I was in school when I was introduced to this marvel called John Keats and since then I have been a fan. Initially I only read his sonnets but eventually I ventured into his Odes and they are my favourite ever since. For instance, 'Ode To a Nightingale' is inspired by Keats' life experiences - hospital work, Tom's death, despair, and love for Fanny Brawne – but it also goes beyond them to reveal universal truth.

Critics have talked about literary works, particularly Burton's 'Anatomy of Melancholy,' are the primary inspiration for 'Ode to Melancholy.' It addresses Keats' fear that the joys of life are made more pleasant by the knowledge that they will pass:'she dwells in beauty – beauty that must perish.'

Later that year, during a brief visit in Winchester, he wrote 'To Autumn.' The season was full of promise, but it was coming to an end; the last verse ushers in the frost of winter. This well-known poem is possibly Keats' pinnacle achievement: poised but tormented. It comes very near the end of his short writing life: soon tuberculosis began to take effect and, in a vain attempt to halt the disease, he travelled to Rome where he died in 1821. At the end of his last known letter (to his friend Charles Brown) he wrote ‘I can scarcely bid you good-bye, even in a letter. I always made an awkward bow. God bless you! John Keats.’