A Month with Keats: A Walk into His Life

We’re standing on the sidewalk outside the Hampstead tube station north London, right on the southern edge of Hampstead Heath. We’ve taken the tube from near our hotel in Westminster to the Embankment station, and changed to the Northern line. We find ourselves this busy Saturday morning at the major crossroads of Hampstead – the intersection of Hampstead High Street and Rosslyn Hill.

We’re waiting for John Keats.

Portrait of John Keats by Joseph Severn, 1816.

More precisely, we’re waiting for Anita Miller, our guide for the monthly Keats Walk in Hampstead. We booked our tickets online through what is today the John Keats House (also known as the Wentworth House) in Hampstead. The tour will end at the house, but we have about two hours of walking, stopping and listening before we arrive at the house. My wife would want me to point out that it’s less a walk and more a hike – Hampstead and the Heath are hilly, and some areas are more suitable for mountain goats.

Our group is eclectic, with one exception – most of the 12 of us are female. I’m one of two men, and the other looks like he’s come along at his girlfriend’s request. Our ages range from high school to Baby Boomer.

To continue reading, please see my post today at Tweetspeak Poetry.

Photograph: Hampstead Tube Station in north London.