Wish you were here – Keats’ inspired poems on the London Underground

If you’re able to travel by tube train, look out for poems on the Underground by, and about the Romantic poet, John Keats, who died 200 years ago today.

Two station displays have also been unveiled in Hampstead, where Keats lived, and at London Bridge, where he studied, to showcase his poetry. The new collection of poems will be showcased in Tube and Overground carriages for a number of weeks and the station displays will be up for a year, giving us more time to see them when the lockdown finally ends.

Alternatively, the poems are also on the Poems On the Underground website.

(c) TfL

The collection of poems focuses on a range of themes related to nature, and features the poems “Endymion” and “When I have fears that I may cease to be” by John Keats, “Adonais” by Percy Bysshe Shelley, “Wish You Were Here“ by Julia Fiedorczuk, “rising” by Jean ‘Binta’ Breeze and “I go inside the tree” by Jo Shapcott.

Judith Chernaik, a writer who helped select the poems, says: “Keats wrote that he was convinced of one thing only: ‘the holiness of the heart’s affections and the truth of imagination.’ His words seem especially meaningful during this difficult time. We are delighted to be able to share his poems with the travelling public.”

In addition, Keats House, his home-museum in Hampstead is also hosting a number of 200th-anniversary events.