Keats' grave and House

While in Europe, I've decided to keep this blog poetry-related and post my other photos and things to nathanandcassidy.tumblr.com

In Rome, though, we did have the chance to visit Keats' grave, and Shelley's grave, as well as the house where Keats died, which is now a museum for Keats and friends.

The graves were located in the Old Protestant Graveyard in Rome, easily found since it's located by a huge pyramid. Keats' grave is found in the corner of the cemetery. It shows a lyre and is not inscribed with his name or age. It instead reads "Young English Poet" along with the line "Here Lies One Whose Name Was Writ In Water."

The place was filled with sprawling cats. A lot of these old ruins and cemeteries seem to double as cat sanctuaries. Shelley's grave was located in the middle of the cemetery below a stone tower. The inscription struck me as riddlic and stayed with me a while after leaving the cemetery.

We visited Keats' House a few days later, after coming across it by chance. It's located right beside the Spanish Steps, which Keats' liked to look at while he was ill in bed. The rooms of the apartment look out onto the steps and the chatter of tourists is heard amidst ringing of bells.

The house contained much miscellany on Keats, Shelley, Mary Shelley, Byron, and even poems by Thomas Hardy and Oscar Wilde all concerning Rome and Keats. Keats and Shelley traded locks of hair, which were on display, and there was also a lock of MIlton's hair, which Keats had apparently prized. The many bookshelves housed first editions of Keats' work and there were letters from everyone in his circle. Some of the coolest things found were a wax carnival mask belonging to Keats, and a piece of Shelley's rib as well as the tin that held the incense used in his cremation. There was also a painting of Shelley composing a poem in the Carcalla Baths, which I found amazing since I had visited those same baths that morning (but composed no poem therein). The museum provided plenty of information on Keats' home life and his struggles with negative reviews of his first works. It is insane to think that Keats was only 25 when he died and is easily considered one of the greatest poets. Yet his grave lies in a lonely corner of a graveyard all the same..