Keats, John

The English poet John Keats was born in London. His father, who was stable manager at the Swan and Hoop Inn, died in an accident when his son was eight years old. When his mother remarried, Keats and his three younger siblings went to live with their maternal grandfather. Their mother died six years after the father, and Keats became responsible for his siblings. One of his teachers realised he was a gifted child and encouraged his intellectual pursuits. Keats trained as a surgeon at Guy's Hospital, but he abandoned his medical career in order to write poetry. Keats had stayed in contact with his teacher after he left school, and followed his advice to read the radical Examiner, edited by Leigh Hunt who became important for his political and literary education. Keats often visited Hunt at his home, which gave him a sense of family. Through Hunt he became acquainted with Percy Bysshe Shelley, who later supported him in his literary career.