{"id":2195,"date":"2020-03-28T00:00:50","date_gmt":"2020-03-28T00:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vaticantour.com\/blog\/?p=2195"},"modified":"2020-03-28T06:51:50","modified_gmt":"2020-03-28T06:51:50","slug":"a-poets-paradise-rome-and-the-english-poets","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vaticantour.com\/blog\/a-poets-paradise-rome-and-the-english-poets","title":{"rendered":"A Poet\u2019s Paradise \u2013 Rome and the English Poets"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Rome,\nVatican City, the Trevi Fountain, Saint Peter\u2019s Square \u2013 the  old-world charm ofthe Eternal City  appeals to the inner creative spirit.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOh,\nRome! my country! city of the soul!\u201d remarked Lord Byron about the city. Artist\nGiotto di Bondone referred to Rome as “the city of echoes, the city of\nillusions, and the city of yearning.”<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

You aren\u2019t the only one moved by the soul-stirring grandeur of Rome. Poets for centuries have been writing odes to the city and its beauty. Many have made it their home. Rome has a special place in English poetry. Yes, the English poets have travelled to Rome time and again and composed countless poems and verses in its name. You can sign up for the best family tours in Rome<\/a> <\/strong>to explore this celebrated city in all its glory.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is\na small history of Rome and English poetry:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Keats<\/span><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

John\nKeats, the young Romantic poet, moved to Rome in 1820 for a change of air. He\nwas suffering from a severe form of tuberculosis and he needed to recuperate in\na city with warmer weather than London, as advised by doctors. Rome was the\ncity of his choice.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

His\nhealth deteriorated and he died at the young age of 24 in what is today known\nas the Keats and Shelly House, near the Spanish Steps. Legend has it that he\nwas in the process of composing poetry on Rome but he succumbed to his\nillnesses before he could do so. The Keats\u2013Shelley Memorial is dedicated mainly\nto these two great poets, as well as to Byron, Wordsworth, Robert Browning, Elizabeth\nBarrett Browning, Oscar Wilde, housing an expansive collection of letters,\nmemorabilia and manuscripts belonging to the two.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shelley<\/span><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Percy\nBysshe Shelley, Keats\u2019 contemporary, also visited the Eternal City to soak in\nits balmy atmosphere and get inspiredby the grandeur of attractions like the\nColosseum and the Baths of Caracalla. He spent his time among the ruins of the\nancient monuments composing his masterpiece \u2018Prometheus Unbound\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though\nShelley moved out of Rome after his infant son passed away, he wrote about the\ncity in his elegy to Keats, urging readers to \u2018go thou to Rome\u2019. Both Keats and\nShelley are buried in the Protestant Cemetery by the Pyramid of Cestius.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Byron<\/span><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Lord\nByron, who lived for a longer period in Pisa and Venice, did spend enough time\nin Rome to translate his admiration for the Eternal City into poetry. In his\nfamous poem \u2018Childe Harold\u2019s Pilgrimage\u2019, Byron praised Rome to be the \u2018city of\nthe soul\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of Rome\u2019s\ncultural trajectory, Byron writes, in no less terms than these \u2013 \u2018\u2018First\nFreedom, and then Glory…barbarism at last.\u2019\u2019 However, others, like the 19th\ncentury English poet Samuel Rogers, feel that Rome \u2018\u2018Still o\u2019er the mind\nmaintains, from age to age, \/ Her empire undiminished.\u2019\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/span><\/p><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There\nare many modern poets too who have written about Rome, on a broad range of\nthemes spanning from its mythology to its weather. All have been inspired and\ninfluenced heavily by Rome\u2019s vivid beauty and its rich and unparalleled\nhistorical legacy. Shakespeare himself could not get enough of writing about\nRoman life.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is no surprise then that the great poets mentioned above were also enamored by Rome\u2019s serenity and they came to live in this great city and partake of its tradition and culture. You too can visit the Eternal City and dive deep into its poetry with our unparalleled Vatican Tours<\/a><\/strong>. Who would not like to have the experience, however short, of having lived in Rome?<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

READ ALSO OUR NEW UPDATES<\/span><\/h3>\n\n\n\n