The Bicentenary of the Death of Keats

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Keats-Shelley House

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Exactly 200 years ago, on February 23rd 1821, the young English poet John Keats  died in Rome. He was only twenty-five years old.   

At the time of his death, Keats and his good friend Joseph Severn were living in a house next to the Spanish Steps. There is a plaque on the wall of the house next to the room in which he died. Keats is buried in what is commonly called the Cimitero degli Inglesi (English Cemetery). 

​Both the plaque and his tombstone record the date of his death as February 24th. Keats died an hour or so before midnight on February 23rd, but it was then the practise in Rome for a new day to start shortly after sunset (and evening prayers), hence the date February 24th.

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Grave of John Keats

Plaque to Keats