To Autumn Flashcards
introduction
- the poem is a celebration of the autumn season and the poem explores both its beauty and richness.
- 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.
title - ‘to autumn’
- suggests it’s an ode to
- a lyric poem meant to be sung in praise of a specific person or thing - autumn
stanza development
- time progresses with each stanza
- stanza 1 - start of autumn - ‘summer has o’er brimmed their clammy cells’
- stanza 2 - mid-autumn - harvest - images of work and rest
- stanza 3 - autumn’s death and winter’s birth
- autumn cannot last forever
odes
- typically have 10 lines per stanza
- this poem has 11 lines per stanza
- could be mimetic of the fact that autumn is practically overflowing with life and bounty
form
- ode
- iambic pentameter - mirroring his walk
- last line - 11 syllables - overflow of emotions
- variable rhyme scheme
structure
- tercets
- enjambment
- caesurae
finish the quote: ‘oozing..
..hours by hours’
‘oozing hours by hours’
- repetition of ‘hours’ suggests that time is passing slowly as the workers toil
enjambment
- frequently used across each stanza
- could suggests the immense passion on the part of the person
- SEMANTIC FIELD OF ABUNDANCE - the words are oozing out of the stanzas
finish the quote: ‘with fruit..
…the vines that round the thatch-eaves run’
finish the quote: ‘to bend with apples..
…the moss’d cottage trees’
‘with fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run’
‘to bend with apples the moss’d cottage trees’
- images show that man and nature have an almost symbiotic relationship
finish the quote: ‘to swell…
…the gourd’
finish the quote: ‘flowers..
..for the bees’
‘bend with apples’
‘to swell the gourd’
‘flowers for the bees’
‘budding’
- abundance of nature imagery
- could relate to the abundance of autumn
‘granary floor’
‘half-reap’d furrow’
‘hook’
‘gleaner’
‘cyder press’
- images of work
finish the quote: ‘sitting…
…careless’
finish the quote: ‘sound…
…asleep’
‘sitting careless’
‘sound asleep’
‘drows’d’
- images of rest
IMAGES OF WORK AND IMAGES OF REST
- combined, these images have the effect of personifying autumn as a fellow worker, and as somebody who works themselves to exhaustion
- autumn is working as hard as man during harvest
finish the quote: ‘while thy..
..hook spares the next swath’
‘while thy hook spares the next swath’
- autumn as been compared to the Grim Reaper
- suggesting that death is never too far away from autumn
finish the quote: ‘thou hast…
…thy music too’
‘thou hast thy music too’
- personification of autumn as a musician
- suggests that autumn is beautiful and brings happiness
‘full-grown lambs’
‘red-breast whistles’
- wintry images
- used to mark the imminent end of autumn
finish the quote: ‘and gathering..
…swallows twitter in the skies’
‘and gathering swallows twitter in the skies’
- uplifting image
- the shallows will return - cyclical nature of time - autumn will come back
‘fruit’
‘vines’
‘gourd’
- pastoral imagery
‘mists and mellow’
‘!’
‘bosom-friend’
‘bless’
‘ripeness’
‘sweet’
- use of language and punctuation in 1st stanza creates a celebratory tone
finish the quote: ‘soft-lifted..
..by the winnowing wind’
‘soft-lifted by the winnowing wind’
- autumn presented as a goddess
‘soft-dying day’
‘wailful choir’
‘mourn’
‘dies’
- sad tone
- implying that the end of autumn is something to be crying about
‘swell’
‘plump’
‘budding’
- semantic field of growth and fertility
finish the quote: ‘Where are the..
..songs of spring? Ay, where are they?’
‘Where are the songs of spring? Ay, where are they?’
- persona criticises spring, as is no other season could compare to autumn
‘Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?’
- rhetorical q
- suggests that autumn is an excellent helper during harvest
mood and tone
- sad tone - ‘wailful choir’ - autumn is ending
- critical tone - when talking about spring
- celebratory - 1st stanza - use of lang and punctuation
key quotations for 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;”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR 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
key quotations for the 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,”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR THE PASSAGE OF TIME
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
key quotations for 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.”
ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR IMPERMANENCE
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
