To Autumn

Question 1

introduction

Answer 1

• 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.

Question 2

title - ‘to autumn’

Answer 2

• suggests it’s an ode to
• a lyric poem meant to be sung in praise of a specific person or thing - autumn

Question 3

stanza development

Answer 3

• 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

Question 4

odes

Answer 4

• 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

Question 5

form

Answer 5

• ode
• iambic pentameter - mirroring his walk
• last line - 11 syllables - overflow of emotions
• variable rhyme scheme

Question 6

structure

Answer 6

• tercets
• enjambment
• caesurae

Question 7

finish the quote: ‘oozing..

Answer 7

..hours by hours’

Question 8

‘oozing hours by hours’

Answer 8

• repetition of ‘hours’ suggests that time is passing slowly as the workers toil

Question 9

enjambment

Answer 9

• 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

Question 10

finish the quote: ‘with fruit..

Answer 10

…the vines that round the thatch-eaves run’

Question 11

finish the quote: ‘to bend with apples..

Answer 11

…the moss’d cottage trees’

Question 12

‘with fruit the vines that round the thatch-eaves run’
‘to bend with apples the moss’d cottage trees’

Answer 12

• images show that man and nature have an almost symbiotic relationship

Question 13

finish the quote: ‘to swell…

Answer 13

…the gourd’

Question 14

finish the quote: ‘flowers..

Answer 14

..for the bees’

Question 15

‘bend with apples’
‘to swell the gourd’
‘flowers for the bees’
‘budding’

Answer 15

• abundance of nature imagery
• could relate to the abundance of autumn

Question 16

‘granary floor’
‘half-reap’d furrow’
‘hook’
‘gleaner’
‘cyder press’

Answer 16

• images of work

Question 17

finish the quote: ‘sitting…

Answer 17

…careless’

Question 18

finish the quote: ‘sound…

Answer 18

…asleep’

Question 19

‘sitting careless’
‘sound asleep’
‘drows’d’

Answer 19

• images of rest

Question 20

IMAGES OF WORK AND IMAGES OF REST

Answer 20

• 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

Question 21

finish the quote: ‘while thy..

Answer 21

..hook spares the next swath’

Question 22

‘while thy hook spares the next swath’

Answer 22

• autumn as been compared to the Grim Reaper
• suggesting that death is never too far away from autumn

Question 23

finish the quote: ‘thou hast…

Answer 23

…thy music too’

Question 24

‘thou hast thy music too’

Answer 24

• personification of autumn as a musician
• suggests that autumn is beautiful and brings happiness

Question 25

'full-grown lambs' 'red-breast whistles'

Answer 25

- wintry images - used to mark the imminent end of autumn

Question 26

finish the quote: 'and gathering..

Answer 26

...swallows twitter in the skies'

Question 27

'and gathering swallows twitter in the skies'

Answer 27

- uplifting image - the shallows will return - cyclical nature of time - autumn will come back

Question 28

'fruit' 'vines' 'gourd'

Answer 28

- pastoral imagery

Question 29

'mists and mellow' '!' 'bosom-friend' 'bless' 'ripeness' 'sweet'

Answer 29

- use of language and punctuation in 1st stanza creates a celebratory tone

Question 30

finish the quote: 'soft-lifted..

Answer 30

..by the winnowing wind'

Question 31

'soft-lifted by the winnowing wind'

Answer 31

- autumn presented as a goddess

Question 32

'soft-dying day' 'wailful choir' 'mourn' 'dies'

Answer 32

- sad tone - implying that the end of autumn is something to be crying about

Question 33

'swell' 'plump' 'budding'

Answer 33

- semantic field of growth and fertility

Question 34

finish the quote: 'Where are the..

Answer 34

..songs of spring? Ay, where are they?'

Question 35

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

Answer 35

- persona criticises spring, as is no other season could compare to autumn

Question 36

'Who hath not seen thee oft amid thy store?'

Answer 36

- rhetorical q - suggests that autumn is an excellent helper during harvest

Question 37

mood and tone

Answer 37

- sad tone - 'wailful choir' - autumn is ending - critical tone - when talking about spring - celebratory - 1st stanza - use of lang and punctuation

Question 38

key quotations for nature

Answer 38

“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;”

Question 39

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;”

Answer 39

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

Question 40

key quotations for the passage of time

Answer 40

“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,”

Question 41

ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR THE PASSAGE OF TIME

Answer 41

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

Question 42

key quotations for impermanence

Answer 42

“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.”

Question 43

ANALYSIS FOR KEY QUOTES FOR IMPERMANENCE

Answer 43

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