To Autumn

1. To Autumn John Keats

2. Theme • Temporality, mortality and change • On the brink of winter’s desolation • An acceptance of mortality is not destructive to an appreciation of beauty and has gleaned wisdom by accepting the passage of time. • Autumn is a short season, • Three stanzas: his reflected in the short and concise structure of the actual poem

3. Short yet abundant • Autumn is also a time of richness and abundance before the scarcity of winter • Keats has used extensive vocabulary and language to draw a detailed picture in the mind of the reader of this brief, colourful season. • Autumn's bounty giving the impression that, for a short time span, the land is overwhelmed with nourishment:

4. First Stanza • Sense of sight “season of mists and mellow fruitfulness” • Sense of tast L6 : harvest is gathered from the field • L9 later flower…bees • Understated sense of inevitable loss, simple, uncomplaining summation of the entire human condition

5. Second Stanza • Recreating the sensations of Autumn • By employing alliteration and onomatopoeia • L4: W..W.. reating a lullaby effect to match the sleepy ambience of the first stanza • A sense of sound: • L11: a gentle whistling, The final two words read like a gentle whistling • three-dimensional picture: o fully appreciate the gifts and unique, sensuous experience Autumn brings

6. Long slow vowels • L5 and 6 • serve to slow the rhythm and pace of the poem • force the reader to dwell on each word, • lingering on the poem as the unseen characters linger at their work • Effect: time moves slowly in this stanza

7. Mood in second stanza • is designed to create the sensation of a lazy, warm afternoon, • rich in stimulation for all the senses, • made all the more precious by the knowledge that the chill of winter is not far away • the need to live in harmony with nature is stressed vividly with the scenes

8. Third stanza • Keats' deep respect for nature runs throughout the poem: • the idea that nature 'blesses' us with her gifts shows the poet's understanding of the dependence of all living things on the earth's fertility and fruitfulness. • expressing gratitude rather than hostility

9. Co-existence of human and nature • Destroying nature would literally destroy the essence of survival • this attitude towards nature, and especially towards this particular season, speaks much of Keats' attitude to life itself.

10. A metaphor for life • it would represent those of middle age, who have the benefit of hindsight and the wisdom of years of experience to draw from. • a time when the old live out their last days before the onset of winter. • The old are often overshadowed by the energy and vitality of the young; yet Keats, by richly describing the glory and blessings of Autumn, • maturity an experience can offer just as much, if not more.

11. a broad, cinematic view of the earth, • expanding on the close description of the first two stanzas to reflect on the passage of time as Autumn • and ultimately life • draws to a close (the transience to winter - to death ) (welcoming, a gentle passing that is beautiful to experience and not to be feared. • a quiet acceptance that life on earth must end for each one of us.

12. Last line • However, not all life dies. • The poem ends with the sounds of various creatures, • a stubborn message that the cycle of the seasons will continue and life will return, as the poet reminds us in his final line: