John Keats

John Keats - fact Summary

Attack on the Quarterly Review

Byron’s short poem satirically blames contemporary critics for the figurative ‘‘murder’’ of John Keats, naming the Quarterly Review and individual reviewers like Milman, Southey, and Barrow. It registers Byron’s anger at hostile literary criticism and presents critical review as a public, violent act against a poet’s reputation. The tone is concise and accusatory, using mock-questioning to expose what Byron saw as unjust critical aggression.