To Autumn by John Keats (Text, Summary & Analysis)

 

To Autumn

by John Keats

(Text, Summary & Analysis) 

 

John Keats (1795 –1821) was an English Romantic poet. He was one of the main figures of the second generation of Romantic poets, along with Lord Byron and Percy Bysshe Shelley. His reputation grew after his death, and by the end of the 19th century, he had become one of the most beloved of all English poets. He had a significant influence on a diverse range of poets and writers. The poetry of Keats is characterized by a style "heavily loaded with sensualities", most notably in the series of odes. This is typical of the Romantic poets. Some of his most acclaimed works are "Ode to a Nightingale", "Sleep and Poetry" and the famous sonnet "On First Looking into Chapman's Homer".

To Autumn

(Poem)

Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,

Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;

Conspiring with him how to load and bless

With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;

To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,

And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

To swell the gourd, and plump the hazel shells

With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

And still more, later flowers for the bees,

Until they think warm days will never cease,

For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.

 

Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?

Sometimes whoever seeks abroad may find

Thee sitting careless on a granary floor,

Thy hair soft-lifted by the winnowing wind;

Or on a half-reap'd furrow sound asleep,

Drows'd with the fume of poppies, while thy hook

Spares the next swath and all its twined flowers:

And sometimes like a gleaner thou dost keep

Steady thy laden head across a brook;

Or by a cyder-press, with patient look,

Thou watchest the last oozings hours by hours.

 

Where are the songs of spring? Ay, Where are they?

Think not of them, thou hast thy music too,—

While barred clouds bloom the soft-dying day,

And touch the stubble-plains with rosy hue;

Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn

Among the river sallows, borne aloft

Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;

And full-grown lambs loud bleat from hilly bourn;

Hedge-crickets sing; and now with treble soft

The red-breast whistles from a garden-croft;

And gathering swallows twitter in the skies.

Summary

‘To autumn’ celebrates the autumn with all its colors. The poem is divided into three parts. In the first part of the poem the poet talks about the occupation of the autumn season, in second part he personifies autumn in four forms i.e., reaper, winnower, gleaner and cyder presser and in the last part of the poem he describes the music of the autumn.

In the opening lines of the poem, the poet addresses autumn with different names i.e., ‘season of mists and mellow fruitfulness’ and ‘close bosom friend of the maturing sun’.  He says, that both autumn and the maturing sun are planning to load vines and apple trees with their fruits. They are also planning to fill all fruits with ripeness to the core, to swell the gourd and plump the hazel-shells. Both the friends want to fill the hive of bees with honey up to the brim, by setting more and more buds.

The poet further personifies autumn in four forms- ‘reaper’ who is either sitting carelessly on a granary floor or amid his store. Autumn is also personified as a winnower who softly lifts the hairs of the standing crops. The reaper, he says, is drowsed with the fumes of poppies and falls sound asleep. Autumn is also seen like a gleaner, who keeps his laden head steady, while crossing the brook. He sees autumn by a cider press, watching the last oozing patiently, hours by hours.

In the last stanza poet says, that the different sounds of small gnats, of full-grown lamb, of hedge crickets, of red breasts and of the gathering swallows give a singular effect in the background of rosy stubbled plains.

Analysis

"To Autumn" is one of the last poems written by Keats. His method of developing the poem is to give imageries, typical of autumn. His autumn is early autumn, when all the products of nature have reached a state of perfect maturity. Autumn is personified and is seen active. In the first stanza, autumn, with the sun, is conspiring to bring fruits to a state of perfect fullness and ripeness. In the second stanza, autumn is a thresher sitting on a granary floor, a reaper asleep in a grain field, a gleaner crossing a brook, and, lastly, a cider maker. In the final stanza, autumn is seen as a musician, and the music which autumn produces is as pleasant as the music of spring.

In the first stanza, Keats has focused on the occupation of autumn season. In the second stanza, the emphasis is given on the activities of autumn, like, threshing, reaping, gleaning, and cider making. In the last stanza, the poet emphasizes the sounds of autumn, produced by insects, animals, and birds. According to poet, this music is just as sweet as the music of spring.

The ending of the poem is artistically made to correspond with the ending of a day: "And gathering swallows twitter in the skies." In the evening, swallows gather in flocks preparatory to returning to their nests for the night.

In structure and rhyme scheme "To Autumn" is an ode and is remarkable for its richness of imagery. It is a feast of sights and sounds.