First of all, it should be remembered that his differentia is love of beauty. While Wordsworth worshipped Nature, Keats worships Beauty, wherever he finds it: Beauty of Nature; the Beauty of women, the Beauty of art and literature, all equally captivate and charm his heart.

He is the most sensuous of English poets. As Arnold puts it, “he is abundantly and enchantingly sensuous. The sights and sounds, the fragrance and the delicacies, and the colours of nature, thrill his body and soul and excite his imagination to creative activity. His sensuousness is universal He likes to luxuriate long over the loveliness of female anatomy.

As he himself once wrote, tie loved the principle of Beauty in all things. It is not sensuous beauty alone that he loves, but also the beauty of a higher kind. As his powers matured he could identify Beauty with Truth, and later on with power as well. With him a thing of beauty is a joy for ever. This is one of the secrets of his greatness. In his over-mastering passion for beauty, Keats stands along among English poets.