Keats

Every so often, you need a sojourn. Sometimes you need to connect with something greater than yourself for inspiration. Keats is one of the romantic poets that seems simpler, sweeter, more apart than the others. I sought him out in Rome.

The house where he spent his last days sits by the Spanish steps. He had gone there to try to seek out a better climate than England's for his tuberculosis, but he did not survive.

The memorial is now referred to as the Keats-Shelley Memorial. Shelley also spent his last days in Italy.

As you enter the house, you wind around a staircase and go up and up until you reach the appointed door. You come out into a foyer, then enter a library filled with books and memorabilia. In typical romantic fashion, they have locks of the poets' hair and Keats's death mask.

In the room where Keats died, you can see the fireplace across from the bed that threw the shadow of Keats on the wall. The image was captured by Joseph Sevren as he kept watch.

There are flowers on the ceiling. Keats said he could "already see the flowers growing over him."

It was haunting to hear the sounds of the fountain and the people outside the open windows. With little to no cars outside, the sounds there today are very much the same as the ones Keats would've heard there.

Visit the Keats-Shelley Memorial's website...

And see "Bright Star's" trailer - a stunning film about the love of Keats and Fanny Brawne.