Book of the Heart: The Poetics, Letters, and Life of John Keats

by Andrés Rodríguez

Keats stands as a prophetic precursor behind much in today's radical attempts at cultural and self-transformation.In this book, Rodriguez explores Keats's letters, one of the most moving and inspiring spiritual treasures of the West. We see the poet as a hero of the heart, transforming a passionate life of great joys and sorrows into a self of imagination and power. Book of the Heart grasps the core of Keats's poetical practice of life, uncovering the path of inner development the Letters reveal.

Genres: Poetry

240 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 1993

Reviews

[Mark Bennett]

Had just screened Jane Campion's film "Bright Star" and I couldn't resist. Before I engaged Keats I read Rodriguez's stirring study of Keats's poetics.

The letters oh so revealing. The ending of the book, in fact the last sentence, says it all:

"The real sympathesis, the true healing among us, is love, which is the presence of the Whole Heart. Heart is everything."

If you read Rodriguez you will be unable to avoid an immersion in Keats.

[Kenzie]

The book functions both as a biography of Keats and a story of a person in the process of "the Great Work," the forging of a soul/identity. Not only was Keats a great poet, he also had remarkable things to say in his letters about death, love, beauty, and salvation.

I gave it four stars instead of five because I felt that some chapters had less to offer than others.