To Autumn by John Keats (WJEC Eduqas GCSE English Literature)
Revision Note
Written by: Kate Lee
Reviewed by: Jenna Quinn
What is the poem about?
The poem is a celebration of the autumn season and the poem explores both its beauty and richness. ‘To Autumn’, is an ode written by the English Romantic poet John Keats in 1819, published in 1820 as part of his final collection. In ‘To Autumn’ the speaker takes the reader through the season in three stages: early autumn, mid-autumn and the approaching winter. Throughout the poem, Keats explores the beauty of nature, the passage of time and the cycle of life itself.
Language, structure and form revision | What happens in the poem? |
Language:
Form:
Structure:
| Stanza One:
Stanza Two:
Stanza Three:
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Poems for comparison:
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Key words
Context: | Romanticism | Human connection to nature | Death and decay |
Themes: | Nature | Passage of time | Impermanence |
Poem analysis
'To Autumn' by John Keats
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.
Language
Personification is central to the poem with autumn portrayed as the benevolent figure of a woman engaged in activities such as conspiring with the sun
Sensory language is used throughout to describe the sights, sounds and smells of autumn as the poem juxtaposes the sounds of autumn with those of spring to convey autumn’s unique beauty
Alliteration gives the poem a musical quality
Symbolism is used, with autumn representing maturity, abundance and the cycle of life
The poem ends with an image of swallows gathering for migration, hinting at the approaching winter while still celebrating autumn’s beauty
A rhetorical question creates a fleeting nostalgia for spring which is quickly dismissed
Structure
The poem progresses chronologically through the season, with each stanza focusing on different aspects of autumn
Enjambment creates continuity between lines and stanzas, and conveys the movement of nature
Caesura is used in the third stanza to create the sense of a conversation with personified Autumn, and later to emphasise the changing focus of the verse, as Keats moves through the seasonal beauties, from rivers to hedge-crickets
Form
The poem is an ode, a lyric address to its subject, the season of autumn
Keats uses a traditional poetic metre, iambic pentameter, which gives the poem a soothing, natural quality (mimicking the natural cadence of English) with some disruptions to the metre to ensure it doesn’t feel mechanical
Overview of themes
Themes | Key quotations | Language, form and structure |
Nature | “Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness, /Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;” “To bend with apples the moss'd cottage-trees,/And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;” | By personifying Autumn as a “close bosom-friend” of the sun, Keats alludes to the harmony and interconnectedness of nature. The alliteration and soft sounds of “mists and mellow” create a peaceful and tranquil atmosphere The fecund imagery conveys the abundance of nature. The hyperbole of trees bending under the weight of apples creates an image of natural plenty. The phrase “ripeness to the core” suggests a completeness and a perfection in nature’s work |
Passage of time | “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,” | The rhetorical question creates a momentary nostalgia for spring, though the speaker quickly dismisses this longing and asserts that autumn has its own unique qualities. This shift conveys the cyclical nature of time and the seasons and suggesting that each one has its own beauty and value The “soft-dying day” alludes both to the end of the day and the season. The gentleness of the words “soft” and “bloom” suggests a tone of acceptance; this passing of time is beautiful and natural, not harsh or abrupt |
Impermanence | “Then in a wailful choir the small gnats mourn…Or sinking as the light wind lives or dies;” “Until they think warm days will never cease,/For summer has o'er-brimm'd their clammy cells.” | The metaphor of a “wailful choir” of gnats creates a sombre tone and suggests a feeling of mourning for the passing season. Their movement, rising and falling with the wind, alludes to the cycle of nature and its constant flux. The phrase “ as the light wind lives or dies” alludes to this impermanence The anthropomorphism of the bees who “think warm days will never cease” reminds the reader of the fleeting nature of the season, reinforced by the connotations of the word “o'er-brimm'd”; this abundance is temporary |
Historical and literary context
John Keats (1795-1821) is considered one of the best-known Romantic poets:
He lived at the time of other Romantic poets such as William Wordsworth and Samuel Coleridge
They, and other poets, are considered influential in Keats's work
He died at the age of 25 from tuberculosis, which greatly influenced his poetry on death:
His letters provide insight into his thoughts on death particularly as his own health declined
