The Sacrosanct Status of the Graves of Keats and Shelley in the Twentieth Century

ABSTRACT The sacrosanct status of the graves of John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley in Rome was acknowledged in formal decisions taken in the 1880s and 1890s. In the twentieth century, their depictions in art and literature differed from those of the previous century. Requests ‘to be buried near the poets’ in this active cemetery have affected Shelley’s grave more than Keats’s. It was rather the latter’s condition following WWII bombing of the cemetery that the press unfairly criticized. Reinforced by regular commemoration ceremonies, the continuing sanctity of the poets’ graves has survived despite various attempts to ‘improve’ them.