John Keats

On Peace

O Peace! and dost thou with thy presence bless
The dwellings of this war-surrounded Isle;
Soothing with placid brow our late distress,

Triple Kingdom

England, Scotland, and Ireland—the United Kingdom after the 1801 Act of Union. Keats is writing in the immediate aftermath of political consolidation.

Making the triple Kingdom brightly smile?
Joyful I hail thy presence; and I hail
The sweet companions that await on thee;
Complete my joy—let not my first wish fail,
Let the sweet mountain nymph thy favorite be,

Mountain nymph

Liberty personified. The phrase echoes Milton's "L'Allegro" where the mountain nymph is Liberty herself—Keats wants Peace and Liberty together.

With England's happiness proclaim Europa's liberty.

Sceptred Tyrants

Napoleon was defeated in 1814, but the Congress of Vienna was restoring absolute monarchs across Europe. Keats fears Europe will return to pre-revolutionary tyranny.

O Europe! let not sceptred Tyrants see
That thou must shelter in thy former state;
Keep thy chains burst, and boldly say thou art free;
Give thy Kings law—leave not uncurbed the (great?)

Give thy Kings law

Constitutional monarchy—make kings subject to law, not above it. This is radical politics in 1814 when monarchs were being restored with full power.

So with the honors past thou'lt win thy happier fate!
Source Wikipedia Poetry Foundation

Reading Notes

Writing Peace in 1814

CONTEXT Keats wrote this at age 18-19, likely in 1814 when Napoleon abdicated and Europe celebrated the end of the Napoleonic Wars. But the Congress of Vienna was simultaneously restoring the old monarchies that the French Revolution had toppled. The poem's tension—celebrating peace while warning against tyranny—reflects this moment when victory over Napoleon threatened to undo revolutionary gains.

The "war-surrounded Isle" is Britain, which had been fighting France for over twenty years. "Late distress" refers to the immediate past—the wars just ended. But Keats immediately pivots from celebrating Britain's peace to worrying about Europe's future. The second half of the poem is pure anxiety: don't let the tyrants return, don't go back to your "former state," keep your "chains burst."

Notice the poem repeats itself entirely—the same fourteen lines twice. This isn't a copying error; early Keats sometimes doubled sonnets to make 28-line poems. The repetition hammers home his urgent message: peace without liberty is worthless.

Constitutional Monarchy vs. Absolute Rule

"Give thy Kings law—leave not uncurbed the (great?)" is the poem's political core. Keats wants constitutional monarchy where kings are bound by law, not absolute monarchy where they rule by divine right. The parenthetical (great?) suggests textual uncertainty—possibly "great" meaning the powerful aristocracy, or the line may be corrupted.

This was dangerous politics in 1814. The Congress of Vienna was restoring Louis XVIII to France, Ferdinand VII to Spain, and absolute monarchs across Europe. Keats is essentially saying: you just fought a war, don't waste it by bringing back tyranny. For a teenage poet, this is bold.

The phrase "shelter in thy former state" means retreating to pre-revolutionary conditions. Keats fears Europe will seek safety in old hierarchies rather than embrace the liberty it briefly tasted. His command—"boldly say thou art free"—asks for courage Europe may not have.