Many of his most famous poems deal with themes of morality and the relationship between death and beauty
Keats' poetry, like that of other Romantic poets, focuses on nature:
Romanticism prioritised strong emotions and a connection to the natural world
Nature was viewed as a source of inspiration, beauty and a reflection of the human spirit
Keats often blurs the lines between humans and nature to suggest that they are interconnected, and nature is often presented as fleeting and subject to decay
‘To Autumn’ is often interpreted as an allegory for the cycle of life and death:
The poem celebrates autumn’s abundance while also acknowledging its evitable decline
This impermanence is used to convey its beauty and preciousness
Comparing poems
Look at this exam-style question about ‘To Autumn’:
‘To Autumn’ is a poem about the passing of time. Choose one other poem from the anthology in which the poet also writes about the passing of time. Compare the way the poet presents the passing of time in your chosen poem with the way John Keats’ presents it in ‘To Autumn. In your answer you should:
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How you could approach this question:
Thesis / Essay introduction: The passing of time is a central theme in both John Keats’ ‘To Autumn’ and Seamus Heaney’s ‘Death of a Naturalist’. While ‘To Autumn’ embraces the changes brought by time to the seasons, in contrast ‘Death of a Naturalist’ explores an irreversible change marked by the end of childhood innocence. | |
Similarities | Differences |
Both ‘To Autumn’ and ‘Death of a Naturalist’ use rich sensory imagery to capture a specific moment in time. In ‘To Autumn’, the poet creates rich imagery through his descriptions of fruit, mist and sun. Similarly, in ‘Death of a Naturalist’ uses sights, sounds and smells of the flax-dam to detail a profound childhood memory | In ‘To Autumn’ the tone is consistently celebratory and appreciative, and the passing of the time, through the exploration of the season, is a source of beauty. In contrast, in ‘Death of a Naturalist’, the short timeframe of the poem depicts a marked shift in tone, beginning first with childlike wonder and ending with fear |
Both ‘To Autumn’ and ‘Death of a Naturalist’ explore the cyclical nature of life and the natural world. In ‘To Autumn’, the poem acknowledges the passing of spring and autumn’s arrival. Similarly, in ‘Death of a Naturalist’ the poem describes the life cycle of a frog and the process of natural decay | In ‘To Autumn’ the poem captures the entire season, presenting the many changes in the season as gradual. In contrast, in ‘Death of a Naturalist,’ the poet focuses on a single, sudden transformative moment which is more abrupt |
Both ‘To Autumn’ and ‘Death of a Naturalist’ explore the relationship between humans and nature. Keats personifies autumn to suggest an intimate connection with nature. Similarly, in ‘Death of a Naturalist’ the poem depicts the intimate but changing relationship between the speaker and nature | In ‘To Autumn’, the poem presents nature as benevolent and harmonious: autumn is depicted as a gentle and nurturing presence. In contrast, in ‘Death of a Naturalist’ the poem presents nature as more threatening and complex |
Thesis / Essay introduction: The passing of time is a key theme in Percy Bysshe Shelley’s ‘Ozymandias’ and John Keats’ poem ‘To Autumn’. While Keats celebrates the fleeting beauty of the autumn season, Shelley, with a touch of irony, reflects on the futility of human ambition and legacy. | |
Similarities | Differences |
The passing of time is a central theme in both ‘To Autumn’ and ‘Ozymandias’, as Keats explores the fleeting nature of the season’s beauty while Shelley explores the temporary nature of human legacy | ‘To Autumn’ uses sensory language to celebrate the transient wonder of autumn whereas, ‘Ozymandias’ depicts uses the transient commands and imperatives to depict the arrogance of man |
Both ‘To Autumn’ and ‘Ozymandias’ have a reflective tone as the poets consider the passing of time from different perspectives. Keats’ poem contemplates the beauty and abundance of autumn, while Shelley’s poem reflects on the inevitable decline of empires | While ‘To Autumn’ is a celebratory acceptance of the cyclical beauty of time passing, in ‘Ozymandias’, the barren natural world of the poem symbolises a sense of timelessness and serves to underline the futility of past human accomplishments |
Both poets also explore their interest in the passing of time through their decision to adopt a traditional, timeless poetic form, an ode and a sonnet. | In ‘To Autumn’, Keats uses a direct address to the season itself as his speaker interrogates its ephemeral nature, whereas ‘Ozymandias’ uses a framed narrative with the speaker recounting a traveller’s tale which is also concerned with the passage of time |
Predicted exam questions to prepare for
Compare the ways poets explore the theme of impermanence and decay in ‘To Autumn’ and in one other poem from the anthology.
Compare the way nature is presented in ‘To Autumn’ and in one other poem from the anthology.
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