time is beautiful . I take a walk every day for an hour before dinner and this is generally my walk – I go out at the back gate across one street , into the Cathedral yard , which is always interesting ; then I pass under the trees along a paved path , pass the beautiful front of the Cathedral , turn to the left under a stone door way – then I am on the other side of the building – which leaving behind me I pass on through two college-like squares seemingly built for the dwelling
place of Deans and Prebendaries – garnished with grass and shaded with trees . Then I pass through one of the old city gates and then you are in one College-Street through which I pass and at the end thereof crossing some meadows and at last a country alley of gardens I arrive , that is , my worship arrives at the foundation of Saint Cross , which is a very interesting old place , both for its gothic tower and alms-square and for the appropriation of its rich rents to a relation of the Bishop of Winchester – Then I pass across St Cross meadows till you come to the most beautifully clear river .”
St John ’ s House and The Broadway , by George Shepherd .
In 1818 , Keats had nursed his brother Tom until his death on 1st December . The poet ’ s own health was good until September 1818 . The first symptoms of TB appeared that autumn , and , as a qualified physician , he could not fail to recognise them . His sore throats were indications of the tuberculosis which were to take away his two brothers , his mother , and his uncle .
His health deteriorating , Keats arrived in Winchester in August 1819 . He lodged either in the High Street or at a junction of Colebrook Street and Paternoster Row . His Winchester surroundings were “ beautifully wooded ”; the air was worth “ sixpence a pint ”, and the city altogether represented “ the pleasantest town I ever was in ”.
Kingsgate , by George Shepherd . Winchester Cathedral , engraving by B . Winkles after H . Browne .
The Square , by George Shepherd .
St Michael ’ s Church from Culver Close , by George Shepherd .
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