"THE EXCESS IN KEATS' WORK DETRACTS FROM THE EFFECTIVENESS OF HIS IDEAS. DO YOU AGREE?" John Keats was a Romantic poet of the 19th century. As a 'Romantic', his desire was, through his poetry, to convey a vision that encompassed all experiences good and bad, transient and eternal. He believed his work should not be read as a quiet pastime, but instead, indulged in as an experience of such intensity, that the reader imagined his …showed first 75 words of 1935 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1935 total…and all the joy and sorrow associated with these conditions. Keats' brilliance in using excess to 'attract' rather than 'detract' from his ideas, gives the reader a greater appreciation of not only his work, but also John Keats, the man and the poet. It could not be better expressed than that said by Keats himself in a letter to his brothers in December, 1817, where he stated, '...the excellence of every art is its intensity'.