dy been sufficiently debated.

Indefiniteness of literary aim must be assessed in relation to a man's
faculties, and in especial to his age and experience. A beginner is
naturally indefinite in aim, in the sense that he tries his hand at
various things, and only after making several experiments does he learn
which things he can manage well, and which less than well. Keats, in his
first two volumes, was but a beginner, and a youthful beginner. If they
show indefiniteness of aim--though indeed they hardly _do_ show that in
any marked degree--one cannot regard the fact as derogatory to the
author. With his third volume, he was getting some assurance of the
direction in which his power lay. It is certainly true that, after
producing one epic (if such it can be called), "Endymion," and after
commencing another, "Hyperion," he laid the second aside, for whatever
reason; partly, it would seem, because the harsh reception of "Endymion"
discouraged him, and partly because he considered the turn of diction
too obviously Miltonic; and no doubt, as his mood varied, he must have
expressed to Haydon very divergent opinions as to the expediency of
writing epics. But, apart from this special matter, the third volume
shows no uncertainty or infirmity of purpose. It contains three
narrative poems--"Isabella," "The Eve of St. Agnes," and "Lamia"--some
odes, and a few minor lyrics. The very fact that he continued writing
poetry so persistently, maugre _Blackwood's Magazine_ and _The Quarterly
Review_, speaks to some decision of character and power of will in
literary matters; and the immense advance in executive force tells the
same tale aboundingly. Therefore, while laying great stress upon
Haydon's view so far as it concerns certain shifting currents of thought
and of talk, I cannot find that Keats is fairly open to the charge of
want of decision or of will in the literary relation. Then as to the
larger question of his character generally, Keats appears to me to have
been eminently wilful, and somewhat wayward to boot. He had the
temperament of a man of genius, liable to sudden and sharp impressions,
and apt to go considerable lengths at the beck of an impulse, or even of
a caprice. Wilfulness along with waywardness is certainly not quite the
same thing as "power of will," but it testifies to a will which can
exert itself steadily if it likes. The very short duration of Keats's
life, and the painful conjuncture of circumstances which mad