The Chained Muse is proud to have been part of the John Keats bicentenary celebration that took place at Concordia University in Montreal. May 2019 marks 200 years since the miracle year of 1819 in which Keats composed his five Great Odes. The following remarks were delivered by the poet Daniel Leach as a condensed version of his article, "Keats Great Odes and the Sublime".
Included in this keynote presentation is a discussion of the sublime and the personal struggle and philosophical paradoxes that Keats had to wrestle with in order to reach the summit of his creative career. In order to communicate the kind of passion Keats must have necessarily experienced, Mr. Leach offers up a classical recitation of Keats' famous "When I Have Fears" followed by "Ode to a Nightingale" shortly after.
Read the full version of Leach's article "Keats' Great Odes and the Sublime" here, and stay tuned for many more Keats-inspired productions and poetry throughout the month of May.