{"id":1617,"date":"2021-04-21T15:25:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-21T14:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/?post_type=phernalia&p=1617"},"modified":"2021-05-25T15:35:53","modified_gmt":"2021-05-25T14:35:53","slug":"new-phoenix-wings","status":"publish","type":"phernalia","link":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/","title":{"rendered":"Give me new Phoenix Wings to fly at my desire"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Sir Jonathan Bate<\/strong><\/h4>

When John Keats was feeling lonely and unwell in rented accommodation on the Isle of Wight, he was delighted to find an engraved portrait of Shakespeare in the hallway. His landlady kindly let him take it away when he left. You can just make it out on the wall of his Hampstead home in his friend Joseph Severn\u2019s portrait of the poet reading, with the door to the garden ajar, as if to let in the song of the nightingale. I am sure that he is imagined to be reading Shakespeare.<\/p>

In one of his letters from the Isle of Wight, Keats wrote to another friend, the manic depressive painter Benjamin Robert Haydon:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tI remember your saying that you had notions of a good Genius presiding over you. I have of late had the same thought, for things which I do half at Random are afterwards confirmed by my judgment in a dozen features of Propriety. Is it too daring to fancy Shakspeare this Presider?\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Keats went on to hope that the landlady giving him the portrait of Shakespeare was a good omen. Then he dipped into gloom: I am glad you say every man of great views is at times tormented as I am. <\/i>But Shakespeare was his solace in such times of torment. A little earlier, he had written to his brothers: I felt rather lonely this Morning at breakfast so I went and unbox\u2019d a Shakspeare\u2014\u2018there\u2019s my Comfort\u2019.<\/i> The quotation is from Caliban in The Tempest<\/i>; his comfort was alcohol, whereas for Keats it was Shakespeare.<\/p>

One day when I was a graduate student at Harvard, I went into the Houghton Library and unboxed the very Shakespeare to which Keats was referring. His own copy of a multi-volume pocket edition, printed in Chiswick in 1814. I traced my hand over his underlinings and marginal annotations. I especially liked the last page of the text of A Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/i>. Fie<\/i>, he had written, as he inked out Dr Johnson\u2019s lukewarm comment on the play. And Such tricks hath <\/i>weak<\/i><\/span> imagination<\/i>. At that moment, I saw the theme of my doctoral dissertation: a riposte to Harold Bloom\u2019s idea of the \u2018anxiety of influence\u2019, with working title Strong Imagination: The Consolation of Influence in Romantic Shakespeare<\/i>.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Keats\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Back in England the following year, I went on a wintry day to Keats\u2019s house in Hampstead. I put on the white gloves provided by the curator and opened Keats\u2019s other copy of Shakespeare. Harvard had the boxed edition, but this was a greater prize: John Keats\u2019s facsimile of the First Folio itself. There was a blank half-page at the end of Hamlet<\/i>, opposite the beginning of King Lear<\/i>. He had filled it with a poem called \u2018On sitting down to read King Lear once again\u2019.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

I understood the idea of a compulsion to re<\/i>-read Shakespeare\u2019s darkest play. For Keats, life was indeed, as he wrote in the poem, a fierce dispute betwixt Damnation and impassion\u2019d clay<\/i>. Bitter-sweet <\/i>as the Shakspearean fruit <\/i>of Lear\u2019s descent into madness inevitably was, the experience of re-reading the play gave him comfort. It turned the embers of his own sorrows to new fire, new creativity, new hope:<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\tGive me new Phoenix Wings to fly at my desire.\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/blockquote>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

\n\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Sir Jonathan Bate
<\/strong>21st April 2021
<\/strong><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In his facsimile First Folio copy, John Keats wrote a poem in the half-page space between the end of Hamlet and the beginning of King Lear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":1620,"menu_order":0,"template":"","phernalia_types":[12],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nGive me new Phoenix Wings to fly at my desire » Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Give me new Phoenix Wings to fly at my desire » Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In his facsimile First Folio copy, John Keats wrote a poem in the half-page space between the end of Hamlet and the beginning of King Lear.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-05-25T14:35:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keats_Lear3_cropped.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"452\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"445\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Estimated reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/\",\"name\":\"Give me new Phoenix Wings to fly at my desire » Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keats_Lear3_cropped.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2021-04-21T14:25:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-05-25T14:35:53+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keats_Lear3_cropped.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keats_Lear3_cropped.jpg\",\"width\":452,\"height\":445,\"caption\":\"Keats Poem - King Lear\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Phernalia\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Give me new Phoenix Wings to fly at my desire\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/\",\"name\":\"Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare\",\"description\":\"A celebration of the 400th anniversary of the printing of Shakespeare's first Folio in 1623\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Folio400\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-GB\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/folio-banner_02.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/folio-banner_02.jpg\",\"width\":1210,\"height\":263,\"caption\":\"Folio400\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Give me new Phoenix Wings to fly at my desire » Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/","og_locale":"en_GB","og_type":"article","og_title":"Give me new Phoenix Wings to fly at my desire » Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare","og_description":"In his facsimile First Folio copy, John Keats wrote a poem in the half-page space between the end of Hamlet and the beginning of King Lear.","og_url":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/","og_site_name":"Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare","article_modified_time":"2021-05-25T14:35:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":452,"height":445,"url":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keats_Lear3_cropped.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Estimated reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/","url":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/","name":"Give me new Phoenix Wings to fly at my desire » Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keats_Lear3_cropped.jpg","datePublished":"2021-04-21T14:25:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-05-25T14:35:53+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-GB","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keats_Lear3_cropped.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/Keats_Lear3_cropped.jpg","width":452,"height":445,"caption":"Keats Poem - King Lear"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/new-phoenix-wings\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Phernalia","item":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/phernalia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Give me new Phoenix Wings to fly at my desire"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/","name":"Folio 400 - Printing Shakespeare","description":"A celebration of the 400th anniversary of the printing of Shakespeare's first Folio in 1623","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-GB"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#organization","name":"Folio400","url":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-GB","@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/folio-banner_02.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/03\/folio-banner_02.jpg","width":1210,"height":263,"caption":"Folio400"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/phernalia\/1617"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/phernalia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/phernalia"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/phernalia\/1617\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1620"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1617"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"phernalia_types","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/folio400.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/phernalia_types?post=1617"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}